Fifth Sunday of Easter,Penelope Bridges Alleluia, Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia. As so often happens in Easter season, we are reading our Scripture backwards today. The first reading, from Acts, comes well after both the resurrection and the revelation of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The second reading, from the Revelation … READ MORE…
Third Sunday of EasterPenelope Bridges Alleluia, Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia. John’s story of Jesus and the fish breakfast comes immediately after the story of doubting Thomas that we heard last week. You might remember how that Gospel passage ended: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his … READ MORE…
Easter Vigil, April 19 2025Penelope Bridges (preached after the Vigil readings) This is the night … the Exsultet hymn that we heard at the beginning of tonight’s service repeats that phrase three times: this is the night. It is a declaration that we have arrived at Easter, that we are delivered from the gloom of … READ MORE…
Palm Sunday 2025, Penelope Bridges After the celebration [singing and dancing], after the procession and the palms, after Hosannas and hymns, we have zigzagged our way through Scripture, finally descending in the Gospel through kangaroo court and public humiliation to the deep darkness of death on a Cross. The crowd disperses, the noise quiets, the … READ MORE…
Rev. Cn. Richard Hogue Jr. When Jesus says, “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” it can be a stumbling block for Christians. Most unscrupulously, it’s been an excuse to neglect the most vulnerable people, a sort of Scriptural cover to handwave away greed and exploitation. “What about … READ MORE…
Third Sunday in LentPenelope Bridges You’ve probably noticed that we start our service a little differently during Lent. For one thing, we do the confession up front – putting us in the right, repentant frame of mind for the solemnity of the Lenten worship. And we also hear Jesus’s words summarizing the law he lived … READ MORE…
Rev. Cn. Richard Hogue Jr. The truth must be spoken, even if it is as sorrowful as ashen cinders. Nations and people become dust, though that’s not all we leave behind. The prophet Joel is eerily on point in times like these, inviting us to imagine a world scourged by plagues of locusts and the … READ MORE…
Penelope BridgesFirst Sunday in Lent We read about the temptations of Jesus every year at this time, hearing from each of the first three Gospels in turn. As we read Luke’s account of the three temptations and Jesus’ rebuttal of each, it’s such a familiar text that we skim over it; it seems like it’s … READ MORE…
Penelope Bridges Today we get Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, and they shine a pretty harsh light on the ascendant values of our current culture. Luke’s beatitudes are different from Matthew’s more familiar list. Matthew qualifies his criteria: poor IN SPIRIT, hunger and thirst FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Luke doesn’t let us off the hook with a … READ MORE…
Penelope Bridges “The Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple.” (Malachi 3) The prophet Malachi prepares the ground for our Gospel today, in which St Luke takes us back to the great Temple in Jerusalem, the heart of his story of Jesus. Luke reminds us that it was customary under Jewish law … READ MORE…