Category Archive

The Solemnity of Scholastica – Who are my mother, my brothers, my sisters?February 9, 2025 Today’s reading from the Gospel of Mark has always seemed harsh to me; an unfair judgement and rejection of family and friends doing their best to look out for someone they love.  In some interpretations of this Gospel, Jesus’ family has come to speak to him and, perhaps, bring him home.  They are worried; his teachings – the stand he has taken for the outcast, the poor, the sick, the lame, and even sinners, has caused a stir and upset religious and political authorities.  Jesus’ …

Luke 4:14-21 Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed …

You Are My BelovedJan 12, 2025 – The Baptism of JesusLuke 3:15-17, 21-22 Let us proceed now to break bread together and to remember who Jesus is and who we are. Paul Knitter

2nd Sun in Advent • Malachi 3:1–4 • Philippians 1:3–11 • Luke 3:1–6 • 12/8/24 Where I grew up in California, the mountains were glorious. Intriguingly crooked mountain roads went winding between spectacular rocky heights and wooded valleys that seemed to offer endless solace. So, I’ve struggled with this quotation; it conjures images of leveling tracts for malls and parking lots where craggy forests and high, hidden lakes once freshened the air and spoke of awe and adventure. Yet awe and adventure are afoot in these readings. The Holy One who delights us is on the way. We are to …

Apocalyptic texts don’t always provide us with the most upliftingimages. And this week we’ve got two! Our Hebrews lectionary textfinds itself bookended by Daniel 12 and Mark 13. It’s an apocalypsesandwich that is difficult to stomach… Today’s gospel text is often interpreted solely as a propheticvoice of what is about to happen to our world today. However, biblicalscholar Joy J. Moore reminds us that Mark 13 was an account of whathas happened to the first century readers and early church. A coupledecades after Jesus’s death and resurrection, the Romans stormedthe city of Jerusalem and decimated the temple, leaving no stoneupon …

Holy Wisdom Monastery All Saints All Souls, November 3, 2024 Roberta Felker Isaiah 25:6-9; Revelation 21: 1-6a; John 11:32-44 Today, with faith communities across the world, we celebrate the feast of All Saints All Souls. We are invited to recall our membership in the Communion of Everyday Saints and the promise of God’s ultimate victory over loss, sorrow, and death.  In this morning’s reading from Isaiah, God hosts a feast for all people where every tear is wiped away and death itself is swallowed up—a vision echoed in Revelation, where a new heaven and a new earth reveal God’s intimate, …

SALVATION:  “LET ME SEE AGAIN” Revelation rather than Transaction Since we Christians call Jesus our Savior,  the question might also be posed as: How do you want me to save you?

Homily                      October 20, 2024                                                    Holy Wisdom Monastery Pam Shellberg                                                  Isaiah 53:4-12;  Hebrews 5:1-10;  Mark 10:35-45 Chapters 8, 9, and 10 of Mark’s gospel are its centerpiece containing three episodes in which Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to be arrested, tried, tortured, put to death, and then, after three days, will rise.  Jesus makes three predictions of his passion, the repetition alerting us to its ultimate significance. We’ve heard two of the passion predictions read in recent Sunday gospel readings, but the verses containing the third and final one were not included at …

In my teenage years, and a little beyond, I engaged in practical jokes and sometimes had those same jokes played on me. One of the more startling of these was mattress dumping, with the occupant still on the mattress. It may have been just a guy thing, but the people I hung with always thought it was hilarious. This section of Mark’s gospel has Jesus doing the equivalent of mattress dumping, except no one is laughing. Jesus tells his followers, “The last shall be first and the first, last.” He says that in various forms multiple times and offers illustrations …

THE TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME September 29, 2024 Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29 James 5:13-20 Mark 9:38-50 I want to begin this morning by dedicating this homily to a dearly loved departed friend who many of you knew:  Richard Schoenherr.  He died almost 30 years ago.  Richard and I spent an untold number of hours talking about many of the things I will be saying today.  I owe a great debt of gratitude to him.  I hear his voice often.  Most days, in the early morning, I take a slow prayer walk in Owen Park.  These walks are usually quiet, …