Most Episcopalians are familiar with the church year: that great cycle of prayer and liturgy that takes us from Advent through Christmas and Epiphany, on through Lent and Easter, and into the long stretch of Sundays after Pentecost. Fewer among us may be familiar with the cycle of the saints’ calendar. While most of the…

Someone has described a saint as an ordinary Christian who does ordinary things extraordinarily well. That’s certainly not the New Testament definition, although it’s not a bad start. If you look at the two New Testament lessons appointed for today, the one used for Service 1 gives a vision of heaven, filled with people wearing…

Note: This sermon is written with the intention that the entire passage from Luke (6:20-36) will be read as the Gospel lesson for the day. As we approach two months since the attacks on our nation that began September 11 we are still sorting out what has changed in America, and what will need to….

At this point in time, in that strange mix of pop psychology and the learning theory of our age, we have a phrase to describe Jesus’ thought patterns as seen in today’s Gospel lesson. That phrase is “counter intuitive.” Jesus’ thinking is running contrary to normal thinking. Jesus’ wisdom is not the common folk wisdom….