An Episcopal Priest's Sermons, Prayers, and Reflections on Life, Becoming Human, and Discovering Our Divinity
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near,” John the Baptist announces in today’s gospel (Matthew 3:1-12). But it’s Isaiah in today’s Old Testament reading (Isaiah 11:1-10) who describes the kingdom. It’s Isaiah who gives us a glimpse of…
Read More Peace For Our Wolves And Lambs – A Sermon On Isaiah 11:1-10
It is not true that creation and the human family are doomed to destruction and loss — This is true: For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish…
Read More Advent Credo Of Fr. Daniel Berrigan
America is in a hard place these days, and we have been for quite a while. Over the last few months of the coronavirus many have said that we’re all in this together. Yes, but we’re not all together in this. We are not “all together in one place” on this day of Pentecost. Our country is divided, fragmented, and wounded. And so is my heart. Maybe yours is too. It’s not easy to talk about our wounds; whether it’s our individual wounds or our national wounds, whether it’s the wounds we’ve received or the ones we’ve inflicted. To talk about our wounds requires us to look at what we’ve done and left undone. It means we each have to look within ourselves. It means taking responsibility for our lives. It means valuing the life and wounds of another as much as our own.
Many year ago, at the suggestion of my priest, I did some work with a counselor. During one of our meetings the conversation lulled and he asked me a question. “Mike, do you have a secret?” Tears filled my eyes. I had butterflies in my stomach. And my heart was pounding. I nodded, whispered yes, and waited for what I knew would be his next question.
How long, O Lord, how long? Every week we come to you adding to the list of names; victims, perpetrators, and places of violence and pain in the world. Today we hold before you the people of France and Turkey.…
Read More Prayers for France and Turkey (Again)
Do you want peace for yourself, your friends and family, the world? How do we begin to find that kind of peace in the midst of tragedy after tragedy? Orlando, Istanbul, Baton Rouge, Dallas. The peace we seek is not conditioned on a change in the other's behavior but a change in our own hearts. We choose whether to live with a heart at peace or a heart at war.
"It is not true that creation and the human family are doomed to destruction and loss—This is true: For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but…
Read More Advent Credo of Daniel Berrigan, SJ
The collect and readings for the Second Sunday of Easter may be found here. The appointed gospel is John 20:19-31. When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where…
Read More Unlocking Doors – A Sermon on John 20:19-31, Easter 2
I have watched the news, commentaries, and celebrations about the death of Osama Bin Laden. I am not sure what to think or feel. Relief? Justice? Celebration? American pride? Sadness? I keep coming back to the Exodus story. Then Moses…
Read More “The Works of my Hands” – Thoughts on the Death of Osama Bin Laden
Source: LA Times
Interrupting the Silence 