Lent VApril 6, 2025Isaiah 43:16-21 Philippians 3:4b-14 John 12:1-8 The Marys of the bible are confusing, because there are up to six or seven or them. The New Testament mentions the name over sixty times. It probably derives from the ancient Egyptian verb meri – ‘to love’. The most easily recognized is Mary the…
Lent II March 16, 2025 Genesis 15:1-18 Philippians 3:17 – 4:1 Luke 13:31-35 On this first joyful Sunday celebration of Joris’ ordination as a deacon, I was relieved to see that our reading from Luke’s Gospel puts the religious authorities of Jesus’ day in a good light. Most of the time, Jesus has very few good things to say about the ordained people of his day. Large occasions…
March 9, 2025Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Romans 10:8b-13 Luke 4:1-13 In the darkest days of the Second World War, the Christian author and professor C. S. Lewis wrote a series of articles for a magazine. The articles took the form of letters from an experienced senior devil in hell, offering advice to his young nephew.…
Epiphany VII February 23, 2025 Genesis 45:3-11; 15 ; 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 ; Luke 6:27-38 Reporting abuse, corruption or injustice is an extremely difficult act that makes those who dare to speak vulnerable. The victims themselves often find it difficult to comprehend the seriousness of what they have endured, oscillating between denial, guilt and sometimes fear…
Epiphany VI February 16, 2025 Jeremiah 17:5-10 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 Luke 6:17-26 How did Jesus teach? Most of us can remember several of his parables: like the lost sheep, the prodigal son or the sower who sowed his seed on good and bad ground. We can probably remember some of the things he said about…
Feast of the Presentation / Candlemas February 2, 2025 Malachi 3:1-4 Hebrews 2:14-18 Luke 2:22-40 This year, the Feast of Candlemas – or the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple – falls on a Sunday. It always falls on the fortieth day after Christmas – the second of February. It seems that the early Church…
Epiphany III January 26, 2025 Nehemiah 8:1-10 I Corinthians 12:12-31 Luke 4:14-21 Think about the first time you came across the Bible. Was it through a parent or relative? Was it in Sunday School? Was it in church? Was it at a secular school? Did you first think of the Bible as a book…
Epiphany I | The Baptism of ChristJanuary 13, 2013Isaiah 43: 1-7 Acts 8 : 14-17 Luke 3 :15-17, 21-22 When I was first ordained, I used to baptize about four babies per month. I was serving in a poor parish in Birmingham, England when it was The Thing To Do to get your child baptized.…
Christmas I December 29,2024 Isaiah 61:10-62:3 Galatians 3:23-4:7 John 1:1-10 There are many traditions surrounding Christmas which have to do with flowers and foliage. We probably know about most of them – our traditional Christmas trees and wreaths for example, but there are many others also, from all around the world. We sing Christmas carols…
December 17, 2024 It must have been quite a year to live in Paris! Together with the usual round of yearly events, the city hosted the Olympic games for the first time in one hundred years, and earlier this month, the reopening of the gothic cathedral of Notre Dame. The rebirth of that cathedral certainly…