Advent 2 Isaiah 11:1-10; Ps. 72; Rom 15:4-13; Matt 3:1-1 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, […]
Feast of St. Francis Jer 22:13-16; Ps 148:7-14; Gal 6: 14-18; Matt 11:25-30 Rev. Dr. Deborah Meister, ODM On Friday evening, we consecrated a Bishop here in this sanctuary. It was a glorious service: twelve bishops, dozens of clergy and lay readers, hundreds of people, wonderful music offered by our choir and that of l’Église […]
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost Deuteronomy 30: 15-20; Ps 1; Phil 1-21; Luke 14: 25-33 Rev’d Dr Deborah Meister One hundred years ago, in 1925, John Scopes, a young math and science teacher in the state of Tennessee, volunteered for a hazardous undertaking. The state of Tennessee had just made it a crime to teach “any […]
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost Jer 23:23-29; Psalm 82; Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56 Rev’d Dr Deborah Meister Jesus said, “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled.” (Luke 12:49) This week, I was speaking with a friend who is a non-believer. She said to me, “It must […]
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost Deut 30: 9-14; Ps 25: 1-9; Col 1:1-14; Luke 10:35-37 Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister, ODM The apartment in which I live is two blocks from a so-called “safer injection center,” a place where those who live in addiction can take their drugs with some confidence that if the drugs are contaminated, […]
Trinity Sunday Prov 8:1-4, 22-31; Ps 8; Romans 5: 1-5; John 16: 12-15 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister, ODM Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. (Wm. Butler Yeats) It feels a bit like that […]
Ascension Sunday Acts 1:1-11; Eph 1: 15-23; Luke 24:44-53 Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister, ODM What do we do once those we love are gone? That is the paradox of Ascension Day. To the Church, it is a feast: the celebration that Christ has returned, victorious, to heaven, bearing our humanity back to the place of […]
Fourth Sunday in Easter Acts 9:36-43; Ps 23; Rev 7:9-17; John 10:22-30 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister Have you ever been lost? As in, really lost? It happened to me when I was a little girl, traveling with my parents in Peru. One day, we went to a town market — one of those fabulous […]
Second Sunday of Easter Acts 5:27-32; Ps 118:14-29 Rev 1:4-8; John 20:19-31 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister When I was a little girl, the corner of my classroom was occupied by a diaphanous white net, formed into a large cylinder which descended from the ceiling to the floor. Within it were caterpillars, green and black […]
Easter Day Isaiah 65:17-25; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Acts 10:34-43; Luke 24:1-12 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown”. And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the […]
Lent 5 Isaiah 43:16-21; Ps 126; Phil 3: 4b-14; John 12:1-8 Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister It’s been another difficult week. I have the feeling we’re going to be tired of difficult weeks long before we run out of them. The headlines were a bit apocalyptic: depending which newspaper you looked at, you saw something like […]
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany Isaiah 6:1-8; Ps 138; I Cor 15:1-11; Luke 5: 1-11 Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister, ODM Good morning. It’s been a long year since last Sunday, hasn’t it? How are you? I mean really: how are you? Take a moment; breathe; feel what is in your heart. All this week, the people […]