Mother Katherine’s sermon preached on Jan. 8, 2023
Palimpsest is from a Greek word palimpsestus meaning scraped again, originally referred to the re-using of parchment or papyrus pages which had the first writing scraped and washed off and the new text written on it, often several times. The practice dates to the 4th and 5th centuries and often used to write or over-write scripture and other early texts.
Read MoreKelly’s sermon preached on Jan. 23, 2022
The Third Sunday after the Epiphany Jan. 23, 2022 In the last few weeks, I have heard from many of you how weary you feel. You’ve referenced the unending surges of the pandemic, the loss of any predictability in your lives, grief over yet another family gathering or travel plan canceled, and the way all of these uncertainties are straining your work and your family life. I have felt it, too. When we envisioned our post-pandemic lives in January 2022, even as late as this past November and December, we envisioned something other than Omicron, didn’t we? Over the summer, I recall...
Read MoreMother Katherine’s sermon preached on Jan. 16, 2022
Each gospel has a unique feel and set of strengths, but for me John is especially life-giving. For example, the others tell of Jesus calling disciples by saying “Follow me” in some way. John must have been writing for us visual learners, because here Jesus says, “Come and see!” We often know God through what we literally ‘see’ or experience. Come and see for yourselves — see who I am, what I’m about, witness what will happen and see God’s glory revealed.
Read MoreMother Katherine’s sermon preached on Jan. 9, 2022
All the gospels report Jesus’ baptism, prefaced with John declaring Jesus is one greater than himself. We have the impression of John doing the baptizing and the Holy Spirit breaking in. Even the icon on our cover shows the cousins together in the water with the dove descending in the moment. Luke gives a different feel to the scene as he almost passively separates them and shifts the time frame; “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.”
Read MoreMother Katherine’s sermon preached on Jan. 2, 2022
The Magi, as Matthew calls them, are not Jewish—they are not planning a move to Jerusalem nor seeking to convert. Yet still they “came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?’” And when Herod hears the news he is frightened enough (along with all Jerusalem) that he summons them requesting he be told the pertinent details when they’ve found the child. We aren’t told why Herod’s own chief priests and scribes didn’t foresee this, and yet God does not always send us on the most direct route, in this case neither metaphorically or literally.
Read MoreMother Ann’s sermon preached Feb. 14, 2021
This morning we look on as the prophet Elijah strides through the Promised Land. You and I might stumble over the place names he visits, but the Israelites know them all by heart. They are sacred places where God had been encountered in the past, at crucial moments when the people needed to find their way forward. At this place God spoke through that prophet, and the Israelites were led over there; then God spoke through another prophet, and they were again led onward.
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