“If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” These words were uttered by Gideon at a time when Israel had been overtaken and ruled by the Midianites. It is a dark chapter in Israel’s history. After seven years of brutal occupation,...
Two weeks from Tuesday we will elect the next president of our country. Some of you have already voted; others like to wait until election day to cast their vote.s As November 5th draws nearer I can feel my anxiety levels rising. From conversations with many of you,...
Jesus said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” St. Anthony of Thebes, brought up in a wealthy Christian family, but orphaned at age 18, heard these words one day in...
We have reached that point in the political season where we are constantly bombarded with ads and requests for money. You can’t turn on the TV without seeing ads for one or both of the presidential candidates. Our emails are flooded with requests for donations....
This week I spent a couple of days at our annual clergy conference, a gathering of all the active priests and deacons in the diocese. These gatherings serve two purposes. It’s a chance for us to spend time with our colleagues — to worship together, eat...
There is an old joke about a person who dies and goes to heaven, where she is met by St. Peter, who welcomes her and gives her a tour of the place. They walk by beautiful vista after vista with happy people engaging with one another. Peter gave a commentary as they...
It has been quite a week, hasn’t it? It’s one of those weeks when I could not bear to turn on the TV news and could only glance at the headlines. Today’s scripture readings could certainly be applied to our current state. From Jeremiah we have the...
Well, I had a sermon all prepared for this morning. I was feeling pretty smug that I had finished it on Thursday, clearing my weekend. And then about 11:30 last night I looked at the news before going to bed, and immediately realized that the sermon I had...
