The Cross: A Way of Transformation Palm Sunday: 2022 By: Steve Zwettler Each year —when the rains come—and winter reluctantly gives way to Springtime—we hear the same Mysterious and Life-giving Story. We know it so well. We come face to face with the brutal and bloody death of Jesus by Roman Crucifixion. A moment in History which continues to challenge and amaze, inspire and intrigue all who take the time to look deeply. So……..What Does It Matter? What does it mean for us Believers & Seekers right here and now? On a personal level……speaking just for my own spiritual …
Patti LaCross’s Homily from April 3, 2022
The1982 German film The White Rose is set in the early 1940’s; it covers the final five days in the shining life of 21-year-old Sophia Magdalena Scholl, and her brother, Hans. Raised in a spirited Lutheran family; their father had earlier been detained for denouncing the Nazis. Hans was a popular leader in the Hitler Youth. After a stint of national service, he entered medical school at the University in Munich, and Sophie joined him. Their shared friends circle- all immersed in philosophy and theology- were outraged by the mass murders in Poland and Russia, and hearing of the rounding …
Wayne Sigelko’s Homily from March 27, 2022
The Lost Sons: 4th Sunday of Lent, 2022Since thisis the longest of Jesus’ parables, and I don’t intend to rush it, I invite you to please sit. Since itisalso among the most familiar passages of the Bible, Ialso invite us all to pause for just a few seconds,close our eyes, and enter into our deepest listening selves perhaps to hear these words we have heard sooften in a new way.A Reading from the Gospel according to Luke…(Luke 15:1-3, llb-32)The scandal begins right at the start of today’s Gospel. “All the tax collectors and sinners were comingnear to listen to Jesus.” …
Jim Penczykowski’s Homily from March 6, 2022
This first Sunday of Lent invites us to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to be led by the Spirit. More on that later. “Nurturing grievances” is on my mind for the past several weeks. It is an expression usually reserved for interpersonal relationships. But when I read or heard “nurturing grievances” as a description of Vladimir Putin in his escalation of troops at the border with Ukraine, I realized that much of the distress in human history can be reduced to that term. Consider for a moment the Genesis story of Cain and Abel. That relationship we can …
Leora Weitzman’s Homily from Ash Wednesday, March 2, 2022
Ash Wednesday • Joel 2:1–2, 12–17 • 2 Cor 5:20–6:10 • Mt 6:1–6, 16–21 • March 2, 2022 Barry Lopez has written with great clarity and beauty about nature, human exploitation, and—most meaningfully to me—the irreducibility of mystery. I was lucky enough to attend a talk and book-signing, in which someone asked him about the magical realism in some of his short stories. Refusing to analyze the magic, he built more of it into his response. I was in awe of his ability to find those words on the spot. I stood in a long line afterward, finally reaching …
Rex Piercy’s Homily from February 27, 2022
Homily for the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus – February 27, 2022, preached at Holy Wisdom Monastery’s Sunday Assembly – Middleton, WI Texts – Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 2:12-4:2; Luke 9:28-36 Back in early December while I was a away for a couple of weeks visiting friends and tying up the loose ends on my Hawaii church interim ministry gig, back at home, my husband took to some serious storage closet cleaning. He’s better at that kind of thing, or at least more committed to it than I am. He had, among other things, sorted and arranged a plastic …
Patti LaCross’s Homily from February 20, 2022
If you were raised hearing Bible stories, I wonder how you reacted to this one. Did you relate to Joseph or any of his brothers? Did any adult hold it up to you as a model of peacemaking? It seems I’ve always related to this story with familiarity. I remember thinking “He should’ve had sisters!” Our childhood was crowded with an increasing number of siblings, squabbles and household responsibilities. We older girls washed – when possible hung – 10 loads of laundry every few days. And ironed most of it. So “sending away” an annoying younger brother – or a …
Jim Penczykowski’s Homily from February 13, 2022
If you have ever eavesdropped on a conversation (and I will not ask for a show of hands) you know that it is sometimes easier to take in the meaning and dynamics of the interaction than if you were engaged in it yourself. It might have something to do with listening intently and not rehearsing your own response or reply to what you are hearing. In the case of our Gospel passage today, we are listeners only along with the crowd as Jesus instructs the followers he has just “called,” namely the twelve. This is a significant point in Luke’s …
Colleen Hartung’s Homily from January 30, 2022
The Demons Knew Homily on Luke 4: 31-41 Colleen Hartung The demons “… knew that he was the Messiah.” All four gospels, including the Gospel of Luke are constructed around the question of Jesus as the awaited Messiah descended from David. All four claim that Jesus is the Messiah but each goes on to qualify that claim with varying definitions of what that means. The author of Luke is talking to a community of gentiles who are followers of Jesus and as such this author, and his audience, are also preoccupied with another question; can one be a follower of …
David McKee’s Homily from January 23, 2022
THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Week of Prayer for Christian Unity January 23, 2022 Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a Luke 4:14-21 Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. This assertion by Jesus is the capping statement, the climax of our scripture readings this morning. It is also the first teaching that the adult Jesus gives as recorded in Luke’s gospel. He gives this teaching in his hometown of Nazareth. He goes there after two signal events: his baptism by his cousin, John, and, after the baptism, a 40-day solitary retreat in the desert. On that retreat, …