Interrupting the Silence

Category: Church Seasons

  • “In Those Days….” – A Sermon on Mark 13:24-37, Advent 1B

    The collect and readings for the First Sunday in Advent, Year B, may be found here. The following sermon focuses on Mark 13:24-37. “In those days….” So begins our entry into the Season of Advent. It sounds ominous and it is. Advent is not just a liturgical season of the church year. It is a Read more

  • Immersed in Each Other’s Lives – A Sermon on Matthew 3:13-17, Baptism of our Lord

    Today, the First Sunday after the Epiphany, we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord. The collect and readings may be found here. The appointed gospel is Matthew 3:13-17 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by Read more

  • Becoming Epiphany

    The Feast of the Epiphany is one of the seven principal feasts of the church year with a fixed date of January 6. In the Western Church it focuses on the coming of the magi and their adoration of the baby. In the Eastern Church epiphany—usually called the theophany— is about the baptism of Jesus. Read more

  • The Manger Is Not In Bethlehem – A Christmas Sermon On Luke 2:1-20

    The collect and readings for Christmas may be found here. Every one of us could probably tell the Christmas story. We know it well. A young virgin named Mary conceives a child by the Holy Spirit. She and her betrothed, Joseph, travel to Bethlehem by order of the emperor. There Mary gives birth in a Read more

  • A Strange Mystery

    Today a strange mystery has been fulfilled; for nature has been renewed and God has become human. Yes, he remains ever the same, divine, but has now taken on to himself what he had not before, humanity. The two, divinity and humanity, exist as one neither being commingled nor separated. O Lord, you came to Read more

  • The Final Work of Advent

    “Now the birth of Jesus took place in this way….” (Matthew 1:18-25) Matthew’s description of how the birth happens does not mention anything that is on my to-do list. So maybe the real work, the final work of Advent, is to get out of the way and let the baby be born. Get out of the Read more

  • Nativity Prayer of St. Bernard of Clairvaux

    “Let your goodness Lord appear to us, that we, made in your image, may conform ourselves to it. In our own strength we cannot imitate your majesty, power, and wonder nor is it fitting for us to try. But your mercy reaches from the heavens through the clouds to the earth below. You have come to us as a Read more

  • Scandals, Wombs, and Emmanuel – A Sermon on Matthew 1:18-25

    The collect and readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent may be found here. The appointed gospel is Matthew 1:1-25. Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Read more

  • Who Cares? A Sermon on Matthew 3:1-12, Advent 2A

    The collect and readings for the Second Sunday of Advent may be found here. The appointed gospel is Matthew 3:1-12. In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, Read more