Sermon preached at Sunday Assembly, Holy Wisdom Monastery, Middleton, WI Third Sunday of Advent – December 15, 2019 Text – Matthew 11:2-11 Out there beyond these sanctuary doors, December is in the final, mad dash to Christmas, fueled on with a consumerist frenzy of shopping and a kind of exhaustion which arises from way too much to do and so very little time in which to accomplish it all. Amid the too short days and long nights of the impending cold season, we’re all very much in need of that proverbial “long winter’s nap.” Our culture doesn’t so much observe …
Jerry Folk’s Homily from December 8, 2019
December 8, 2019 (Advent II) Holy Wisdom Monastery, Madison, Wi I begin with a quote from Teilhard de Chardin that I used in a sermon last Advent. “Expectation…of an end to the world, that is to say, of an issue for the world…is perhaps…the most distinctive characteristic of our religion…but in reality, we should have to admit… that we no longer expect anything.” The readings of the Advent Season seek to renew our expectation. Today’s reading from Isaiah promises that divine-human partnership will create a new earth. This promise is not based on experience. Isaiah lived in a very …
Wayne Sigelko’s Homily from December 1, 2019
First Sunday of Advent 2019 Those of you have heard me preach, know that for the past couple of years, I have navigated this season of the year with great assistance from the Jesuit resistance martyr, Alfred Delp. This is how begins his reflection on the first Sunday of Advent, December 3rd 1944. “The deepest meaning of Advent cannot be understood by anyone who has not first experienced being terrified unto death about themselves…and the constitution of humankind in general.” Now, if that seems a little dark, it just might be because is writing from Tegel prison, …
Patti La Cross’s Homily from November 24, 2019
Sunday of the Fulfillment 11/24/19 Holy Wisdom Monastery Jeremiah 23:1-6; Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43 Patti La Cross I won’t be focusing this reflection on the first reading. We are all quite aware that not all who have assumed power since the earliest civilizations could or – desired to – unite those they ruled. Today, in this day we are given, let us accept Paul’s prayer for the Colossians, and all with whom it is shared. Let us explore how we come to know and experience a life of joy and gratitude in Jesus the Christ. Let’s revel …
Rex Piercy’s Homily for November 3, 2019
The Habits of the Saints (Text is Luke 6:20-31) A sermon preached at the Sunday Assembly of Holy Wisdom Monastery, Middleton, WI, on the Feast of All Saints/All Souls, Sunday, November 3, 2019 I bring you greetings from the good people of the congregation of Hanapepe United Church of Christ on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, where I serve as the part time intentional interim minister. I came home this past Tuesday just in time for a Wisconsin Halloween snowstorm. I will be returning to Kauai in January and choosing between a Wisconsin winter and perpetual summer is not hard …
David McKee’s Homily from October 27, 2019
October 27, 2019 Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 Luke 18:9-14 Being an old Catholic boy, I need to begin with a confession. I confess that I’m using today’s well known reading from Luke as a pretext to talk about some concerns that have been pressing in on me for some time now: you know, some small, superficial things like loss, grief, pride, humility, denial, hope, and maybe even death. These are all part of preaching on a subject that hasn’t been talked about all that much from this pulpit: the …
Leora Weitzman’s Homily from October 20, 2019
29 Ord 2019 • Gen 32:22-31 • 2 Tim 3:14-4:5 • Lk 18:1-8 • Oct 20, 2019 “Beware, O traveler, for the road is walking too.” This wonderful line from Rilke resonates with the rapid and profound changes happening all around us. The weather is behaving in new ways. The media is utterly unlike its old self. Government and business—if they merit two separate words any more—rewrite their own rules day by day. The ground truly is shifting under our feet, even as we pursue our own journeys over that ground. The ground was shifting under Jacob’s feet as well. …
Joseph Wiesenfarth’s Homily from October 6, 2019
Homily: 6 October 2019 Joseph Wiesenfarth Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4; 2Timothy 1-14; Luke 17:5-10 Today’s readings have unpleasant tidings for the here and now. Habakkuk has to live with his sinful contemporaries as well as with destruction and violence. The appointed time for him is in the future, not the time of his writing. Paul tells Timothy that he, Paul, is suffering for the gospel and needs Timothy to come to him and await the promise of life as he himself awaits it. Jesus tells his followers who ask for a stronger faith that without it they are like …
Lynne Smith’s Homily from September 22, 2019
Luke 16: 1-13 Lynne Smith, OSB September 22, 2019 This parable is notoriously difficult to understand. It has long puzzled biblical scholars. At first reading, it sounds as if Jesus is commending immoral behavior. Is he saying the ends justifying the means? Is he using sarcasm? My first reaction is to take offense. It’s as if Jesus were to commend the Sakler family for transferring a billion dollars from Purdue Pharma to private accounts in order to care for themselves in the future. Instead of a commendation, my self-righteous self wants to use Amos’s words: God says, “I will never …
George Hinger’s Homily read by David McKee at George’s Memorial Service, September 21, 2019
George was a spiritual mentor to many. We profited from his wisdom. Let us listen and learn from his words again. George’s homily was given on the Sunday of Fulfillment (Christ the King): In the Gospel Jesus stands before Pilate. He is on trial. Pilate asks: “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answers: “My dominion is not from this world!” “So you are a king?” asks Pilate. “That’s what you are saying – that’s your language – But as for me I came into the world to testify to the truth. For this I was born.” …