It was a chilly February evening in Alexandria, Virginia. The church was full and warm. I knelt before the bishop, and my priestly colleagues gathered around me. Warm hands pressing down on my head, my shoulders, my back. Bishop Theuner began the ordination prayer, and at the appropriate moment, all others lifted their hands while … READ MORE…
This year, and I hope every year, we are focussed on community. Here at St. Paul’s Cathedral we are focussing on not just the idea of community, but of incorporating community in our daily and church lives in a very real way. And we have the perfect example of operating in community today, for we … READ MORE…
The Rev. Cn. Jeff Martinhauk Proper 20A, September 24, 2017 St. Paul’s Cathedral, San Diego Matt 14:22-33 The gospel lesson for today is one of my favorites. When I worked in pastoral care in the hospital, I have to admit it was one of my frequent go-to passages in hospital visits. A visit … READ MORE…
If I were the kind of preacher who used visual aids, I would start this sermon by displaying a picture taken at Bayshore Beach in Tampa, last weekend. It showed the view looking out to sea from the beach. But there was no sea to see. Hurricane Irma, just offshore, had sucked the water away … READ MORE…
Proper 18A St. Paul’s Cathedral, 8a, 10.30a 10 September 2017 Happy New Year! School has started, and families with younger children are learning new rhythms and negotiating new schedules. Our calendars may say the New Year is still months away, but our Jewish colleagues begin their observation 10 days from now. The story of Passover … READ MORE…
Matthew 16:21-28 Have you ever noticed that in the movies, the hero always gets begged not to go and save everybody? “No, its too dangerous Superman– they’ve got Kryptonite.” “No, Captain Kirk - Jim, you can’t do it, they’ll kill you.” “James (as in James Bond), please don’t do go, I can’t stand to lose … READ MORE…
Today we hear the story from the Gospel of Matthew of Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah, the son of the living God, and how Jesus responds to this confession by giving Peter the “keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.” This story might conjure up images of Jesus, tossing the keys to his beloved … READ MORE…
What a week. Hatred unmasked in Charlottesville; the revolving door of the White House spinning ever faster; mass resignations of prominent business people and artists from presidential advisory bodies; disfunction, confusion, blame, outrage everywhere we look. It’s been a strange week to be in America. This has been a week for looking in the mirror … READ MORE…
In the lesson from the Hebrew Scriptures today, Joseph was a dreamer. It was one of the many reasons his brothers didn’t like him and tried to kill him. He had a gift for seeing the future broken loose from the chains of today. The annual memorial service for another dreamer, Dr. Martin Luther King … READ MORE…
If you’re experiencing a little déja vu this morning, it’s probably because you were at church on February 26, the last Sunday before Lent, which is our annual reading of the Transfiguration Gospel. We get the story twice this year because, in their wisdom, the compilers of our Prayer Book decreed that the traditional feast … READ MORE…