28th Ordinary Time • 10/12/14 • Isaiah 25:1-9, Philippians 4:1-9, Matthew 22:1-14 • Leora Weitzman Today’s Isaiah and Gospel readings contain a disturbing mixture of violence and grace. In order to be able to embrace them fully as good news, I needed a way to reconcile the violent images with a totally loving God. There is some precedent for treating ancient stories allegorically, as portrayals of the community within the self. For example, I’ve heard the story of the Israelites’ liberation from enslavement by the Egyptians interpreted as an allegory for our liberation from enslavement to sin or …
Libby Caes' Homily, August 30, 2014
Matthew 16: 21-28 August 30, 2014 If you haven’t figured it out yet, my homilies tend to be autobiographical. I am preaching to myself as I meditate on the text and write my homilies. If what I have to say is not relevant for me, I assume it won’t be relevant for you either! Heaven forbid! I am indebted to two of Cynthia Bourgeault’s texts as I have pondered today’s gospel: The Wisdom Way of Knowing and Love is Stronger than Death. Let’s begin with this parable from the wisdom literature. Listen with the ears of your heart! Once …
Joseph Wiesenfarth's Homily, August 3, 2014
Isaiah 55:1-5, Romans 9:1-5, Matthew 14: 13-21 I thought about bringing a prop with me today: an English edition of Georges Auguste Escoffier’s Le Guide culinaire (1903), the equivalent of the Old Testament for those among us who like to cook. Or perhaps I could have brought Julia Child’s New Testament, Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961), which would have served just as well, maybe even better. But since I haven’t used a prop since 1984, when I gave my first homily at St. Benedict Center, I thought that I’d be true to myself and leave both books …
Jim Penczykowski's Homily, July 20, 2014
Who here has had his or her patience tested in the past week? Show of hands! Now grade yourself on how patient you were when your patience was tested. If you think you should get an “A” raise your hand. If you think you should get a “B” raise your hand. If you think you should get a “C” raise your hand. I won’t ask for anymore hand raising beyond a “C”. God’s ways are not our ways is not a new notion to anyone here. Our gospel account is predicated on this. The parable of the weeds and the …
Libby Caes' Homily, July 13, 2014
Matt 13: 1-9, 18-23 What I love about today’s Old Testament and Gospel readings is that they draw on images from creation. The sower sowing seed. Rocky ground, thorns and thistles, paths, fertile soil Seed that produces 30x, 60x, 100x The moutains and hills bursting forth in song. The trees clapping their hands. Cypress and myrtle rather than thorns and briers. Today’s passages resonate because we are outside a lot in the summer: Gardening, swimming, biking, camping, working or relaxing. The world around us: Do we take it for granted and not see it at all? Or, do we experience …
Colleen Hartung's Homily, July 6, 2014
“He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” (Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30) “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me…. You will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11: 28-30). The Jesus of Matthew’s Gospel likes to tell parables or share scraps of wisdom, like this one, that throw his listeners a little off balance. He does this in order to make them ponder and rethink taken for granted assumptions. …
Mary Gordon's Homily from the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, June 22, 2014
Today is the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. When I was growing up in the good old bad old pre Vatican II days, the feast was known as Corpus Christi—the Latinate version naming the body and not the blood. In 1969, the feast was changed to the body and blood of Christ because there had been a special feast just for the blood, and the Church in its wisdom, decided to consolidate. The feast actually came into being through the sustained efforts of a woman, A sister Juliana of Liege who I the 13th century who had …
Patti La Cross' Homily from Trinity Sunday, June 15, 2014
Genesis 1:1-31, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, Matthew 28: 16-20 Around the world, for over 50 years monastic communities have been aging and shrinking. Having so enjoyed the company of Benedictine Sojourners over recent years, we all appreciate how invigorating the presence of new and younger women or men in a monastery can be. So it was in Southern France, when a small group of older monks were joined by a young novice. A bright young man, he was eager to learn and full of questions. One day he was shown the Scriptorium, where monks worked copying illustrated manuscripts of the Bible, …
Patti LaCross' Homily, May 18, 2014
Blessings and great joy to each and all of you on this 5th Sunday celebration of Easter. The Easter season extends over 50 days to Pentecost, and it serves as a reminder to us that transformation-of a spiritual, or a biological nature-requires time. Each breath we take brings a new moment of life, yet the cells on the lung’s surface are fully renewed each two to three weeks. Our blood supply is refreshed every 90 days, but renewing our bones can take 10 or more years. And the message of Easter, which begins to renew us from our earliest grasp, …
Libby Caes's Homily, May 11, 2014
John 10:1-10 Most of us grew up steeped in the tenets of Western Christianity. We were taught that we have fallen and need to be saved. We were taught that Jesus is Savior; he died for our sins, he rescued us. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me… We were taught that Jesus is not like us but different from us. Therefore, he can be a mediator between us and God. This is the Christianity that was institutionalized in the fourth century with the establishment of the canonical texts and writing of the creeds. One …