Two paragraphs from Matthew’s Gospel, set side by side for us today. One, a teaching about what defiles a person, the other a story about Jesus meeting an indigenous woman on the road. Why are we hearing both of these stories today? And why did Matthew put them together? At morning prayer on weekdays we … READ MORE…
In our lesson from the Hebrew scriptures today, Elijah is tired. He has performed mighty and spectacular acts to show that the God of Israel is a living God. He has thrown down the altars of competing gods. He has killed 450 prophets of the god Baal. The signs Elijah has demonstrated have been excessive: … READ MORE…
In the name of the holy Trinity, one God. When I was a child in Ireland in the 60’s, my mother had a credit account at the butcher’s, the baker’s, the pharmacy, and the grocer’s. Each shop was small and specialized, and didn’t offer a wide array of choices. The advent of supermarkets changed our … READ MORE…
We are given two very different Pentecost stories today. The story in Acts 2, with the crowds and the flames and the multiple languages and the accusations of drunkenness, is the familiar one. And with good reason: what a great story it makes! Noise, color, drama: all the elements that make the Bible fun. But … READ MORE…
Have you heard the one about the extraterrestrial visitor who landed in one of our cities? They saw the shopping malls crowded and the churches empty and reported back to the mother ship that the shopping malls housed the object of worship for our species. Well, today both the malls and the churches are empty, … READ MORE…
Alleluia. Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia! Is there any text more comforting than the 23rd Psalm? The certainty of that first verse never fails to encourage me: the Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not be in want. I want the kind of faith that can say that and believe it … READ MORE…
Alleluia, Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia! Today is the third Sunday in these 50 days of Easter. By now, if you’ve been attending worship, you have heard Matthew’s story of how the risen Christ appeared to the two Marys; you’ve heard John’s story of how Mary Magdalene mistook the risen Savior … READ MORE…
The gospel for this morning hits close to home. The disciples are closed up in a house behind closed doors, fearful. They were fearful of those who had killed Jesus, and it calls to mind our own situation as we sit behind locked doors afraid, or at least anxious, of COVID-19, the virus that has … READ MORE…
We are in the dark. We don’t know when this thing will end. We don’t know if we or people we love will become ill. We don’t know who is telling the truth. We are in the dark and we need the light of Christ. This year, more than ever, we need Easter. In Ezekiel’s … READ MORE…
Palm Sunday, April 5 2020 Penelope Bridges Sermon preached after the Liturgy of the Palms, via Zoom Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; Amen. This is a strange Palm Sunday. It’s not the Palm Sunday that we are used to or that we were expecting just a few short weeks … READ MORE…