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 […]
Baptism of Our Lord 9 January, 2022 Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29 Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Rev. Dr. Deborah Meister, ODM My grandmother Sheba lived into her name. Like the Queen of old, she was a huge and vibrant spirit, unconstrained by convention, who loved lavishly, traveled widely, asked awkward questions, learned voraciously. She had […]
Christmas Eve, 2021 Isaiah 9:2-7; Ps 96 Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2: 1-20 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister YouTube recording of the service – sermon starts at 31:15 “And Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger.” (Luke 2:7) This is not the Christmas we were longing […]
Advent 2 Mal 3:1-4; Benedictus Phil 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6a The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister YouTube recording of the service – sermon begins at 24:49 Retournez à Montreal! Retournez à Montreal! Go back to Montreal! Go back to Montreal! Those words broke my heart this week when I heard them on my car radio. They were part […]
All Saints Sunday Wis 3:1-9; Ps 24 Rev 21:1-6a; John 11:32-44 The Rev’d Dr. Deborah Meister YouTube recording of the service. The sermon begins around 29:00 One hundred three years ago, a child was born into conditions of great injustice. Although he was living in his own land, his people knew no freedom. The boy grew, […]