Jim Penczykowski delivered the following homily at Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery on March 27, 2011 – the Third Sunday of Lent. What do we seek when we tentatively cross the threshold of a worship space for the first time? When you enter a church or chapel for the first time what do you hope for? Do you expect to meet God face-to-face? Do you expect an ecstatic experience? Do you expect your life will be laid bare before you? Do you expect an invitation to intimacy that might be a little bit scary? Or, do you expect something …
Colleen Hartung's Homily from March 13, 2011
The following homily was delivered by Colleen Hartung at Sunday Assembly on March 13, 2011. The Gospel reading from the lectionary schedule that day was Matthew 4:1-11. Today’s scripture readings tell two different tales of temptation. In the first reading Eve is tempted with a piece of fruit. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate…”. Who wouldn’t? In this reading a forbidden fruit is presented as the …
Patti LaCross' Homily from March 6, 2011
The following homily was delivered by Patti LaCross at Sunday Assembly on March 6, 2011. The readings from the lectionary schedule that day were Exodus 24:12-18, 2 Peter 1:16-21, and Matthew 17:1-9. It is good to be here, up on the hill, savoring moments of silence too rare in this “state of siege” and all the political activity accompanying it that intensifies our already busy lives. It is good, and it is right to be here with all of you, my companions, hearing the Word and breaking bread together in the name and memory of Jesus of Nazareth. Today that Word …
Jim Penczykowski's Homily from February 27, 2011
The following homily was delivered by Jim Penczykowski at Sunday Assembly on February 27, 2011. The readings from the lectionary schedule that day were Isaiah 49:8-16a, 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 and Matthew 6:24-34. “We pray with confidence in the words our Savior gave us, …” These are the words that introduce the prayer of Jesus in the Roman Rite. It is a phrase I wish to meditate on with you today, for our readings from the prophet Isaiah and from the Gospel of Matthew are all about having confidence in what God is bringing about. A scripture scholar of some note, Richard Sklba, taught me …
Mike Sweitzer-Beckman's Sermon from February 13, 2011
The following homily was delivered by Mike Sweitzer-Beckman at Sunday Assembly on February 13, 2011. The readings from the lectionary schedule that day were I Corinthians 2:6-10 and Matthew 5:21-37. Mike was raised a Roman Catholic at St. Bernard’s in Middleton, and earned his Master of Divinity degree in 2008 from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. He now works with the sisters as their communications and IT coordinator. Last January 12, I had a chance to go down to the state capitol and watch my wife, Erica, get affirmed into the state bar association inside the chambers of …
Colleen Hartung's Homily from February 6, 2011
The following homily was delivered by Colleen Hartung at Sunday Assembly on February 6, 2011. The Gospel reading from the lectionary schedule that day was Matthew 5:13-20. “You are the salt of the earth”. “You are the light of the world”. “A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket”. “In the same way, let your light shine before others”. With these words Jesus names the gathered crowd as salt and as light…as preservers of life and illuminators of wisdom. In a sense he chooses and urges these …
Ed Beers' Homily from January 30, 2011
The following homily was delivered by Rev. Ed Beers at Sunday Assembly on January 30, 2011. The readings from the lectionary schedule that day were Micah 6:1-8, I Corinthians 1:18-31, and Matthew 5:1-12. A few years before becoming a Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, then a student at Columbia in New York City, was especially fond of his English professor, Mark VanDoren. In his autobiography Merton described how VanDoren entered the lecture hall, already deep in thought,and how he would open the class with a single question, as he stared pensively out the massive windows, wondering if the answer might mystically appear. …
Lynn Ramshaw's Homily from July 18, 2010
The following homily was delivered by Lynn Ramshaw, an oblate of Holy Wisdom Monastery, at Sunday Assembly on July 18, 2010. All of us here, in one way or another, are influenced by and committed to the Benedictine value of hospitality. Today’s Scripture invites us to an exciting consideration; our most important guest, every day, is God! That reality evolves, beginning with a story from Genesis. Abraham is resting in an already sacred space at the oaks of Mamre. Three angelic beings approach him. The scripture says right away that God is the visitor; I’m not certain Abraham knows that for sure, but he seems …