Not long after Ed became my spiritual director, in the late 1990s, we both attended a clergy meeting here on these very grounds. The late William Sloane Coffin, one of the Church’s lions for justice and nonviolence, was speaking of wealth. “There are two ways you can be rich,” said Bill Coffin, “Have a lot [...]
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Romans 14:7-9, Hebrews 11:8-16, Luke 24:13-35 Memorial Service for Edwin E. Beers Ed Beers and I had for some years given each other copies of our homilies when we asked for them. In sorting through his that I have on file, I found one dated 25 October 1987. Some other few were not dated, but [...]
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April 29, 2012 Acts 4:5-12, 1 John 3:16-24, John 10:11-18 Of the years of my life, I have lived all but one in cities: New York, Washington, D. C., Detroit, London, Freiburg, Bologna, and Madison, of course, longest of all. Consequently, I am unqualified to talk about shepherds and sheep. All that I know about [...]
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April 15, first Sunday in Easter Acts 4:32-35 I should probably begin with an apology to those of you who were hoping to hear Libby this morning. You may have noticed that she is not here. On Thursday she was diagnosed with labyrinthitis. I know it sounds like one of those diseases that only spiritual [...]
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Easter Vigil, April 7, 2012 Mark 16:1-8 Scholars believe that this reading from Mark’s Gospel is the original ending of the gospel. It seems an unlikely ending for the good news of Jesus Christ. Since the women remained at the cross we might think they would grasp the resurrection when it is announced to them. [...]
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April 1, 2012 – Palm Sunday Mark 14:1 – 15:47 The relentless development of the gospel story from Gethsemani to Golgotha is shaped by two constant motifs: inevitability: what is shown as happening must happen; and brutality: man is to man a wolf—homo homini lupus, as Plautus said some three centuries before the brutal events the [...]
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This is the 4th Sunday of Lent. Two weeks from today is Palm Sunday and so it is to be expected that with today’s readings, we are into the thick of things when it comes to sin, punishment and the possibility of redemption. So let us start with the sins and punishments. Paul simply calls [...]
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3rd Sunday of Lent, March 11, 2012 Exodus 20:1-17, 1 Corinth 1:18-25, John 2:13-22 I am very grateful to be here with you this morning, and for our listening together in the silence. I believe that this beautiful thing we share as One—the Word and Eucharist—deeply changes how we listen and observe, and how we walk in the [...]
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JESUS’ REARRANGEMENT THEOREM When Lynne asked for a volunteer to preach this morning, I looked at my calendar, saw that today was open, and said ok. Then, after I had agreed to do it, I read the readings she had included, especially the one from Genesis and thought, “Oh, crud.” I have to admit that I am incredibly uncomfortable with Covenant Theology. And, no, [...]
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[A homily suggestion I heard many years ago was prepare with the Sacred Scripture in one hand and the New York Times in the other. In this case I also included the Wisconsin State Journal and Ched Myers commentary on Mark’s Gospel, Binding the Strong Man, Orbis Books, 1988.] What did he know and when [...]
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