Happy New Year! That doesn’t sound quite right, does it? We’re still digesting our third round of leftover turkey sandwiches, maybe putting up Christmas lights. It’s not New Year’s resolutions time yet. But the Church marches to a different beat. Its year begins today with the First Sunday of Advent. Situating ourselves in the Church … READ MORE…
Our Old Testament reading for today reminds us of the LORD’s promise to turn all the nations upside down . . . and shake all the silver and gold out of their pockets. I think that’s a welcome image for stewardship season, right? As we continue our discernment about what we can offer as gifts to the … READ MORE…
The Rev. Canon Allisyn Thomas preaching her last sermon as SubDean27 Oct 2013 Sirach 35:12-17 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 Luke 18:9-14 I am already being poured out as a libation,and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. A … READ MORE…
Jeremiah 31:27-34 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 Luke 18:1-8 Part of the life of anyone who preaches on a regular basis is we will have the opportunity, if one is being positive, or the curse, if one is being a tad melodramatic, of preaching from texts we don’t particularly like. So I will make the same confession … READ MORE…
October 13, 2013 St. Paul’s Cathedral, San Diego Year C: Proper 23 (Jeremiah 29:1, 2-7 and Luke 17:11-19 Jeremiah’s words, at first hearing, have a pleasing ring to them. The little snippet we hear sounds pretty, and comforting: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat from them; expand the family clan and … READ MORE…
Jeremiah 18:1-11 Philemon 1-21 Luke 14:25-33 A couple of years ago my husband Skip and I were having dinner at the restaurant in South Park with some friends. And after dinner as we were leaving, we looked across the street and lo and behold there was our own Deedra Hardman working in the pottery studio … READ MORE…
Proper 15/Year C Jeremiah 23:23-29 Hebrews 11:29-12:2 Luke 12:49-56 Over the last week I listened to a podcast from professors at Luther Seminary about the readings this week aimed at preachers, and one of them somewhat facetiously said if the preacher had not already scheduled his or her summer vacation, this might be a good … READ MORE…
Hello! What a blessing it is to be here with you. Thank you for welcoming me and Laurel so graciously back into the St. Paul’s family. We thank God for you, we thank God for this stunningly beautiful space, we thank God for our incomparable choir. Speaking of which, one of the moments I most … READ MORE…
“Lord, teach us to pray,” the disciples say, and in response, Jesus gives them a model: what to our ears sounds like a version of the Lord’s Prayer that has been stripped of all its Matthean poetry. While it is not petty, it is stark, demanding, without elegance. “Father, your name be made holy. Your … READ MORE…
Whoa Hosea! That’s quite a way to begin a prophecy, not to mention a book of the Bible! “Take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom”?! So he does, and then he names his children crazy things like Not-My-People and I-Will-Not-Pity. (It’s tough to be a prophet’s kid.) As you’ve noticed, … READ MORE…