Third Sunday after Epiphany Isaiah 9:1-4; Ps 27:1, 5-13; I Cor 1:10-18; Matt 4:12-33 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister As you may have seen in the news, the Church of England finally decided to be more supportive of gay and lesbian Christians this week. Inching forward into a new reality, they stopped short of blessing marriages, […]
The Twenty Second Sunday After Pentecost Job 19:23-27a; Ps 17:1-9; 2 Thess 2:1-5, 13-17; Luke 20:27-38 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister Today’s collect reminds us that all scriptures were written for our learning, but some are more fun to preach than others. Today’s Gospel passage would not be one of them. Each time I encounter […]
The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22; Psalm 84:1-7; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister From today’s collect: “Lord God our redeemer, free us from the tyranny of sin and death, and by the leading of your Spirit bring us to our promised land.” There’s a certain frustration in […]
The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost Deut 30:15-20; Psalm 1, Philemon 1:1-21; Luke 14: 25-33 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister Don’t touch that stove! It’s hot. Honey, honey, no, no— that candy fell on the ground. You can’t eat it. It’s gross. It’s got germs. Sweetie, I’m not going to say it again. You have to […]
Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary Isaiah 7:10-15; Ps 132:6-10, 13-14, Gal 4:4-7; Luke 1: 46-55 Rev. Dr. Deborah Meister, ODM In the center of Stone Town, in Zanzibar, stands a magnificent cathedral. Built between 1873 and 1880, its construction dates hint at its history. 1873 was the year in which the slave trade was […]
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost Deut 30:9-14; Ps 25:1-9; Col 1:1-14; Luke 10: 25-37 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister “Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” The words of St. Augustine, written in the years just before 400, echoed today in our collect. To me, […]
Third Sunday after Pentecost I Kings 19:15-16, 19-21; Ps 16, Gal 5: 1, 13-25; Luke 9: 51-62 The Rev. Dr. Deborah Meister Friday was an extraordinary day for me, as a citizen of the United States. When I woke, I was legally a human being. A few hours later, however, I had fewer rights in […]
Easter 3 Acts 9:1-20; Psalm 30 Rev 5:11-14; John 21:1-19 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister, ODM Last week, the church remembered Catherine of Sienna, a fourteenth-century saint with a wild story. The youngest of 25 children, Catherine had a vision of Jesus when she was six years old and embraced a life of fasting and prayer. […]
Good Friday, 2022 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister Early in Lent, I went on retreat to my favorite monastery, a spiritual home I have visited for more than twenty years. In their stark white chapel, there are two immense crucifixes. Above the altar, there hangs an icon cross, about seven feet tall. In the center, […]
Palm Sunday 2022 Luke 19:28-40; Phil 2:5-11 Psalm 31:9-16; Luke 22:14-23:56 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister, ODM Each year, it gets harder for me to hear the Passion read. When I was younger, I was able to situate it historically: as something that had happened at the time of Jesus, as something which happened from time […]
Lent 2 Gen 15:1-12, 17-18; Ps 27 Phil 3:17—4:1; Lk 13:31-35 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister Two years ago this week, our community did not worship together. A new disease had come to town and we were sheltering in place, wondering what was to come. A week later, we gathered in front of our computer screens […]
Epiphany 7 – February 20, 2022 Gen 45:3-11, 15; Ps 37:1-12, 41-42; 1 Cor 15:35-38, 42-50; Lk 6:27-3 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister YouTube recording of the service – the sermon begins at 26:19 “And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph; is my father yet alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, for […]