Br Scott Wesley

Readings for the day

Here we are at the tail end of Eastertide and on the verge of Pentecost. A very important event took place this past Thursday… Jesus ascended to heaven. A very important event happens next Sunday, the Holy Spirit comes to us. So here we are in the space between two momentous events; the interregnum if you will between Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This is the odd period when, it seems, nobody is in charge… We should be considering what kind of trouble we can get into in this unsupervised time. 

Of course, the truth is we hardly need to be left unsupervised to get into trouble. Some wag has a variation on the Lord’s prayer which says: “Lead us not into temptation, we can find our own way…” 

Sermon for the 7 Sunday of Easter (Year A) Volmoed 2023Read More »

Readings for the day

When I was growing up the Cold War was raging, and the US was in a particularly fearful and paranoid way. Communists, or as we said back then “godless communists” were spotted behind every shrub. The Soviet Union was the great instrument of Satan and all things bad – and so the US was the great instrument of God and all things good. The rest of the world, at least in the American mind, was left to fit into one or the other sphere of influence, the good sphere (ours) or the bad. In the US we like things to be very binary, very black or white.

Fourth Sunday of Easter 2023 at VolmoedRead More »

Readings for the day…

Jesus seems to be on a bit of tear this morning… He seems to be saying “let’s take the various demands of the law of Moses and up the ante. For example, you know you should not commit adultery – but I say if you’ve even looked at another person, you have already committed adultery.” It sounds like trouble for those of us who are human.

Sermon for February 12Read More »

Much of our Christmas tradition and, for that matter, much of our Christian tradition is built around the notion of good news. In fact, the word Gospel could just as accurately be rendered “good news.” And so, on this Christmas morning, we can rejoice that we are hearers of good news… of glad tidings. But while the news may be good, it’s not simple and it’s not easy. So, let’s savor this good news for a bit.

Christmas 2022 at VolmoedRead More »

(readings for the day)

Welcome to the second half of Advent. Christmas, the coming of Jesus, inches ever closer. Three candles are now lighted on our wreath. I have a list of things that I think must be completed before Christmas, and I can’t say that I’m making progress. Even so, Lord Jesus, quickly come…

Third Sunday of Advent – Volmoed 2022Read More »

(readings for today)

We should have noise makers and such – since this is New Year’s Day… We should be celebrating just as they will do in a few weeks at Times Square in New York, the Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh (where its Hogmanay, not New Year’s), or the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, which I gather is a major New Year’s hub. But that’s all in a few weeks. This week the Church celebrates the new Liturgical Year with the first Sunday of Advent. Hold the fireworks and noise makers for the other new year’s…  

First Sunday of AdventRead More »

(Readings for the day)

Happy feast of Christ the King – a relatively new feast in the Church. It dates back all the way to the to Pope Pius VI in 1925. It was created to make a sort of bookend for the Pentecost season – The Day of Pentecost at one end and Christ the King at the other. Because otherwise we might not notice that it was Advent next week…  

Feast of Christ the King – Volmoed Read More »

Readings for the day

I find the reading from Isaiah irresistible right from the very start with its reference to Sodom and Gomorrah. Our collective understanding of the sin of Sodom is an interesting thing. A great many people over the years have assumed it was a sexual sin. More recently others have begun to understand it as a violation of hospitality. Three things are sure: Sodom was a really bad place – filled with really bad people. And things ended really badly for those nasty folks. 

Sermon for Proper 26C – Volmoed 2022Read More »