A few years ago, a few days after Christmas, after the longest possible Advent season we could have, after a long day here, an even longer flight, and a long drive from the airport, I arrived at my cousin’s house to begin my vacation. I walked in, bags in hand, and saw the most beautiful thing on the counter. They had coffee. They had coffee, ready to brew, and plenty more for the length of my time there. It was beautiful to a weary traveler. My cousin’s wife smiled and said,

One summer, when I was 11, my family built a small vacation cabin in the mountains of Colorado. When it came time to drill the well, in the excitement of finding the best location, hiring the equipment, and watching the well come in, for the first time in my life, I began to think about water as a complex reality. On the long drive back to Oklahoma, I peppered Dad with a dozen questions. Across the high plains of Kansas, I learned of the vast Ogallala aquifer, spanning eight

These Magi are probably Persian and would be devoted to studying the stars in order to find meaning in the events here on earth. They are, therefore, Gentiles and, even worse, are engaged in practices that are forbidden in Jewish Scriptures. But they have seen a star rising in the East. And their “science” tells them that this new light in the heavens announces the birth of a king, and more specifically, a King of the Jews. From their study of the shape and movement of the st

I have always loved the shepherds in the Christmas story. And it might have a little to do with having played the part of the shepherd every year in the Christmas play in the little Church where I grew up. I was always a shepherd every year. I never got to be Joseph. I never got to be one of the Magi. My sister got to be an angel, and I was always a shepherd. Maybe God was trying to tell me something early on. I have always loved the shepherds in the Christmas story. And play

Sometimes, it's hard to see the Holy Spirit at work in our lives, when that Spirit turns our lives upside down. Sometimes, it's hard to believe a message from God, when the message seems to make no sense. Sometimes, it's hard to receive a blessing, when it carries both sacrifice and pain. Sometimes, it's hard to tell a dream from a nightmare. Yet, this is how the Birth of Jesus Christ came about. A heavenly messenger. An unbelievable story. A leap of faith. For Joseph to bel

A few years ago, and in a place far, far away, I heard a priest give an excellent and profound description of religious obedience. He wrote, “Sometimes, religious obedience means admitting that you are the droids they are looking for.” Are you the one we are looking for? Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?  This question posed by the disciples of John the Baptist to the Lord Jesus is one of the most central questions of the Scriptures. It is, in fac

We hear the words of Isaiah in a season and place of worship. It is Advent--- the second candle in the Advent Wreath has been lit, and our worship space is garlanded with evergreens (please provide the distinctive Advent context of your own parish). Today, the prophet Isaiah’s words comingle with beloved Advent hymns and with the beauty of our Collect: “May no earthly undertaking hinder those who set out in haste to meet your Son.” For the faithful in Christ, Isaiah’s prophe

This week, we enter into a new liturgical season, with a new cycle of readings. When we look at these readings over the three-year span, it doesn’t take long to figure out that Advent readings are frequently odd, edgy, a little strange. Sometimes... even disturbing. If we are listening, these readings illuminate a season at odds with our view of Advent as something quiet, reflective, serene-- A tame and comfortable resting place in the run-up to Christmas. Today, for instance

This Sunday, the Solemnity of Christ the King, marks the last Sunday of the liturgical year.   It is the pivot to Advent-- a hinge that invites us to look forward to the final judgment of God when Christ returns to rule in justice. At the same time, this feast invites us to look back, and celebrate the life of Jesus, our Lord, who sits at the right hand of God.   The word, “King” carries a lot of weight, though— a lot of history,   a lot of… well,   baggage. Heavy baggage.  

It will lead to your giving testimony. "The day will come," Jesus warns, "when your temple will lie in ruins. The day will come when you will be powerless, terrified, betrayed. The day will come when you will be tempted by lies and handed over by friends because of my name." The day will come, Jesus says, when all that you have left is your testimony. Where I live and worship now, there isn't much of a market for "personal testimony," or Wednesday night altar calls, or any  a

High up on the shelf in my Sunday School classroom, there was a picture book about the life of Jesus. It had been written and illustrated long before I was born and its pages were fragile and yellow with age. The Jesus in that book—and the Jesus I met in most of the pictures I saw as a child, was a gentle man with a faraway smile.   Some pictures showed him sitting quietly with a sheep across his shoulders or a child upon his knee. Others showed him standing in a meadow, gazi

The Gospel Lesson we hear today is imbedded in the “Bread of Life” discourse of the 6 th Chapter of the Gospel of John. Jesus has already fed the 5,000 with the barley loaves and little fish and has come to the disciples as they huddled in their frail boat during the storm on the sea. The crowd continued to pursue Jesus and when they gather about him, he announces, “I am the bread of life.” Now comes a lengthy commentary on this claim. But as the Lord takes up this pronouncem

This is one of my prayer books. It is the volume of the Liturgy of the Hours for this season of the year. And priests and bishops are required to recite the psalms, scripture readings, and prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours five times each day. The promise to pray the Liturgy of the Hours is made at ordination and is a solemn obligation. We who preach promise to pray. But prayer is more than the movement of the eyes and the lips and the sound of the voice. Prayer involves

On my first Christmas as a priest, I drove from my parish in Greensboro to my aunt’s house in Charlotte after the Christmas Morning Mass. I arrived at the door of the house glassy-eyed, pale, and with shoulders hunched over. My grandmother took one look at me and said, “ Nickname within the family which I will not share with you , Are you sick?” My mother looked from across the room and said, “No, he’s exhausted.” We know what it is to be exhausted. We know what it is to be t

They had been cursed by God. Everyone knew that! They were visited by a plague that did not kill, but never seemed to end. Their families...

Jesus and the disciples continue their journey up to Jerusalem, and up to the Cross. Along the way, the Lord responds to their questions...

HOMILY IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH You will need to give him a name. You really need to name him today. It will be more complicated if you...

There’s no way around it. This week’s Gospel is an odd little story that leaves us scratching our heads, and wondering what’s up. While...

In our culture, we work very hard to create a world immune to suffering and pain.   We retreat into gated communities, embrace fantasy...

This is now the tenth day (or “ninth day” if preached at a Vigil Mass) since that horrible morning at Annunciation Church School when a...