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The giving of the Ten Commandments is read every Lenten season. In some churches the Commandments are read as a preparation for the Confession of Sin during penitential seasons. Recently they have been in the news, as legal battles have been fought over whether they can be displayed in public courthouses without violating the Constitutional…
In Yann Martel’s wonderful novel Life of Pi, twelve-year-old Pi decides to explore a number of different religions in his native India. He has a rather remarkable reflection on a conversation he had with a Roman Catholic priest, Father Martin, about the crucifixion. Pi thinks to himself: “That a god should put up with adversity,…
Lo, He comes with clouds descending… are the opening words of a well-known Advent hymn that will be sung in many churches today. Another hymn many will sing is O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel. The two hymns are bookends for this First Sunday of Advent, one celebrating the coming of Jesus…
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” — BCP 265 The season of Lent begins with one word: Remember. “Remember,” says priest or minister as a cross of ash and dust is traced on our brows, “that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” It is a sober beginning…
This last Sunday of Epiphany completes a cycle of readings in which we experience God’s engagement in the world in many forms. From the arrival of the magi to the call of Samuel, from the call of the disciples to the teachings in the synagogue, from the healing of the widow’s son to the raising…
As we have worked our way through the beginning of Mark’s gospel this Epiphany season, we have seen the explosive growth in Jesus’ ministry. In today’s gospel his popularity has hit such a peak that the people can no longer gather close enough around him even to hear what he has to say. The word…
Conflict comes in the religious community as well as in the secular world! We have all heard of the inevitable collision between two ships on the sea traveling the same course toward each other. There is no time to change direction. So it is in our gospel lesson for today. Jesus’ action in showing compassion…
“The fever left her, and she began to serve them.” Most of us are familiar with Lourdes, the Roman Catholic shrine in southern France at which the Blessed Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to a saintly young woman named Bernadette a century and a half ago. Pilgrims today continue to throng the shrine,…
Today’s Gospel recounts an outstanding educational experience. The people of the Capernaum synagogue find that they have run right smack into the truth. Their encounter with Jesus leaves them awestruck. In contrast to their usual teachers, he speaks and acts with an authority that is undeniable. What do these people learn from hearing Jesus? What…
We all remember the story about Jonah being swallowed by a whale, but what we might have forgotten is why. This is the story: God asks Jonah to go to Nineveh, a corrupt city, and tell them that if they repent, God will not destroy them. This annoys Jonah, who thinks that the Ninevites deserve…
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