HOMILY—EPIPHANY 5 (10 Feb. 2019)—Open to God’s Work          In the name of the one, holy and undivided Trinity: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.  Amen.           “Here am I; send me!”  What a keener that prophet Isaiah is!  Sort of like an anxious puppy fetching the shiny red ball for his master.  Contrast that to […]

  HOMILY—25th AFTER TRINITY—Living in Dangerous Times          In the name of the one, holy and undivided Trinity: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.  Amen.          If you’re at all like me, watching the nightly news has become spiritually risky business.  I say that because, not only does so much of what I see and hear so […]

  SERMON—ALL SAINTS’ 2018—Saints Despite Ourselves          We praise you, Lord, in the diversity and glory of your saints.  In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, one God now and forever.  Amen.          This past summer, a number of us were reading or re-reading a book about Dorothy Day, the American Christian pacifist […]

  SERMON—Feast of St. Mary Magdalene—22 July 2018          Once again, St. Peter had to remind me that today (or rather, tomorrow) is my feast day.  I’m not sure why, but I seem to forget every year.  Perhaps it’s the melodic sounds of the never-ending angelic choirs up here, or simply that such things are […]

  Maundy Thursday Sermon 2018—“Lord, Are You Going to Wash My Feet?”          In the name of the one, holy and undivided Trinity: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.  Amen.          Feet.  Water.  Bread.  Wine.  Think about it for a moment.  Could anything be more ordinary, more commonplace, more prosaic, yet so profoundly essential?  Feet are very […]

  SERMON—Transfiguration Sunday 2018—Basking in Jesus’ Light          In the name of the one, holy and undivided Trinity: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.  Amen.           In a wonderful little book on the meaning of icons, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams writes the following about a very old Byzantine image of the Transfiguration: “Here, then, in […]

In the name of the one, holy, and undivided Trinity: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.  Amen.          “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.”  I wonder.  Is the word of the Lord so rare in our own days?  Are visions not widespread?  The opening scene of the young boy […]

  HOMILY: 27 August 2017—Celebrating the Body Communal          In the name of the one, holy and undivided Trinity: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.  Amen.          Today must be my lucky day.  It doesn’t happen often enough that preachers are given the perfect text for the perfect occasion, but today is one of those times.  On […]

HOMILY—9 JULY 2017—The Challenge of St. Paul In the name of the one, holy and undivided Trinity: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.  Amen. “I do not understand my own actions.  For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate. (…) I can will what is right, but I […]

HOMILY—CORPUS CHRISTI, 18 June 2017—Desiring God’s Body In the name of the one, holy and undivided Trinity: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.  Amen. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”  I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a fair question.  Imagine if you had been there, listening to Jesus talk about […]

L’Ascension du Seigneur/Ascension Day 2017—Pourquoi restez-vous là ?           Pourquoi restez-vous là à regarder vers le ciel ?  Je trouve que c’est une excellente question à demander aux disciples un peu émerveillé de voir Jésus soudainement disparaître dans les cieux.  En ce jour de l’Ascension—jour où nous avons la promesse que le Christ va revenir parmi nous […]

  HOMILY—5th Sunday after Easter—Meeting Stephen            In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, one God now and forever.  Amen.            Many things can happen when you wear a clerical collar in public.  I’ve heard stories of clergy being verbally assaulted, even spat upon.  Compared to that, my experience has been […]