First Sunday in Lent,March 6 2022Penelope Bridges Immediately after his baptism and commissioning by God, Jesus goes on an extended retreat in the wilderness. If your experience of the wilderness is the Southern California desert, I want you to know that the Judean desert is different. I have driven through that desert, and it is … READ MORE…
Rev. Richard Hogue Jr.St. Paul’s Cathedral, San Diego2/13/2022 There is an immediacy to this gospel that extends from the promise of God’s love into our present moment. It penetrates the mundane with a pronouncement that defies what we perceive to the be the “natural order of things.” Jesus is upending what we consider normal, it … READ MORE…
Rev. Richard Hogue Jr.St. Paul’s Cathedral, San Diego1/30/2022 ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ When I try to put my feet into the shoes of someone listening to Jesus when he said this at the synagogue, I imagine it is an utterly baffling statement. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus is a known quantity … READ MORE…
January 23, 2022, 3, Epiphany, Cathedral DayPenelope BridgesOne Body/Un Solo Cuerpo For seven or eight summers, my sons attended an Episcopal sleepaway camp in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Each year I made the trip twice to drop each child off at his age-appropriate camp. At the end of each camp session, we parents would … READ MORE…
Rev. Richard Hogue Jr.St. Paul’s Cathedral, San Diego1/16/2022 A wedding feels like an impossibility right now, doesn’t it? Omicron is surging, and we are experiencing it at St. Paul’s through the lens of caution and care for our people, even though we know the sting of disconnection lingers with each event we pull away from … READ MORE…
The Baptism of our Lord: 1/9/22Penelope BridgesBeloved On this first Sunday after the Epiphany, we have leapt from the visit of the wise ones to the adult ministry of Jesus, inaugurated by his baptism at the river Jordan. Jesus receives God’s benediction while he is praying after his baptism. Luke doesn’t tell us if other … READ MORE…
Rev. Richard Hogue Jr.St. Paul’s Cathedral, San Diego1/2/2022 Journeys are part of nearly every story. In the western tradition, we trace back the earliest heroes to people who took arduous journeys, Odysseus stick out clearest after surviving the journey to and war with Troy in the Iliad, and the perhaps the most iconic of … READ MORE…
Rev. Richard Hogue Jr.St. Paul’s Cathedral. San Diego12/25/2021 Love Reshapes the Cosmos Merry Christmas! It is wonderful to celebrate with you all this morning. Whenever I think about this passage from John two things stick out to me: first, the light and life part, and how long it’s been since I last considered getting the … READ MORE…
Christmas Eve 2021Penelope BridgesDisappointment Transformed Alleluia, unto us a child is born. O come, let us adore him. Alleluia. It is so good to be back in church this Christmas, to gather together for our celebration, to welcome the Christ child into the world again as a community. We have longed for this. Last year … READ MORE…
December 19, 2021, Fourth Sunday of AdventPenelope BridgesThe Unwrapped Package of Advent Last week I spent a few days in Washington DC, making the acquaintance of my new grandson. Each day I watched my son and daughter in law bring in packages from the porch, as they prepared for baby’s first Christmas. Cookies were cooling … READ MORE…