The Baptism of Jesus January 10, 2016 Isaiah 43: 1-7 Acts: 8:14-17 Luke: 3:15-17, 21-22 This last week, public television broadcast the movie, Particle Fever; a documentary thriller about the building of the Large Hadron Collider. With this gigantic atom smasher, physicists are hoping to confirm the existence of the predicted Higgs Boson; the so-called “god particle,” that is theorized to be the cornerstone of the current “standard model” of the fundamental structure of the universe. Even though I have little real understanding of the science, I was enthralled by the story…couldn’t leave my chair. I was also impressed by …
Rosy Kandathil’s Homily – Christmas Eve: December 24, 2015
“Home” for Christmas Isaiah 9:2-7; Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7; Luke 2:1-20 It is good to be home. Home. It’s the place our hearts inevitably turn as we approach this time of year: I’ll be home for Christmas. And on this Christmas Eve, so many have set out (or will set out) for that familiar place called home, surrounded by friends and family. But the meaning of “home” changes as we grow from children into adults. My earliest memories of home conjure up images of a place: my room, my toys, my Christmas tree and presents, my parents and siblings around a …
Steve Zwettler’s Homily from Epiphany, January 3, 2016
Feast of the Epiphany January 3, 2016 Homily Steve Zwettler I do not write my homilies verbatim…….I speak from notes and an outline and allow for the free movement of speech to dominate. The following is a close rendition of my homily for the feast of the Epiphany but it may lose some of its energy going from the spoken word back into the written word. So be it. Once again, welcome and good morning to all of you. It is always so good to pray with you and to celebrate this Eucharist together here at Holy …
Libby Caes’ Homily, December 27, 2015
Sunday after Christmas December 27, 2015 Luke 2:40-52; I Samuel 2:18-20,26; Col.3:12-17 At first hearing, today’s gospel reading seems out of place on the first Sunday after Christmas. Only 2 days ago we were hearing about shepherds and angels. What about the wise men or the flight into Egypt? What about the presentation in the temple? What about the prophecies of Simeon and Anna? We have waited so long for the birth of the Christ child, and it zooms by! Jesus is already 12 years old!! Today’s gospel reading is so down to earth: an adolescent who …
Lynne Smith’s Homily from Christmas Day, December 25, 2015
Christmas Day Homily – 12/25/2015 Lynne Smith, OSB When I was a child on Christmas Eve my family gathered at our crèche to sing Christmas carols before we went to bed. I liked to sit in front of our Christmas crèche in the dark and look at the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the shepherds. I felt loved and peaceful. I wanted that peace and love to last all year, but I knew even as a child that the world was not all peaceful. Jesus was born in those days long ago, but I only imagined him in heaven in …
Leora Weitzman’s Homily, December 20, 2015
4th Sunday of Advent • 12/20/15 • Leora Weitzman Micah 5:2-5a, Hebrews 10:5-10, Luke 1:39-55 Today’s readings are full of comfort and encouragement, a welcome contrast to the not-so-good news heaped on us by the media. This very contrast invites us into a theme present in all three readings, which could be called the theme of the two covenants. I prefer to call them two orders or levels of experience. At the first level, the media have it right. The mighty get mightier, and there is no such thing as mercy or a free lunch. Everything is win-lose, …
Paul Knitter’s Homily, December 6, 2015
Second Sunday of Advent Dec. 6, 2015 – Holy Wisdom Monastery Readings: Malachi 3: 1-4; Philippians 1: 3-11; Luke 3:1-6 Paul Knitter “WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?!” If I had to give a title to the reflections I’m sharing with you this morning, I think it would be: “What are we waiting for?!” I don’t know if it’s the case for many of you, but that’s a question I can’t avoid as I heard the readings for last week and as I pondered the readings I have to preach on today. They’re typical Advent texts, full of promise and hope: …
Patti LaCross’ Homily, November 22, 2015
Grace and Peace indeed to each of you, and to our assembly as a whole this morning! This greeting twins the ancient Jewish salutation of Peace – expressing hope that the promise given Abraham will bear fruit; and Grace – the early Christian statement of new life …through the mercy of Jesus. We are the heirs to both. Today’s short selection from Revelation omits a further three part blessing that precedes and gives contexts to this passage: Verse 3: Blessed the One who Reads this aloud ; Blessed are those who Listen; and Blessed those who Take to Heart …
Joseph Wiesenfarth’s Homily, November 15, 2015
Joseph Wiesenfarth 15 November 2015 Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews 10:11-25; Mark 13:1-8 “[I have been] blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd.” Now this, of course, is not me, though I can suggest how it might be. But it is quite recognizably Elizabeth Bennet in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice once she realizes how badly she has misjudged Fitzwilliam Darcy. But these words could be mine if I pretended to talk any way but tentatively about the Last Things, which is what so much in today’s readings are about. Daniel speaks of “a time of anguish such as has never occurred since nations …
Libby Caes’ Homily from November 8, 2015
November 8, 2015 I Kings 17: 8-16; Mark 12:38-44 Ah, the widow’s mite! I suspect this story triggers all sorts of reactions. Because this widow has given all at great cost to herself, I am left feeling guilty because my life and gifts have not been as sacrificial as hers. Do any of you share this feeling? In my past life I worked in the nonprofit sector. At least in evangelical circles, the teeny, tiny gifts, the widow’s mite, are extolled as being the most virtuous one. But, let’s be real, aren’t the bigger gifts what allow non-profits to survive …