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, …
Roberta Felker’s Homily from January 16, 2022
Holy Wisdom Monastery January 16, 2022 The Wedding Feast at Cana Isaiah 62:1-5; I Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11 Roberta M. Felker__________________ In 1634, the wedding at Cana was the subject of a poetry contest at Cambridge University. Students were given three hours to compose a poem in Latin, based on the wedding story. At the end of the three hours, Richard Crashaw, known later as a metaphysical poet, handed in his paper. Upon it, he had written one line. Translated from the Latin, it read: “The shame-faced water saw its Lord, and blushed.” Crashaw won the prize. This morning’s readings celebrate …
Leora Weitzman’s Homily from January 9, 2022
Baptism of Jesus • Isaiah 43:1–7 • Acts 8:14–17 • Luke 3:15–17, 21–22 • January 9, 2022 These words are for you as well; let them sink into your being. “You are my child, my Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” To picture the baptism John offered, we have to strip away our scripted church ceremonies and take our imaginations outdoors to an undeveloped streamside. We have to visualize adults brave enough to accept John’s invitation to reform their lives into a pathway, a channel, for the power and direction of God. Such a reform entails some serious letting …
Terry Larson’s Homily from December 26, 2021
Christmas I December 26, 2021 I Samuel 2:18-20,26; Colossians 3: 12-17; Luke 2: 41-52 Blessings to all on this First Sunday After Christmas! Today we leap from the beloved birth story of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel to the young man Jesus, age 12, teaching in the temple. What happened between Jesus’ infancy and his adolescence? We don’t have any canonical biblical stories about Jesus’ childhood. But there are apocryphal books which contain some really unbelievable stories about the young boy Jesus. For instance in the ‘Infancy Gospel of Thomas’ one of the stories has five year old Jesus playing on …
Lynne Smith’s Homily from Christmas Eve, December 24, 2021
Christmas Eve 2021 Lynne Smith, OSB When I started working on this homily, I wanted to talk about how the Christmas story gives us hope. I Googled “where do we find hope at Christmas”, just to see what would come up. I was amused when Google said I could find it at Target, Walmart and Barnes and Noble. I thought “Consumerism has reached its peak.” Then I noticed Hope at Christmas is a novel, and it can indeed be purchased at Target, Walmart and Barnes and Noble if you are interested. In these days of polarization, the disruption of COVID, …
Wayne Sigelko’s Homily from December 12, 2021
Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Advent 2021: Advent Dreams As I started preparing for this homily last Sunday evening, I took a little time just trying to settle into the season. The weeks before and after Thanksgiving had been hectic and I really hadn’t had much time to even notice, much less reflect upon the beginning of the new church year. So, upon returning from yet another commute from Madison to Boston I settled into a chair in our living room, put on some traditional Advent music, lit a candle and tried to clear a little internal space to prepare myself …