December 30, 2018 Holy Wisdom Monastery 1 Samuel 2:18-20,26; Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 2:41-52 Patti La Cross It is a joy and a privilege to be here with you celebrating “the third story of Christmas” as renowned scripture scholar Raymond Brown referred to this Gospel passage. Observant children of all ages might wonder how we come to this story of Jesus, aged 12, only a week after he appears in the manger. It’s tempting to bask in the Silent Night image: a resting new mother, nursing and falling in love with her precious infant; his protective father nearby. …
Wayne Sigelko’s Homily from December 16, 2018
Gaudete Sunday Sunday, December 16, 2018 “Is there any point in bothering about joy? Is joy not among those luxury items of life that have no place in the meager private area tolerated in wartime conversations? Certainly, it has no place in a prison cell where one is pacing back and forth, his hands in irons, his heart swelled by all the winds of longing, his head filled with worries and questions.” So begins the reflection on the Third Sunday of Advent of the Jesuit priest, Alfred Delp from his prison cell in Tegel prison outside Berlin on …
Colleen Hartung’s Homily from December 9, 2018
Wilderness voices, Reorientation, and Hospitable Advent Waiting Homily, Luke 3: 1-6 By Colleen D. Hartung Every time I have opened my assigned homily scripture over the last year I have been inevitably drawn into a reflection on the religious and political circumstances of our times; iconic gospel stories, compelling characters and mesmerizing events, celebrations and rituals resonated with the religious and political issues that define our day and age like immigration, gender equity, LGBTQI rights, racism and more. These themes leapt off the page and were impossible to ignore. The current machinations of various religious and political players, the …
Jerry Folk’s Homily from December 2, 2018
December 2, 2018 (Advent I) Holy Wisdom Monastery Madison, WI These apocalyptic passages from the New Testament have never appealed to me. I don’t like their antiquated cosmology and surrealistic images, but at a deeper level I dislike them because, at this darkest time of the year, they speak and require a homilist to speak about darkness, death and the END. These are things from which all living beings instinctively recoil. This is a voice which our society seeks to drown out with seductive distractions like Black Friday and the orgy of consumption it initiates. But the Reality these readings …
Leora Weitzman’s Homily from November 25, 2018
Sunday of the Fulfillment • Dan 7:9-10, 13-14; Rev 1:4b-8; Jn 18:33-37 • 11/25/18 “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” Jesus’ whole life testifies to the truth of God’s love. Wherever we look in the Gospels, Jesus is teaching, including, healing, raising up. The power of his witness comes from his consistency, his refusal to change his message no matter the pressure or cost. I suspect it’s the purity of his commitment that allows his healings to work. They are not magic tricks or displays of skill. They …
Steve Zwettler’s Homily from Jim Green’s Funeral, November 24, 2018
FUNERAL HOMILY For: Jim Green November 24, 2018 Holy Wisdom Monastery By: Steve Zwettler JIM GREEN: A MODERN DISCIPLE Again, welcome to all of you here today. It is so good of so many of you coming together here at Holy Wisdom to celebrate Jim’s life and to support his family. As all of you know, Jim made so many wonderful connections and friendships with so many from different walks of life, and he would be delighted to see all of you here today to remember him. On behalf of Bill, Jim’s husband, and Jim’s extended …
Jerry Folk’s Homily from November 18, 2018
Pentecost 25 (November 18, 2018) Holy Wisdom Monastery Madison, WI After reading today’s lessons, I thought “My luck has run out.” So I went to the commentaries, but found little help there. But then these texts began to open up for me, especially the reading from Hebrews. I was surprised by this, since this reading is full of references to the Jewish sacrificial system and its bloody sacrifices, a system entirely alien to us. However, it would have been was very familiar to the author’s original audience because it was at the very heart of their religion. In fact, this …
Jim Penczykowski’s Homily from November 11, 2018
Before launching into the substance of today’s homily, I want to remind you that during next week’s liturgy we will set aside a specific time to turn in your stewardship pledge cards if you have not already done so. Today’s reflection on the scripture might be considered contemplation on the abundance of God’s power and mercy in our lives. Long-standing interpretation had it that today’s Gospel passage praised the poor widow for donating “all she had to live on” to the temple treasury (which in our minds we were to equate with giving our all to God). The Gospel …
Paul Knitter’s Sermon from November 4, 2018
All Saints/All Souls Sunday Nov. 4, 2018 Isaiah 25:6-9; Revelation 21: 1-6a; John 11: 32-44 What Are We Waiting for?! When I’m in the throes of preparing a sermon, I like to give myself at least a working title to keep myself focused. The title I’ve chose for today’s homily – appropriate, I hope, for today’s feast of All Saints and All Souls – is “What are we waiting for?!” The first two readings are pretty clear about what we’re waiting for. Today’s first reading is taken from the section of Isaiah, chapters 24-27, called the “Little …
Colleen Hartung’s Homily from October 14, 2018
Solidarity Sunday – October 14, 2018 Mark 10: 17-31 Over the last few weeks, the Jesus of Mark’s Gospel has been telling us over and over again that in the Reign of God, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. In last week’s gospel, Jesus tried to make it as plain as plain can be. In order to enter the Reign of God come as a child, the least of these; without status, without money and without claims of goodness. But this is a hard lesson. The disciples don’t get it. They keep fighting over …