August 2025

Pentecost X – 17 August 2025 – Sermon by Br Daniel

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Scripture Readings

I do not have any children, but sometimes I do wonder about them. What would they have looked like? Would they be as obtuse and difficult as I am? What music would they have liked? What would their lives look like? Most importantly, however, I often wonder how I would have loved them.

As it happened though, I had dogs, mostly Great Danes, and lately our mutt Molly of beloved memory. I also have a lot of nieces and nephews, and I can only extrapolate from how much I love them and their children and have loved my dogs, how I hopefully would have loved my children.

Those of you that do have children and grandchildren, know how much you love them. If we believe what we read about the God of Love in the Bible, how much more does God not love us?

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Sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

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Scripture Readings

In last week’s gospel reading, Jesus answered a question from someone in the crowd around him. He cautioned against all kinds of greed, asserting that a person’s life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. He made a distinction between those who store up treasure for themselves and those who are rich towards God.

This week, Jesus is still answering the question, but in the meantime he has turned from the crowd to his disciples. He has been telling them not to be anxious or obsessed about food or drink or clothing, because their heavenly Father knows that they need these things. They should rather have the kingdom of God as their primary concern.

In the gospel reading from two weeks ago, the disciples had witnessed Jesus at prayer. Perhaps something of his intimacy with his heavenly Father prompted them to ask him to teach them to pray. He responded with the prayer formula that has become established in the Church as the Our Father, and then went on to assure them that that same Father knows how to give good gifts to his children – in particular, the gift of the Holy Spirit, who enables us to live the life of the kingdom of God.

This week, we hear Jesus telling his disciples not to be afraid, something he insists on over and over again in the gospels. And then he says something more, something quite wonderful. He says that their heavenly Father is delighted to give them the gift of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of love and truth, the kingdom of justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. This eagerness on God’s part to share the kingdom, to invite all people to enter it, is the basis of relationship with God.

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Sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost Read More »

July 2025 News

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One of the highlights of the past month was the annual celebration of the Feast Day of St Benedict, which we shared with the resident Volmoed community and the Volmoed staff. A festal Eucharist at noon was followed by a fine catered meal. The awareness that this would almost certainly be the last such celebration we would host at Volmoed in this way added a certain poignancy to the occasion, and we took the opportunity to express our gratitude for the hospitality and support we have experienced during our time here. Br Josias received Rev Dr Robert Marankey from Cape Town as an Associate of Holy Cross during the Eucharistic celebration.

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July 2025 News Read More »

Thursdays at Volmoed – 31 July 2025 – Sermon by Br Josias

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Psalm 84

In the name of God, the Creator, the Redeemer and the Sustainer. Amen!

“My soul has a desire and longing to enter the courts of the Lord: with my whole being I sing for joy to the living God”.[1]

When the soul has a desire for the house of the Lord, it could mean one of two things. From a traditional point of view, the psalm ties the presence of God to the temple. So, from the onset, the psalmist might be saying he longs for the presence of God and may only find God in the temple. Of course, that might not be the case today. But there was a time when temple/church became the central point to have an intimate relationship with God. The psalmist believed the temple to be a place he could re-establish his relationship with God. His appreciation for God’s house is not simply because it is beautiful. His soul longs for God’s presence, and even faints when denied the privilege of meeting with God among His people.  

On the other hand, longing for the house of the Lord could also mean he just needed a place to feel safe. As the psalmist goes on to say, one day spent in your Temple is better than a thousand anywhere else; I would rather stand at the gate of the house of my God than live in the homes of the wicked. [2] Some scholars suggest that this psalm could have been written before or after the Babylonian exile. [3] Which makes me think the psalmist’s desire to stand at the gate of the temple is simple a desire for safety or security. Clearly, he wants a different environment from what he is used to.

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