Acts 2:1-11 1Cor 12:3b-7,12-13 John 20:19-23 Good morning and welcome to Pentecost! I am going to ask that we use our imaginations this morning to imagine us as Jesus’ disciples gathered behind locked doors, like we might be late at…
Genesis 12:1-4a 2 Timothy 1:8b-10 Matthew 17:1-9 Jesus took Peter, James and John up the mountain. I sort of got stuck right here. Going up a mountain is a struggle. It takes time and lots of effort. The top of…
Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family who fled for their lives into a foreign land, much like the journey of so many others who are displaced in our current world. We know the story in Matthew’s Gospel…
Genesis 18:1-10 Colossians 1:24-28 Luke 10:38-42 Guess who’s coming to dinner! The readings today remind me of a time when I was about 8 or 9 years old, when my mother would fix a sandwich for the occasional visitor at…
The readings for this first Sunday of Lent are much too familiar to us. We have heard them over and over again throughout our lives. This is true especially of the Gospel where we read that Jesus is led by…
Good morning, everyone! Before I get into the heart of today’s Gospel, I want to share something lighthearted I heard many years ago. It goes like this: In recent years we’ve heard people talk about being born again or having…
Have you ever said a bold yes to a request or a directive and then discovered it demanded more than you anticipated? You are asked to move from teaching third grade to teach high school freshman English and history and…
(Editor’s note: This is a joint reflection by Agnes Ann and Mary Nelson CoL.) Do you think there was really a noise like a strong wind at this first outpouring of the Holy Spirit? And do you think there really…
Genesis 9:8-15 1 Peter 3:18-22 Mark 1:12-15 Today is the first Sunday of Lent. So, my question to you is: How has your attitude toward Lent changed throughout your life? For me, in my very early life it was always…
Matthew 25.14-30 In an old Rabbinic tradition regarding the final judgment, a person might be saved if on the day of judgment that person’s good actions totaled more than their bad actions. Thus, in this bookkeeping view of judgment a…
For the past several Sundays, St. Matthew the Evangelist has been weaving the story of Jesus’ ministry as teacher. He has been traveling from town to town publicly giving his sermons and teaching the town’s people through parables. Jesus, at…
The season of Easter concludes with today’s celebration, the feast of Pentecost. On Pentecost we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples in a locked room in Jerusalem; this event marks the beginning of the Church. The…