Homilies

A Note from the Pastor – March 28

Mary of Magdala leaves the house when everything is dark in the sky and somber in her heart. She’s been restless all night, and the image of Jesus on the cross broke her heart. She has nothing in her hands, carries no spices like the other women, and has only her love rebelling against the…

A Note from the Pastor – March 22

Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem is a historical event and a parable in action. Jesus transpires affirming love; the preacher stirs joy wherever he goes, and this time, joy and biblical expectations finally meet. The teacher needs this colt but will send him right back. He is so poor that he doesn’t own even a beast…

Deacon Bill March 17

As we navigate Christian life we fluctuate between two extremes, seeking God’s direction in our lives and seeking to reduce the load His direction requires.”  We either seek purpose, engagement, and joy or we feel overwhelmed and ask for relief, help, and support.  It is like when I used to play water polo, I always…

A Note from the Pastor – March 8

Nicodemus holds Jesus in high esteem and wants to understand more, but not too much to compromise his position as chief Pharisee, so he goes to him at night. First surprise: the Jesus who commands “let your yes mean yes” respects Nicodemus’ dread, does not get lost in the confines of his little consistency, but…

A Note from the Pastor – Feb 23

In the center of the Gospel of Mark, we reach a mountain of light; as in a diptych, the first part of his booklet before the mountain recounts marvelous miracles with the scent of Godly love, and the second part, starting here, draws the other face of the Nazarene, He is the Son of the…

A Note from the Pastor – Feb 16

The Spirit pressed Jesus into the desert, and he remained there for forty days, tempted by Satan. The temptation? A choice between two loves. Temptation asks you to select the compass, the north star for your heart. If you don’t desire, you don’t live, at least not with a whole heart. God speaks to you…

A Note from the Pastor – Feb 9

In comes a leper, a desperate man who has lost everything: home, employment, friends, hugs, dignity, and it seems even God. This man is decaying while alive; for society, he is a sinner, rejected by God and chastised with leprosy. He approaches Jesus but knows that he mustn’t; he can’t; the law imposes absolute isolation…

Feb 4 Homily

Today’s homily is entitled, “How to be real” with God. Our Old Testament reading is from Job, a 42-chapter book about suffering and how it tests ourfriendships and beliefs. It is considered the finest expression of Hebrew poetic genius in thebible. Job is a man that has everything, a wife and ten children, an abundance…

A Note from the Pastor – January 26

Jesus had a way with heaven. People were amazed at his teaching because he was “a voice that blossoms;” while listening, we became disarmed. And the reason: because he taught with authority. Jesus is authoritative because he is credible; in him, message and messenger coincide—he says what he is, and he is what he says.…

A Note from the Pastor – Jan 19

The Gospel contrasts silence and proclamation: John the Baptist’s voice has been shushed in prison, but Jesus shakes Capernaum’s streets and seashore with a phrase reminiscing our Ash Wednesday: the Kingdom of God is here. Repent and believe in the Gospel. Jesus will never theorize the Kingdom; he makes it palpable and blossoming from his…