"In the face of death, live humanly. In the middle of chaos, celebrate the Word. Amidst babel . . . speak the truth." These words were written by William Stringfellow over 40 years ago and they pretty much summarize the message of today’s gospel reading. In the face of a living death, the man was …
Artists of Faith
Today is the feast day of St. Luke, the Evangelist, "the beloved physician," as St. Paul calls him in our reading today from the Letter to the Colossians. Luke wrote one of the three 'Synoptic Gospels" and one can easily see it is the most artfully and best written of the three! It is a …
The Parable of Parables
The parable of the sower and the seed: We read it today from Luke's version (Luke 8:4-15). This is the parable of parables. It is the parable that provides the key to all Jesus parables! Because we hear from his mouth what is the purpose of parables and what is the pedagogy that Jesus employs. …
Ordinary people gone fishing
(Only a brief text summary of this sermon. The audio file above is complete.) I was shocked by how much opposition and outright hatred has been directed against Pope Francis before and during his visit to the U.S. - hateful attacks from both the Left and the Right, because he does not fully line up …
When our thinking is turned upside down
A few years ago two important books were published: Debt, the First 5,000 Years, by David Graeber (2011, revised 2014); and Le Capital au XXI siècle (2013) by the French economist Thomas Piketty, quickly translated into English as Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2014) and many other languages. Piketty's book became an immediate sensation and …
No morbid Christians here!
The Bible is not an easy book! It was never meant to be easy, because easy things are rarely worth much. Jesus himself said something very confusing: “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables; so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and …
Two Kings, two separate ways
Our Gospel reading today (Matthew 22:2-14) is a very troubling parable - violent, condemning, exclusionary at the same time that it is inclusive. I usually focus on the inclusive aspects, but not today. In light of what’s going on in the world - the violence, the exclusion, the hatred and terrorism - it’s incumbent that I …
Where is your god?
Psalm 42 has always been one of my favorites. Like so often in the Psalms, here too the psalmist is besieged by people who mock him for trusting in God. "Where is your God?" they say to him as he suffers torments physical and spiritual. The language of this psalm is pure poetry. The psalmist is …
Big Ben and I
Paul today gives us a glimpse into the connected world of the early Christians. There was no Internet, no cell phones, no Facebook or Twitter - and yet those early Christians were connected! Paul rejoices at the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicos. They made up for the separation and absence of the rest of the …
The Impossible Dream
Two questions concern me today about the encounter of Jesus with the rich young man (Mark 10:17-27 and Matthew 19:16-26). 1. Why did the man ask about eternal life? 2. What did Jesus mean by "perfect"? Why did this man ask about eternal life? This wasn't exactly a common concern in Judaism of the time. Ideas …
Ancient Answers 