ADVENT IV December 18, 2022 Isaiah 7:10-16 Romans 1:1-7 Matthew 1:18-25 I feel a bit sorry for Joseph. He’s the one character in the nativity story to whom one gives only passing attention. Even the star and the donkey feature more prominently in popular imagination than he does. Is it because Joseph is something of…
Advent I November 27, 2022 Isaiah 2 :1-5 Romans 13 :11-14 Matthew 24 :36-44 My paternal grandmother was quite a colorful character. She was a faithful churchgoer, and certainly played an important part in my own faith formation through her kindness and through the way she brought Bible stories to life. But it was never a good…
Christ the King / Baptism of Brooks November 20, 2022 Jeremiah 23:1-6 Colossians 1:11-20 Luke 23:33-43 Today is quite the celebration! We’re here to welcome Brooks’s family and to baptize him in the name of Christ’s love and his victory on the cross; we are here to celebrate the last Sunday before Advent –…
Pentecost XXIII November 13, 2022 Isaiah 65:17-25 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 Luke 21:5-19 For you have no sympathy for me, You, your shepherds and your dogs. I have been told of this. I have to make things even. Saying this, into the woods The wolf carries the lamb, and then eats him Without any other…
All Saints Sunday November 6, 2022 Daniel 7:1-3,15-18 Ephesians 1:11-23 Luke 6:20-31 It may come as a surprise to some of you to know that St. Esprit has a cemetery. You will be relieved to know that it is not in the back garden under the children’s climbing frame. Our cemetery is located in…
Pentecost XXI October 30, 2022 Habakkuk 1:1-2:4 II Thessalonians 1:1-12 Luke 19:1-10 Our story about Jesus, Zacchaeus and the fig tree is set in Jericho. It’s the same town where the Canaanite walls fell down at the sound of the invading Hebrews’ trumpets. It is one of the oldest cities in the world. It…
Pentecost XX October 23rd, 2022 Joel 2:23-32 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 Luke 18:9-14 Did you know that self-help books published in the United States of America account for one billion dollars per year? I’m sure that the Bible isn’t counted as one of those books, but perhaps it should be! They are more likely to…
Pentecost XVIII October 9th, 2022 Jeremiah 29:1, 4 –7 II Timothy 2:8-15 Luke 17:11-19 Whenever I hear the story of the ten lepers in the Gospel of Luke, I am always intrigued by the nature of the healing or ‘cleansing’ they received at the hands of Jesus. I once worked for several weeks in…
OKTOBERFEST October 2nd, 2022 Lamentations 1:1-6 II Timothy 1:1-14 Luke 17:5-10 I think we celebrated our first Oktoberfest at St. Esprit in 1998, in response to the fact that we had several German members and German speakers at the time. It might be that some people find it a bit strange that we celebrate…
Pentecost XVI September 25, 2022 Jeremiah 32:1-15 I Timothy 5:6-19 Luke 16:19-31 This past week, the United Nations has been holding its annual General Assembly here in New York City. It is a moment in the news cycle when we become painfully aware of the enormous chasm that exists between the peoples of the richest…