A Sermon Preached at Christ Church Cathedral, Montréal St. Matthew’s Day 2014 The Rev. Canon Eric Beresford, D.D. While I was a theological student, one of the “characters” around the university was a faculty member called Dennis Nineham. In addition to his well known if controversial commentary on the Gospel of Mark he was famous […]

I once had someone criticize Christians for our veneration of the cross. They weren’t accusing us of idolatry or of general religious wrong-headedness. Rather it was the obscenity of venerating a means of torture and execution that was just too much for this person – and they had a point. What would you think of […]

Today is St. Bartholomew’s Day. Bartholomew was one of the 12 apostles. He is sometimes called Nathanael in the Gospels, and according to John, he was a friend of Phillip. We do not know much more about him. In those days, Jesus just told them “come and follow me” and they followed Him. We do not […]

Do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. We Anglicans make quite a big thing about being inclusive. We like to be welcoming and accepting of people. We like to be nice to people! We have a rainbow flag here in […]

Food is a powerful symbol because it is so basic a need – life is not possible without it. When we eat together, whether we are feasting on our bounty or stretching our rations, we recognize our mutual need as bodily creatures –  eating together is an act of solidarity that binds us together. This […]

As our pilgrim group stood by the pools of Bethesda in the Muslim quarter of the old city of Jerusalem the gunfire was so deafening that we couldn’t hear the person who was reading. Inside the serene gardens of the White Fathers, with the French tricolour flying confidently over St Anne’s church, we were quite […]

         For those of us who have just returned from pilgrimage to the Holy Land, this morning’s Gospel story of the sower and the seed has a special resonance.  There is something about the geography and typography of that part of the world that makes this parable of Jesus come vividly to […]

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying burdens, and I will give you rest.” Such beautiful words. They sound like my bed feels at the end of a very long day; or like my mother’s arms when I was a child, frustrated at my inability to get something right; or like […]

I am angry. In fact I am very very angry.  And I know that some of you are angry too. Why is it that we hate each other so much?  Why do we drive each other out to die in the desert? Why do people kill each other.  What is going on. Over this last […]