May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer. Today we have heard some of the most beautiful, painful, heart-wrenching passages of scripture, juxtaposed with one of the holiest, most beautiful, painful, heart-wrenching moments of the Christian story. Jesus, our…

“Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” Jesus’ time is running short. We are not strangers to the idea of a person’s last days of life. Because we know that we will all die, we often find ways to think about both our own last days and…

La palabra de Dios que proclamamos en este tiempo de cuaresma nos va preparando para aceptar el camino de la cruz como la única vía que nos lleva a la vida verdadera. Hoy el evangelista san Juan nos presenta a Jesús purificando el templo de Jerusalén con una actitud que inquieta y confunde a sus…

If you are uncomfortable around snakes, this might not be your Sunday! But, if you can set that discomfort aside, you will be treated to an insight about how the ancient Hebrew Bible reading from Numbers connects with the Gospel reading from John. If you were running from something, brutal slave labor, for example, you…

Blessed Saint Peter: author of Scripture, first Pope, chief Apostle, teacher and defender of the faith, pillar of the Early Church, purported benefactor of the Gospel of Mark, and martyr. It is little wonder that Saint Peter gets so much good press amongst Christians! But there is one thing missing from this list. One thing,…

In Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s classic work The Little Prince, the narrator is a pilot who crash lands his plane in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Miles from civilization, the pilot assumes he will only last as long as his water supply, but one morning he is awakened by a funny little voice that says,…

Today, we commemorate the baptism of Jesus by his cousin John in the River Jordan. Now, John’s that guy we’ve been hearing a lot about lately (since the beginning of Advent), and after today, he will drop into the background. You see, we no longer need that voice crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way…

Genesis 9:8-17 Since the time of humanity’s disobedience in the Garden, covenants have been the means by which we re-enter into relationship with God. It’s important to note that God’s covenant extends past Noah through his descendants, to all of creation. This shows a significant point about the grace of God: it extends beyond all…

Hoy iniciamos la estación del año litúrgico llamada Cuaresma. El término Cuaresma se refiere a la narración de los evangelios de Marcos, Mateo y Lucas donde se nos dice que Jesús pasó cuarenta días con sus noches en el desierto. La estación de Cuaresma y otras estaciones litúrgicas no se establecieron inmediatamente después de la…

After the sermon ends in the Ash Wednesday liturgy, it is customary for the minister to invite us, “in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent.” The Church invites us to self-examination and repentance, prayer, fasting and self-denial, and reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word. Many of us recall…