The Life-Giving Cross

Year B Isaiah 45:21-25 Psalm 98 Philippians 2:5-11 John 12:31-36a May the words of my mouth O God…  speak your truth… In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing...

Flipping the Narrative

Year B Isaiah 35:4-7a Psalm 146 James 2:1-10, 14-17 Mark 7:24-37 May the words of my mouth O God…  speak your truth… I’m about to retire…   I’m about to make a transition…  cross a divide…  of sorts…  from one way of spending my time…   to another…  from one way of being a priest…  to another…  from one pattern...

Law and Tradition

Year B Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 Psalm 15 James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 May the words of my mouth O God…  speak your truth… When I used to attend Friday night services at synagogue… we used a prayer book…  that contained a prayer…  that’s similar to what we just heard from Deuteronomy… but the one we read at...

So Long, Farewell

In the movie The Sound of Music, Captain Georg von Trapp hosts a reception at his home for prominent members of Austrian society and state dignitaries, and at which he intends to introduce The Baroness Elsa von Schraeder as his fiancée. At bedtime, his seven children sing the song, So Long, Farewell. Some of  them are...