[A homily suggestion I heard many years ago was prepare with the Sacred Scripture in one hand and the New York Times in the other. In this case I also included the Wisconsin State Journal and Ched Myers commentary on Mark’s Gospel, Binding the Strong Man, Orbis Books, 1988.] What did he know and when did he know it? Seems stolen from the recent headlines reporting on Governor Walker’s recent problems with aides who campaigned while on the government clock. It is rather a frequently asked question among scripture commentators about Jesus in Mark’s Gospel account. We are only about …
Discipleship and the Drum Major Instinct: Homily by Colleen Hartung from January 22, 2012
This week, on Monday January 16, after over 14 years of planning, deliberation and delay, the family of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. finally got to lay a wreath at the foot of the new monument erected in his honor. Chiseled on the north side of the monument are the words “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness”. This is a seemingly simple, straight-forward claim made by King about service and discipleship. Yet, just days before this celebration, after months of contentious debate, Ken Salazar, the Interior Secretary of the United States of America, issued orders to …
Joe Wiesenfarth's Homily from January 15, 2012
1 Samuel 1:9b-18a, 20, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, John 1: 35-51 There’s a lot of human nature in today’s readings from Scripture. Eli is snooping and getting the meaning of what he sees wrong until Hannah sets him right. Hannah herself in a stereotypical Jewish mother deciding on her son’s career: he will be a nazarite, which is a tall order because a nazarite was someone who, as Hannah says, could drink “neither wine nor intoxicants”; who could never get a haircut; and who could not touch anything dead be it man or mouse. That’s quite a decision for a mother …
Ephiphany: Wayne Sigelko's Homily from January 8, 2012
Happy Feast. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany and the end of the Christmas Season. At the story level this is certainly a strong finish. A new star appears, maybe a supernova. Magi (some translations use astrologers) appear from the mysterious East, bearing treasure chests filled with extravagant gifts. They are searching for a child destined to be a king. And, of course, the story introduces a worthy villain-Herod, a frightened king who tries to trick the Magi into revealing the place of Jesus birth and whose evil plan is frustrated when God speaks to the Magi in …
Leora Weitzman's Homily from January 1, 2012
Sunday after Christmas – January 1, 2012 – Isaiah 61.10-62:30, Galatians 4:4-7, Luke 2:22-40 “The redemption of Jerusalem” mentioned by Anna is symbolic. In historical time, the people of Jerusalem were once overtaken by force and enslaved in Babylon. That and their eventual liberation form the backdrop for Isaiah’s song of celebration. Symbolically, Jerusalem stands for each of its children: Jews originally, then everyone. Our redemption is what’s at stake. What do we need redemption from? The letter to the Galatians spells it out just before today’s excerpt. Listen: What I am saying is that as long as heirs are …
Christmas Eve Homily
“Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” What we treasure and ponder in our hearts shapes our lives and creates our reality. These days many forces around us seek to tell us what to treasure in our hearts. The pre-Christmas advertizing has told us to ponder our needs and what we lack so that we will treasure the multiplicity of things they have to sell. Politicians on both sides of the aisle seem to want us to ponder our status, power and entitlements so we will treasure winning more than working together for a greater good. …
Lynne Smith's Homily from November 27, 2011, First Sunday of Advent
What do you do when your world falls apart, your sins are exposed and even God seems to be absent? That is the situation of the people of Israel at the time of the reading from Isaiah today. The people returned to Jerusalem from years in exile in Babylon, but Jerusalem was no more. Their businesses, their government, the temple, their homes were all gone. Their whole society had been destroyed by the Babylonians. The prophets had warned it would happen and advised them to accept the situation and make their home in Babylon. But the people ignored the prophets …
Jack Finney's Homily from November 13, 2011
It is a spiritual principle that whenever we receive a call, an invitation, or have a gift to share there will always be resistance. To carry through we will also need support. The resistance can come in the form of a critic—either from within or without; laziness, or fear as in the case of the one talent person in today’s Gospel. The support can come from God/prayer; others; and inner resources. We see this pattern in everyone who is called or gifted. Moses’ resistance was that he was not a public speaker; but God gave him others for support. Jeremiah’s …
Joseph Wiesenfarth's Homily from October 30, 2011
Joseph Wiesenfarth delivered the following homily at Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery on October 30, 2011. The readings from the common lectionary that day included Micah 3:5-12, 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13, and Matthew 23:1-12. Recently—in September to be precise—my wife and I were in Scotland and France: two countries noted for their spiritual history as well as for bottled spirits of another kind. I was speaking at a literary conference in Glasgow after which, to recover, Louise and I went to Paris to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. Our adventures abroad involved visiting churches of two denominations—Presbyterian and Catholic—and sampling scotch …
Libby Caes' Homily from October 23, 2011
Libby Caes delivered the following homily at Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery on October 23, 2011. The readings from the common lectionary for the day included Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8; and Matthew 22:34-46. Libby Caes is the oncology and palliative care chaplain at UW Hospital and Clinics. She is ordained by the Mennonite Church USA but makes herself at home in the larger ecumenical community. She received her M.Div. at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Palmer Seminary) in Philadelphia, PA. Just over a month ago Pat Robertson, the televangelist, was asked by a caller, named Andreas…and I …