Category Archive

Fulfillment Sunday November 26, 2023 Holy Wisdom MonasteryEzekiel 34:11-16,20-24; Ephesians 1:15-23 ; Matthew 25: 31-46 Patti La Cross The timing and poignancy of this morning’s first reading from Ezekiel is profound.The tiny strip of land that is Israel and Gaza holds so much hope and pain, somuch promise and contention over centuries. Ezekiel reminds us that when Israel’s leaders turn away from the people, Godsteps in on the people’s behalf to feed them. Justice means that God holds theoppressors accountable for persecuting their people. At the same time, God’sjustice enables the oppressed to recover their basic needs as well as …

 All Saints/All Souls • Revelation 7:9–17 • 1 John 3:1–3 • Mt 5:1–12 • November 5, 2023 Today’s readings raise some questions about Divine justice. On one level, they seem to suggest that if we didn’t get what we deserve while alive, we’ll get it in the afterlife. I want to propose that if we look more closely, we’ll find a subtler concept of Divine justice, reward, and blessing. Although scholars attribute the essence of the Beatitudes to the historical Jesus, that last beatitude originated in the early church in response to the concerns of the time. Even without being …

Homily for October 29, 2023 Nancy Enderle – Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery Text:  Matthew 22:34-46 I would like to begin this homily with a confession of sorts. As one who has been preaching for nearly 40 years, it is fairly easy to encounter familiar texts and travel on deeply worn neural paths carved out from writing previous sermons. To further confess, my well-traveled path for these verses in Matthew, in which Jesus responds to the Pharisee’s question about the greatest commandment, typically features a bit of a bi-pass around the Love of God, straight to the love of …

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time 10/22/23 Almost 35 years ago, my wife, Alison, and I packed up the kids and all our gear, and went on a camping trip to Mount Mitchell in North Carolina.  As it turned out, this excursion ended up in the “best laid plans” file.  We were rained off the mountain by the northwestern tailings of Hurricane Hugo.  All night, my son and I tried to keep the tent from floating away, and Alison and our daughter took refuge in the car.  After a day at a Knoxville, TN motel, basking in the sun and drying …

Homily for Oct. 1, 2023 Twenty-sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time Just about half-way through our second reading, from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we encounter what many scholars believe is the earliest known Christian hymn. Whether it was written by Paul or is quoted here it profoundly summarizes what Paul and the early Christian community had come to believe about Jesus, the Christ. In the translation I best remember it begins: Though he was in the form of God, he did not deem equality with God a thing to be grasped at. Rather he emptied himself…being born in human likeness. …

A pious elder stated to a group of us twenty somethings many years ago, “God’s mercy is exceeded only by God’s justice.”  A rather lively exchange of views was going on at the time.  While theological debates of this sort may not play out much in classrooms, dorm rooms and bars anymore, our attitudes and resulting behaviors toward one another are frequently determined by what part of the equation we land on. Our scripture today gives us an entrée into these competing points of view.  In particular, I think it has application to how we balance the needs of individuals …

Twenty-Second Sunday, Sept 3, 2023                                         Holy Wisdom Monastery Jeremiah 15: 15-21; Romans 12:9-21, Matthew 16:21-28          Patti La Cross In each of the monotheistic traditions, prophets are seen as key to connecting and communicating between humans and the divine. It is they whodiscern the signs of the time, who guide, warn, and confront –  always in an effort to help the people move toward liberation and reconciliation. As we move into this latest stretch of very hot days, I want to explore how the notion of prophecy might help us reflect on faithful action in this era of climate …

HOMILY delivered at Sunday Assembly, Holy Wisdom Monastery, Middleton, WI – August 27, 2023 Text(s) – Matthew 16:13-20 and Mark 8:27-38 I suspect most of us pretty much agree that the level and tone of our public discourse in this country right now has sunk to a mighty low level. Mostly, it seems, we just talk past each other, if in fact we’re not shouting at or over one another. So a comment I recently overheard while standing in the checkout line at the grocery store was interesting to me. “Why,” one woman asked another, “are the only people who …

Homily                   Sunday, August 20, 2023                  Holy Wisdom Monastery                       Pam Shellberg   Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost                Matthew 15:21-28 Well, this is certainly not the Jesus we are used to seeing, is it … maybe not the Jesus we really want to see – and certainly not the Jesus our theology often primes us to see – a gentle, loving, and inclusive Jesus who reaches out to everyone, no exceptions. It’s hard to know what to make of this rude, disrespectful, and exclusionary Jesus who earlier in Matthew’s gospel was more than willing to heal the servant of a …

RESOLVING PAUL’S DILEMMA: THE JEWISH JESUS: A WAY OPEN TO OTHER WAYS Sermon – Aug 6, 2023 Readings:  Isaiah 55: 1-5; Romans 9:1-5; Matt 14: 13-21 “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood And sorry I could not travel both, ….. I took the one less-travelled by.” Paul Knitter