Sermons

Sermons preached at various occasions by Brothers of St Benedict’s Priory

Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

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Scripture Readings

Our Gospel reading this morning opens in the space between two significant events in the life of Jesus and his disciples. Jesus has just finished feeding over five thousand people, starting with just a few loaves of bread and some fish. Now it is evening and Jesus seems eager to set the stage for the next scene in the drama of his ministry, sending the disciples off in the boat, dismissing the crowd to their homes, and going up the mountain by himself to pray.

Just as Jesus had looked to heaven before distributing enough food for all the people, so he absorbs himself in prayer before rejoining his disciples in a way that will further expand their sense of who he is. In accord with the biblical tradition of a God who makes a path through the mighty waters, Jesus walks across the stormy sea to the struggling boat. He then calms his disciples’ fear by identifying himself in the words of God: “Take courage. I am.”

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Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost Read More »

Transfiguration Sunday 2023 – 06 August 2023

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Preached by Br Josias

Today the church commemorates the feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord. The feast is also celebrated on a Sunday before Ash Wednesday. I think that is done so to alert us to keep the radiance of God always before our eyes as we enter into the solemn period of Lent. Traditionally the feast is commemorated on the 14th Sunday after Easter, or the 10th Sunday after Pentecost, depending on how you look at it. I believe the feast is observed around this time just to remind us that God’s glory is still in our midst. It is also meant to remind us to always keep the presence of God in our daily lives.

 

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Transfiguration Sunday 2023 – 06 August 2023 Read More »

Sermon for the Feast of St James the Great 

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This week the Church keeps the feast of St James the Great. He is an important saint in many ways. He gets the title “Great” however, not as a mark of stature, but to distinguish him from the other James, James the Less, also a disciple… And while the Gospel reading is very specific to James the Great, the name does not appear. Instead, we hear about the sons of Zebedee, also known as the sons of thunder, also known as James and John… 

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Sermon for the Feast of St James the Great  Read More »

Sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

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Scripture Readings

I like the way today’s gospel reading begins, with Jesus going out to sit beside the sea. I can easily imagine that, as sitting beside the sea is one of my favourite things to do. I generally prefer my own company when I do that, so I would have been less happy with the crowd that gathered around Jesus. He doesn’t seem to mind, though; he just gets into a nearby boat, using it to create a bit of space while he tells the crowd some stories.

The crowd hears only the stories, we are told, while any explanations, such as in the second part of today’s reading, are reserved for the disciples. Perhaps that’s how one became a disciple, by listening to the stories Jesus told and finding oneself sufficiently intrigued by them that one later goes to Jesus and asks him what he’s talking about. Listening is what Jesus asks the crowd to do; hearing what his stories are really about is what Jesus invites the disciples into.

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Sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost Read More »

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

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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…” 

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

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday of Easter

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Scripture Readings

Our Gospel passage this morning continues the conversation Jesus has been having with his disciples as he tries to prepare them for life without his physical presence after his departure to return to his heavenly Father, an event we will commemorate on Ascension Day, this coming Thursday. Last week, we heard Jesus talking about the need to believe that he is the revelation of God the Father to his disciples, so that they have come to know the Father as they have come to know Jesus. Perhaps even more startling is that Jesus tells his disciples that those who do believe in him will do even greater works than he has done, while waiting for Jesus to return to take them to be with him in the place he will prepare for them in his Father’s house.

This week, we hear Jesus assure his disciples that he is not abandoning them. The loving relationship of believing and knowing that Jesus has established with his disciples will continue through the agency of one he refers to as another Paraclete, in the form of the Spirit of Truth. The word Paraclete seems to have its origins in a legal context as an Advocate, one who comes alongside to speak on another’s behalf, but it has acquired broader associations as Helper, Guide, Comforter, Teacher, Counsellor. Jesus has been all of these to his disciples, but now the Spirit will continue in those roles, the initiation of which we will commemorate on Pentecost Sunday, in two weeks.

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Sermon for the Sixth Sunday of Easter Read More »

Fourth Sunday of Easter 2023 at Volmoed

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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.

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Fourth Sunday of Easter 2023 at VolmoedRead More »

Fourth Sunday of Easter 2023 at Volmoed Read More »

Sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter

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Scripture Readings

This past week, we have enjoyed having Benedict and Sabine Schubert here with us at Volmoed. I have been privileged on several occasions during the week to listen to them telling parts of their story in various contexts. I have appreciated how rich their story is, and how effectively they tell it. By speaking of the ways in which God has been present in the complexity of their lives, they invite their listeners to reflect on God’s presence in our own lives.

I think that this morning’s Gospel reading does much the same for us. The evangelist Luke lets the story unfold much as life does as he tells it, but he understands where the story is going and invites us to bring our lives into the light of the story he is telling. As we relate to the characters in Luke’s story, we can let their experience enrich our understanding of the mystery of our own lives.

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Sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter Read More »

Triduum at Volmoed 2023 

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Readings for Maundy Thursday

Readings for Good Friday

Today we embark on a three-day period known as Triduum or Three Great Days: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday… the days that lead up to Easter. 

The name, Maundy Thursday, comes from the Latin of the anthem that was part of this day’s liturgy in ancient times: Mandatum novum do vobis. It is from the Gospel according to John; “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another…” The Latin word for commandment is mandatum. Perhaps in ancient times this was known as ”the Thursday when we sing Mandatum Novum… “ 

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Triduum at Volmoed 2023  Read More »

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent

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Scripture Readings

Jesus loves Lazarus, and he loves Lazarus’ sisters Mary and Martha. The evangelist John tells us this, and the sisters remind Jesus of this in their message to him. Jesus himself refers to Lazarus as “our friend” when telling his disciples about Lazarus’ demise. It is clearly a close set of relationships.

Real friendships invoke real responsibilities of caring about and for one another. The sisters, having sent Jesus an urgent message about Lazarus’ severe illness, expect an equally urgent response from him. They also share a confident certainty that Jesus would be able to keep Lazarus from dying if he came in time.

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Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent Read More »

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