March 1, 2015 Lent 2B Mark 8:31-38

How many things are you currently juggling in your life? Most of us seem to be juggling more than we can handle. We have things to do at work, things to do when we get home, things to do that rise up from our passions, and […]

February 22, 2015 Lent 1B Mark 1:9-15

Last Sunday in the liturgical church year we celebrated the Transfiguration, we were invited to participate in a mountain top experience, stand on a place where we could see forever, and we were awed by God’s brilliance and splendor. God was there, in that high place […]

February 15, 2015 Transfiguration B Mark 9:2-9

This week the world was filled with sadness as we learned of the death of Kayla Mueller, a humanitarian aid worker being held captive by ISIS. In confirming her death Tuesday, the Mueller family quoted a letter she wrote to her father on his birthday in […]

February 8, 2015 Epiphany 5B 1 Corinthians 9:16-23

It is widely accepted wisdom that, “You can’t be all things to all people.” Yet in this week’s appointed epistle St. Paul writes, “I have become all things to all people.” (1 Corinthians 9:22) In a world obsessed with unhealthy selfish individualism, in a world […]

February 1, 2015 Epiphany 4B Mark 1:21-28

In this week’s Gospel a man with an unclean spirit appears in the synagogue and confronts Jesus. Jesus’ response amazes everyone, a new teaching with authority throws this man into convulsions and suddenly the man once possessed with a demon is healed and set free.

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January 25, 2015 Epiphany 3B Mark 1:14-20

The word “immediately” appears in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (by my calculations) 72 times. And of those 72 occurrences 28 of them occur in the gospel of Mark. In my bible Mark is only 22 pages long, and the rest of the […]

January 18, 2015 Epiphany 2B John 1:43-51

This week’s appointed lessons contain two great stories of call, the call of Samuel and the call of Nathanael. Unlike the fishermen who hear Jesus’ call and “immediately drop their nets,” Samuel and Nathanael must first work through some confusion and doubt, some misgivings and fear, […]

January 6, 2014 The Epiphany of Our Lord Matthew 2:1-12

Epiphany is the season of light, a season of starbursts, a season of dreams, and a season of revelation. According to Webster, Epiphany means “to show forth” or “manifest.” In this week’s Epiphany Gospel a star appears in the heavens and Jesus is revealed […]

January 4, 2014 Christmas 2A John 1:1-18

In the beginning there was this Word, a Word that dwelt with God, a Word that was God, a creative Word that spoke and gave birth to life, to all of creation.

This is how the story of faith begins in the Gospel of John. […]

December 24, 2014 Christmas Eve Luke 2:1-7

I love Christmas, I love the stories, the songs, the movies, the traditions, the food, and singing “Silent Night” at the Christmas Eve Worship service. Yet I am very aware that for many people this time of year is full of stress, anxiety, and even severe […]