“I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church to an observance of a holy Lent.” This year, these words that I have said almost every Ash Wednesday for more than a quarter of a century sound different to me....
Today is the last Sunday of the season of Epiphany, those weeks between Christmas and the beginning of Lent. Epiphany ends every year with the reading we heard today, the story of the Transfiguration – the ultimate mountaintop experience where...
Today’s reading from the prophet Isaiah finds the people of Israel in deep despair, wondering if they’ve been abandoned by God. The land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the land that God led them to...
There is a common theme running throughout all three Scripture readings today. Did you notice it? The Holy Spirit appears in each of the lessons. In Genesis we hear that the Spirit, appearing as wind, was with God at the first moment of...
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness — on them light has shined.” Usually on Christmas Eve preachers don’t pay a lot of attention to the first two readings of...
This third Sunday of Advent we light the pink candle on our wreath to symbolize the joy expressed by Mary when she learns she will bear a son who will be the Savior of the world. Mary bursts into song at this unexpected news, the...
What do you still need to do to be prepared for Christmas? Do you still have gifts to buy? Decorating to do? Cards to mail? Baking and cooking? Wrapping? There is so much to do between now and December 25. I...
The calendar says today is November 22, but the liturgical calendar says this is the last Sunday after Pentecost, which means it is the last Sunday of the Church year. The regular calendar says we still have almost six weeks left in 2020, but in...
