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a Homily for Lent 1A Text: Matthew 4:1-11 Getting our bearings The gospel we call Matthew has a birth story, a flight into Egypt and all that. Then John the Baptizer prepares the way for Jesus, who comes to him to be baptized, and then is immediately compelled by the Spirit to go out into…
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ReMembering is Messy: Ash Wednesday and black thumbs
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6 min read
a Homily for Ash Wednesday Text: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Beyond Black Thumb Day Today is Black Thumb Day. What? Never heard of it? It is the day that priests all over the world put on nice white albs, dip their thumbs in black, flaky ashes, and smudge those ashes on everything. It begins with people’s…
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Getting Some Ash: finding our place in creation
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2 min read
Ash Wednesday is symbol-rich day. It is marked with one of the most evocative Christian symbols in all of our liturgies. We smudge a cross of ash on each other and we say to them: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. For most Christians, we deal first and primarily with…
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After the Mountaintop: listening/following Jesus
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6 min read
a Sermon for Epiphany LastA Text: Matthew 17:1-9 On another mountain We skip ahead to another mountain; more climbing, more experience with Jesus. Not a place of preaching. No Sermon on the Mount. This time is supernatural. Three followers go; the inner circle. The executive committee. Jesus invites them to follow Him up the mountain.…
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On Perfect Christians
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7 min read
a Sermon for Epiphany 7A Text: Matthew 5:38-48 Rebelling against Jesus You’ve probably seen this phrase on a book cover or on a church sign. It reads: “no perfect people allowed.” Kind of catchy, isn’t it? We don’t want perfect. We don’t really want to be perfect, do we? The phrase also has a sly…
Make a New Normal
