Well… Merry Christmas. The literal calendar may tell us that we still have a few days to go until Christmas… But we don’t need to be too literal… And part of the Volmoed tradition for these Thursday services is to anticipate a bit… So, let’s just go with the assumption that today is Liturgical Christmas. Christmas is set on a fairly arbitrary date anyway – so we can just arbitrarily move it to suit our needs.
…Christmas comes a little early… Read More »
Advent – that great period of waiting – is almost at an end. Our waiting is nearly finished. Which leaves just one big question: If Advent is a season that is all about waiting, then what, exactly, are we waiting for?
The short answer is we’re waiting for Christmas, the coming of Christ into our world. But that is an answer that carries its own supply of questions: Who, or what is the Christ, the marked one. And what did the coming of the marked one mean to those folks back then? And why are waiting for it now if it happened back then? Are we even waiting for the same thing as Mary and Joseph were waiting for? We are in some way like kids around a Christmas Tree wondering what could be in the beautifully wrapped packages. What surprise has God got in store for us?
I’d love to say that I will spend the next few minutes answering these questions, but in fact all I’m going to do is raise more questions…
…Last Sunday in Advent Read More »
Here are the readings for Advent 1C
First, let me wish you a Happy New Year… As far as the Church is concerned, Advent starts a new year – a new liturgical year. At the end of December there will come a time that also calls itself New Year’s… but while January 1st, New Year’s Day may claim greater notoriety, it is just another day of Christmas to the Church.
Advent is the beginning of something, but it can feel like little more the prelude to Christmas. Everything in Advent seems to point to Christmas – whether it is candles on a wreath or chocolates behind little doors in a calendar… Advent is only important because what comes next is extremely important… And that is just not true, even though it is not false.
…First Sunday of Advent Read More »
Readings for the feast are here
Today the Church remembers James Otis Sargent Huntington. We think of him as founder of the Order of the Holy Cross. Typically, the Church remembers people on the anniversary of their death, or sometimes their birth. But this is neither the anniversary of his death nor his birth. Rather this is the anniversary of his life profession in the Order of the Holy Cross. Father Huntington is perhaps most remembered as a monastic, so this seems appropriate. But the truth is that the other dates were already claimed by other saints…
Remembering the Founder of the Order of the Holy Cross seems like a straightforward thing… and yet it offers food for thought…
…Feast of James Otis Sargent Huntington Read More »
This morning’s reading from Mark is located at an important turning point in this Gospel. Up to this point Mark has been mostly concerned with Jesus’ actions and interactions. Now Mark’s attention turns to what will happen next. Jesus is preparing his disciples to continue after his death. The Gospel of Mark ends, as you may recall, very abruptly. Jesus is killed and then there is only a very brief mention of resurrection. In a sense Mark is giving a Spoiler… Mark is telling us now, before the crucifixion, how life will continue after crucifixion.
We humans have an interesting ability to reorient messages to suit our desires. This 13th Chapter of Mark has hints of apocalypse, so we rush ahead to the Book of Revelation and the so called “end times.”
…25th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 28B) Read More »
(no I didn’t forget the reading link… there are just not any appropriate readings…)
We are coming to the end of Lent. This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday when we remember Jesus’ triumphant arrival in Jerusalem and his Crucifixion, though the two did not happen on the same day… It makes for a Sunday of much joy and even more sorrow.
But this is not just the last week of Lent… today is also the feast of the Annunciation – a Solemnity for our Roman siblings, a Festival for our Lutheran siblings, and in the Anglican Tradition a Principal Feast. Our Orthodox siblings count it as one of eight major Feasts of our Lord – since what is being announced to Mary is the incarnation of Jesus. Throughout Christian Tradition it is a big deal. So, we’ll come back to it…
…Annunciation/End of Lent/Palm Sunday at Volmoed Read More »
As Lent progresses we are called to turn our thinking from repentance, our work at the start of Lent, to Jerusalem – specifically Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem… a journey of sacrifice that leads to crucifixion. Today’s scripture readings are clearly part of that shift.
The shift is not just a call to think literally about the city of Jerusalem and the pending crucifixion. Embedded within the shift is a call to change the way we think about God.
…Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Lent Read More »
As we enter the second week of Lent it might help to keep in mind that Lent is a period of forty days starting on Ash Wednesday and continuing until Holy Saturday – just before Easter Sunday. It is not by chance that the number of days is forty… this is the number of days that Jesus spent in the wilderness after his baptism.
…Second Sunday in Lent Read More »
The compilers of the Lectionary clearly want us to think about water and baptism today. And, I have to admit, knowing that I am meant to think about it makes me want to think about anything but baptism…
Rebellion is not a bad place to start. After all, it was rebellion that set the stage for Noah and the flood which leads up to the passage we heard from Genesis. Those Lectionary Compilers opened the door on the Story of Noah… so let’s spend some time with it. We, not us personally, but we the human race, rebelled against God to the point where God really lost it.
…First Sunday in Lent Read More »
Some passages in the Gospels all but preach themselves… today’s passage from Mark is not one of those passages… Some passages grab us with inspiring prose… and also, today’s passage is not one of those… I find this passage from Mark a bit pedestrian. And as I looked around the internet at other people’s sermons for today, I discovered that I’m not alone. For many this Gospel passage seems to sit somewhere between dull and annoying.
…Sermon for the 5th Sunday after Epiphany Year B Read More »
