HOMILY FOR EASTER 2
APRIL 27, 2014 In the apostles Peter and Thomas, we see the miracle of Easter embodied in two very different people today: two different personality types; two distinct responses; two distinct spiritual paths.
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Easter Homily – 2014/04/20
http://www.stja.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/EasterHomily.mp3 EASTER DAY 2014 Easter really begins on Good Friday, because these events cannot be separated. When we are baptized, we are baptized into the death AND Resurrection of Jesus. Easter is rooted in the death of Christ and the absolute dereliction of his followers, especially Peter, who despite their promises of loyalty and steadfastness, all deserted Jesus.
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Homily for Good Friday 2014
http://www.stja.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/GoodFridayHomily.mp3 Just when you think old-time religion has been pushed to the margins of our society, SIN is back in the headlines. I was watching the TV news the other day and across the bottom of the screen scrolls a bulletin saying something about hundreds of people’s SINS being discovered, but then I quickly realized that “SIN” in this case was meant to refer to Social Insurance Number.
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Homily – Natural Disasters: Coincidence or Act of God?
Keynote address given at an inter-faith gathering in Surrey on January 20, 2014 I am very grateful to have been invited to this event, although somewhat daunted by the prospect of speaking to such an issue. This is not exactly one of the lighter topics to consider, but certainly deals with a question that deeply affects anyone who thinks about human life in religious terms. Certainly one immediate insight is that there is a very indiscriminate aspect to these large-scale disasters, and the result of cataclysmic events like tsunamis and earthquakes is that Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Jews end up lying side by side, indistinguishable in terms of belief, yet united in human suffering and death. An early theologian of the Christian Church, the apostle James said, “be slow to speak …” And yet, in the wake of any major catastrophe, there are always various religious authorities who are quick to grab the spotlight, to weigh in and express what they believe is God’s definitive place in the event: Evangelical preacher Pat Robertson commented on a destructive hurricane by saying: “This is God’s judgement on the United States.” In the wake of the terrible tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed thousands in 2004, the Dean of the Anglican Cathedral in Sydney Australia said it was the will of God and a warning about coming judgement. Leaders of other faiths were also quick to pronounce judgement on behalf of God. Completely ignoring the profound, widespread and complicated issues of suffering and loss, in situations in which thousands have been killed or rendered homeless, some religious leaders feel the need to proclaim to all who will listen that they know this to be God’s will. And with the aid of modern media, if you manage to get your opinion...
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Homily – The Baptism of Jesus – January 12, 2014
Homily for the Sunday After Epiphany http://www.stja.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/PentecostHomily.mp3 This past fall, I found myself in a weird time warp, still nicely appreciating summer, when all of a sudden we were talking about Christmas, and now even Christmas seems like a long time ago
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Homily for Christmas I, Dec. 29, 2013
HEROD IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A ROLE MODEL! One of the key elements of traditional Christian doctrine is that Christ became “fully man,” or “fully human.” The Letter to Hebrews says of Christ that “he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect.”
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WHAT’S NEW? Homily for Christmas Eve 2013
The great theologian Karl Barth once said that the clergy of our time need to prepare sermons with a Bible in one hand, and a newspaper in the other. That was considered a pretty radical or avant-garde statement in the early 1960’s; however, now we are more likely to be connecting to the TV and Internet or twitter, and likely the Bible or commentary we’re looking at is online as well!
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Homily for Advent 4, December 22, 2013
HOLY DARKNESS The Sufi mystic poet, Jalal-ad-Din Rumi once wrote “What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is your candle.”
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Homily for the First Sunday of Advent, December 1, 2013
The book of the prophet Isaiah reveals a developing sense of the world beyond Israel – beyond Judaism – that recognizes that somehow these other nations and peoples are included in the scope of God’s plans. So Isaiah represents something of a paradigm shift in which we can see the beginning of a more universal and inclusive awareness and approach – an awareness that the universe is not just about Israel, and that there other people in the world who can serve God’s purposes besides Iraelites.
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HOMILY FOR PENTECOST 24, OCTOBER 27, 2013
I’M OK AND YOU’RE NOT: THE LESSON OF THE PHARISEE AND THE TAX COLLECTOR http://www.stja.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/RHGR1027.mp3 Today’s Gospel reading appears only in the Gospel According to Luke; it is a parable about two very different men coming to the same place to worship. Jesus chose to portray two people who were both Jews, but at opposite ends of the social and spiritual spectrum.
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