Jesus
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Common Humanity
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3 min read
a homily for Good Friday Text: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” [This was my reflection for Word 4 in our eccumenical Good Friday service using the last 7 words format.] Perhaps no line in scripture is more troubling than this. It is the single audible cry in Mark (and Matthew): “My…
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Jesus’s Last Teaching
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4 min read
a Sermon for Maundy Thursday Text: John 13:1-17, 31b-35 There are many interesting parts of the story we tell of Maundy Thursday, but much of it we actually save for tomorrow, Good Friday. Our tradition focuses on two important acts: The Passover Meal The Footwashing The Passover. We heard in our Hebrew reading from Exodus…
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The Palm Gospel as Unpredictable Danger
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5 min read
a Sermon for Passion Sunday Text: Mark 11:1-11 & Mark 14:1-15:47 must we choose? We’re challenged with two gospels today. They are a natural juxtaposition. One is happy and the other is sad. One declares victory, the other demonstrates earthly defeat. We processed in joyously and we’re likely to walk out depressed. My natural inclination…
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Our Marks, Like Dust
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3 min read
a Sermon for Ash Wednesday, B Text: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 We’re trained from an early age to hate red ink. Our tests and composition papers were often so riddled with red, contrasting starkly with our own black or blue markings on the white piece of paper. Each of our teachers counted up those red marks—with…
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Inside the Cacophony
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6 min read
a Homily for the Last Sunday after Epiphany, B Text:Mark 9:2-9 I walked into my poetry class completely unprepared for what was about to happen. This was years ago, back when I dreamed of becoming a writer, a playwright or poet, actually. Or at the very least the teacher of writers. It was our second…
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Outside the walls of the city
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5 min read
a homily for Epiphany 6B Text: Mark 1:40-45 Nudy Trees My daughter and I have this little game. We point out the nudy trees to one another. She shouts: “That tree’s nudy!” Then she squeals and says “there’s another one!” I do it too. Then I point…