The First Sunday after Christmas Day December 29, 2019 Isaiah 61 :10 – 62 :3 Galatians 3 : 23-25, 4 :4-7 John I :l-18 The great market square in Marrakech, the Djemaa el Fna, is the largest town square on the African continent. As the sun sets, it becomes more and more crowded with people…
Advent IV December 22, 2019 Isaiah 7:10-17, Romans 1:1-7 Matthew 1:18-25 Dreams play a major role in the nativity stories. It seems as if every key moment in the conception, birth and early childhood of Jesus was accompanied by a dream. When I think about my own dreams, they sometimes reveal my worst fears, and…
Advent II December 8, 2019 Isaiah 11:1-10 Romans 15:4-13 Matthew 3:1-12 It is hard for us to understand today, but there have been times when the Middle East was at peace. In fact, centuries have gone by without the area knowing any conflict at all. The period from about 825 BC until 730 BC…
Advent I December 1st, 2019 Isaiah 2:1-5 Romans 13:11-14 Matthew 24:36-44 One of the things that I like the best about the Episcopal Church is that it follows the regular and traditional pattern of the Church’s Year. Every season of the secular year has its corresponding liturgical season. The Church’s year begins with the…
HARVEST / CHRIST THE KING November 24th, 2019 Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Philippians 4:4-9 John 6:25-35 The news stories concerning migrants and refugees over the past 5 years or so have reminded us forcibly of the historical fact that migrant peoples are very rarely welcomed with open arms by the settled populations into which they move. The…
Pentecost XXIII November 17th, 2019 Isaiah 65:17-25 II Thessalonians 3:6-13 Luke 21:5-19 When I encountered the breadth of Christian spirituality in the United States first-hand, I was astonished at the importance that many Christians gave to thinking about the end of the world. Televangelists, book sales, entire denominations were dedicated to interpreting the book of…
All Saints Sunday November 3, 2019 Daniel 7:1-18 Ephesians 1:11-23 Luke 6:20-31 For centuries it was the custom in Christian countries to give children the name of a saint. The principle is even written into the Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church: “Parents, sponsors and the priest are to take care that a name…
Pentecost XIX October 20, 2019 Jeremiah 31 :27-34 II Timothy 3 :14- 4 :5 Luke 18 :1-8 Nobody likes a complainer, and very few people like having to complain. But I’m sure I’m correct in thinking that everyone here has been in a situation of having to complain about incompetent service: (banks, phone companies, insurance firms to name but…
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost October 13, 2019 Jeremiah 29:1, 4 –7 II Timothy 2:8-15 Luke 17:11-19 In 597 BC, a calamity befell the southern Jewish state of Judah. About one hundred and thirty years before, the Assyrians conquered the northern state of Israel and dispersed its people forever. In 597 BC, the Babylonian king besieged…
Oktoberfest 2019 October 6, 2019 Lamentations1:1-6 II Timothy 1:1-14 Luke 17:5-10 There’s something oddly appropriate about a mustard seed appearing in the Gospel on the day when we celebrate Oktoberfest. What would German cuisine be without its Senf? The mustard plant belongs to the same family of everyday vegetables as cabbage, broccoli and swede. In…