21st Ordinary Time • Isaiah 51:1-6 • Rom 12:1-8 • Mt 16:13-20 • August 23, 2020 Jesus often orders the disciples not to tell others who he is. Why not? Is it a secret—the Messianic secret, as scholars call it? The story we just heard suggests that the answer has less to do with what Jesus wants people to know than with how he wants them to know it. We heard the question “Who do people say that I am?” contrasted with the question “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus is inviting the disciples to search beyond public …
Terry Larson’s Homily from August 9, 2020
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time August 9, 2020 I Kings 19: 9-18, Romans 10: 5-15, Matthew 14: 22-33 I love stories like the one Matthew tells in today’s Gospel. It is an intriguing story … and that may be an understatement … because we hear about how Jesus is walking on the wind-lashed sea. He’d dismissed the well-fed crowds, ordered the disciples into the boat, and went up to the mountain by himself to be alone in his grief at the death of his friend John and to pray. Then early in the morning, in the midst of a …
Alison Long’s Homily from August 2, 2020
My first thought when I read the gospel reading for today was that this whole scene is a pandemic nightmare – thousands gathered on a beach, coming from multiple towns, crowded together, sharing food? It’s too much. I had to quell a small tide of anxiety at the thought. And we know what this would look like today: half the people before Jesus wearing masks, half refusing. And we have to wonder how Jesus would handle it. Just exactly how would feeding all these people work during a pandemic? This is NOT a pandemic story. It IS a miracle story. …
Rex Piercy’s Homily from July 26, 2020
Homily delivered at Sunday Assembly of Holy Wisdom Monastery, Middleton, WI – July 26, 2020 (Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52) Jesus is on a roll here in Matthew chapter 13. He fires off parables like some kind of comedy club stand-up shooting off one-liners. Hurling out one parable after another was clearly his all-time favorite way to teach. In fact, some scholars argue that it was really his only approach, which suits me just fine. It serves to reinforce my long-held opinion that the fourth gospel, lovely though it may be, and perhaps based loosely on events in Jesus’ life, did not …
Lynne Smith’s Homily from July 12, 2020
The parable of the sower and the soils through the lens of the Rule of Benedict July 12, 2020 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 Lynne Smith, OSB Because we celebrate the Solemnity of Benedict and Scholastica this weekend and because the parable of the sower and the soils is so familiar, I thought it would be interesting to consider the parable through the lens of the Rule of Benedict. So in full disclosure, I’m deviating from using the historical critical method of analyzing the text and instead considering the parable in the manner of lectio divina, holy reading. For years when …
Jim Penczykowski’s Homily from the Feast of Corpus Christi, June 14, 2020
I want to talk about viaticum today. Roman Catholics of a certain age will nod knowingly and think of the practice of taking Holy Communion to someone near death. The term in ancient Rome referred to provision for a journey, literally, “with you on the way”. I can think of no better expression to offer anyone who is setting out on a journey, even when the destination is clear and without peril. In our time of pandemic and societal unrest if we can sincerely say to one another, “with you on the way”, we are saying a lot. We citizens …
Terry Larson’s Homily from Holy Trinity Sunday, June 7, 2020
Holy Trinity Sunday, June 7, 2020 Holy Wisdom Sunday Assembly, Terry Larson Genesis 1, I Corinthians 13, Matthew 28 This Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity is a divine mystery which is very difficult for us to wrap our minds around. But we do our best. Two weeks ago I finished a perky homily on these texts which I felt pretty good about…words of comfort and hope that God creator, redeemer, sustainer would fully be with us through these difficult days of the pandemic. And then when the corona virus pandemic was over, we’d live …
Patti LaCross’ homily from Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2020
If you were asked to share the Good News, what would you say? And if you didn’t know the language, how would you attempt to communicate your faith? And how would that differ from the way you normally communicate? With all the enormous societal disruptions, revelations, fear and loss brought about by this pandemic, I’m among those who appreciate getting out for walks with more birdsong than voices. Last week, a chance encounter and a privileged conversation presented me with the challenge. I met a retired teacher I seldom see, and we had a – distanced – chat: how our …
Joseph Wiesenfarth’s Homily from May 24, 2020
Joseph Wiesenfarth Homily: Ascension Sunday, 24 May 2020 Acts 1:1-11, Ephesians 1:15-23, Matthew 28:16-20 Although I had finished my education and had already taught university level courses for two years, I thought that to teach graduate students, as I was slated to do, I should have a better grasp of contemporary British literature. To that end I decided to take part in a six-week program at the University of London in the summer of 1964. Consequently, I crossed the Atlantic a first time. I booked passage on the Queen Mary for June of that year to do the deed. The …
Leora Weitzman’s Homily from May 17, 2020
6 Easter 2020 • Acts 17:22-31 • 1 Peter 3:13-22 • John 14:15-21 • May 17, 2020 Recently someone I know said, “I’ve been thinking about faith, and how nice it would be to feel some.” She could have taken the words right out of my mouth. I know we are all in different places with what’s going on and in our own lives. Personally, I’ve been under such a cloud I wondered whether I have any real faith at all. But maybe faith isn’t a feeling of security or confidence that everything will be all right. Maybe it’s not …