[RCL] Isaiah 65:17-25; Canticle 9; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19 In just a couple of weeks, we will send the Gospel of Luke to the barn and saddle up the Gospel of Matthew, as we inaugurate Advent and turn the liturgical calendar from Year C to Year A. When we do, there will surely be…

[RCL]: Isaiah 65:17-25; Canticle 9; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19 It seems almost self-evident that children’s literature contains some of the most unvarnished truths among any genre. Certainly, we all have our favorites, but two, in particular, have something to do with our life in the church hinted at in our collect and the readings…

There are some words that just sound good, that are attractive all by themselves. A great example, which the Gospel reading especially brought to mind, is ‘penultimate’. It’s a fine old Latin word that means ‘next to the last’. Not the last, not the ultimate, but next to that, before that. The penultimate things are not…

The bright sun stunned the disciples as they strolled out from the majestic temple onto the bleached limestone. Hand-chiseled, these giant stone blocks measured eight feet on a side. A grown woman could walk two or three paces per stone, and watch hundreds of people milling in the courtyards and patios outside the temple. Rising…

We live in scary times. Millions of people in this country and around the world find themselves unemployed or underemployed – in spite of the upbeat explanations of some economists that the recession is already at an end. The housing market, other experts tell us, has not stabilized. And the same is probably true of…

It is hard to hear today’s epistle without recalling Aesop’s fable about the grasshopper and the ants. Thinking about the fun-loving grasshopper who showed up at the hard-working ants’ door, cold and starving during a winter storm, seeking food and shelter, it’s easy to imagine what the ant doorkeeper had to say. Maybe something like:…

A book of remembrance was written before him… Malachi 3:16 There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, of an American professor of philosophy doing research in Asia. Deeply involved in her work, she asks a Japanese colleague to explain some of the complexities of Shinto and Buddhist belief. The Japanese scholar at first demurs. But the…

“Let’s get our priorities straight!” seems to be the message of this morning’s readings from Scripture. With the liturgical year coming to a close, the church turns its attention to the “End Times,” thus framing the Christian year with apocalyptic images. The challenge to Christians is how to incorporate the sense of urgency contained in…

The Gospel appointed to be read this Lord’s day is harsh, strikingly harsh. One of the theories as to why it is harsh is related to the probable date of Luke’s Gospel. Luke’s Gospel was assembled probably around 75 AD. This is roughly 40 years or so after the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. If…