Category Archive

Patti LaCross delivered the following homily at Sunday Assembly on July 31, 2011. In the fullness of summer, even occasional swimmers need no second invitation to come to the water; In this cranky, miserly political and economic scene, People everywhere seek welcome, bread and milk as they struggle to keep their bearings, and even feed themselves and their families. The refreshment offered in today’s readings from second Isaiah and Matthew’s Gospel is perfectly attuned to our needs at this end of a warm, dry July. And in the comfort of this chapel, we pause in order that the rich images …

Roberta Felker delivered the following homily at Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery on July 24, 2011.  The readings from the common lectionary for the day were 1 Kings 3:5-12, Romans 8:26-39, and Matthew 13:31-33. Most of the gospel readings this month come from a collection of parables, sometimes called the sermon on the water or the Kingdom parables, stories that form the structural and thematic heart of Matthew.  We can view them as concrete examples, intended to help us simple folks who might not otherwise understand these lofty spiritual matters. And it also may be that through parables, Jesus was reminding us …

Wayne Sigelko delivered the following homily at Sunday Assembly eucharist at Holy Wisdom Monastery on July 17, 2011.  The readings from the common lectionary that day were Isaiah 44:6-8, Romans 8:12-25, and Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. Weeds and Wailing vs. Wheat and Waiting One of the realities of homily preparation in the 21st century is that you can type a passage into Google and instantly get a couple of dozen commentaries and sermons on the topic.  In doing so with today’s gospel I found that the results could be divided into two neat, if unequal, categories.  The first and far more …

The following homily was delivered by Jim Penczykowski at Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery on July 3, 2011.   Does anyone here have an identical twin? Are identical twins truly identical in every respect or can we say that even those who share identical chromosomes are unique? I dare say that most of us relish the thought that “I am unique in all the world.” Not only individual persons, but also groups and communities of persons fancy themselves as unique in the entire world. We like to set ourselves apart. We like to see ourselves as special. We also …

Patti LaCross delivered the following homily at Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery on June 26, 2011.  The readings from the common lectionary that day were Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16, 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, and John 6:51-58. Scripture scholars seem to agree that the Israelites who fled Egypt and landed in the Sinai wilderness subsisted in part by eating the secretions and bodies of insects they found on local scrub trees in the morning. Many believe that the name given this substance – Manna- derives from Man hu, a Hebraic expression for “What is it??” Imagine the buzz of young children in …

It’s not so many words: “So God created humankind in God’s own image, in the image of God they were created; male and female God created them.” These phrases are restated, repeated three times, for emphasis, and to get our attention. But the words pass quickly, and are easy to miss if we are distracted. They are just a few words in the context of the entire creation story, and when we get the whole picture, we are reminded that we are only a small part of a very big creation — and we come late in the day, as …

The following homily was delivered by Colleen Hartung at Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery on June 12, 2011. Today’s gospel takes us back to the day of Jesus’ resurrection.  It is evening and the followers of Jesus are huddled behind locked doors.  They are afraid for their lives.  They are confused by Mary Magdalene’s claims to have seen her teacher.  And many, like Peter, are guilt ridden for various acts of betrayal and abandonment.  Not peace but bottomless sorrow, gripping fear, overwhelming guilt and growing confusion fill the room.  And then, so the story goes, there is an unexpected …

Joe Wiesenfarth delivered the following homily at Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery on May 29, 2011.  This homily was based on the lectionary readings of Acts 17:22-31, Peter 3:13-22 and John 14:15-21. Joseph Wiesenfarth is Professor Emeritus of English at the UW-Madison, where he taught from 1970 to 2000.  He began attending liturgies at the former St. Benedict Center about 1975 and giving occasional homilies there and at Holy Wisdom Monastery since 1984. We don’t have to go beyond the first line of today’s first reading before we encounter a problem.  That’s because the word Areopagus designates both a …

The following homily was shared by Ken Smith, OFM, in celebration of Mary David Walgenbach’s 50th Jubilee celebration on May 26, 2011 at Holy Wisdom Monastery. For those who may not know me, I am a Capuchin-Franciscan friar, I was a staff member at Holy Wisdom Monastery from 1994 to 2008. I was the regular Sunday presider and frequent homilist for 12 years. Well, last Saturday passed calmly and the end of the world did not come. I knew it was the wrong date as soon as it was announced, because they picked a date before Mary David’s jubilee, an …

The following homily was delivered by Jim Penczykowski at Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery on May 22, 2011. In what way could we say that stones are living? I am wondering if any of the younger members of the congregation know, or can guess, what it is that holds the bricks in place on the outside of this building? Mortar is kind of muddy glue.  When it hardens around bricks or stones it holds them together. Bricks and stones can sometimes stay together without the mortar. Usually the pieces have to fit together very tightly and in a certain …