March 12, 2023
Lent 3A – Bill Harkins
Good morning, and welcome to Holy Family on this third Sunday of Lent, a day on which we hear again the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. It is a risky encounter for both Jesus and the woman, as both willingly subject themselves to “exposure” of various kinds. This is a fascinating word, exposure, with subtle meanings, the etymology and synonyms of which are relevant to today’s Gospel text. We define exposure, for example, as the fact or condition of being presented to view or made known, or the condition of being unprotected, especially from severe weather. It isn’t necessarily pejorative, of course, as in being subjected to some beneficial influence. When our boys were growing up we sought to expose them to culture in the forms of art, and music, for example. As a professor I have endeavored to expose students—and myself—to new ideas and ways of thinking. But, we know all too well from the past several years that exposure to a virus or illness is not good, nor is the condition of being at risk of financial loss. Hikers, trail runners, anyone who spends time in the outdoors is vulnerable to exposure to weather, geography, and all that exposes us—both physically and psychologically—in those spaces. We seek to limit our exposure to market fluctuations, for example, and as a licensed clinician I take care to avoid exposure to ethical or legal liability.
March 5, 2023
Lent 2A – George Yandell
Who said these words?
“There’s no place like home.” Dorothy in Wizard of Oz
“Home is where the heart is.” Pliny the Elder – (CE 23- 79), Como, Italy
“Home sweet home.” Irving Berlin in “America”
“Home is the where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” Robert Frost
“I wish I were homeward bound.” Paul Simon
“You can’t go home again.” Thomas Wolfe
“The Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.’” I wonder – if you and I had been Abram, Sara and Lot, would we have answered Yahweh and followed that command? Who was this God Yahweh anyway, to be giving them such instructions?
Abram had the same fondness for home we have, I’d imagine. And yet he left everything and followed his Lord’s whimsy. Yet we never hear of Abram wishing to go back home. He went so far from home to get to Canaan, it would be like us flying to Mars and burning the spaceship when we got there. His relationship with Yahweh was founded on a two-way covenant, and depended on trust supreme. Yahweh promised to make of Abram a great nation.
I want to do a thought experiment with you. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and picture your home. The place that’s more home for you than anywhere else. It could be your parents’ home when you were a child,
February 26, 2023
Lent 1A – George Yandell
What appears most senseless can often seem most meaningful of all. What of Matthew’s story that becomes the gospel for today? This story tells of an event that proves to be a major turning point in Jesus’ personal history. It is recorded in three of the gospels. What could seem more senseless than Jesus getting baptized? Theologians have argued about it for centuries. Who could need more vocational reassurance than Jesus, standing there dripping wet and hearing, “This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well-pleased?” How many of us have ever had that kind of certainty?
And what sense is there to this wilderness temptation thing? It’s a great and dramatic story out of which preachers get a lot of mileage, but for Jesus, how senseless can it get? Well, there’s this. Matthew says that it wasn’t Jesus’ idea after all, for as soon as he was baptized, “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” What sort of sense does that make? [The above two paragraphs adapted from Lane Denson’s sermon of 3/9/2003.]
The wilderness temptation is reminiscent of the trials of the wilderness wanderings of Israel, as well as the fasts of Moses and Elijah. During this time Jesus discerns the true meaning of the baptismal proclamation that he is the Son of God. Here the devil represents the role of the tempter rather than the personification of evil.
February 19, 2023
Last Sunday of Epiphany – Ted Hackett
This the second of a “mini-series” of Sermons on “Heaven, Hell, Death and Judgement”…
The so-called “Four Last Things” which all humans must face…
Last week we tackled two of them…Heaven and Hell…
I am sure all of you remember in exquisite detail all of that sermon…
I learned years and years ago not to ask students what I had said in the last lecture…
Because the blank looks caused me so much frustration…
It was not good for my self-esteem!
So, to review, I talked about Heaven and Hell…
I said that Hell was not Fire and Brimstone and Devils with pitchforks for eternity…
Hell was self-centered alienation which prevents people from being close with each other….from loving each other…
Prevents people from knowing and loving themselves…
Prevents us from knowing and loving God with all our hearts, souls and minds!
We were created to love…
So alienation is Hell!
But, I said, this Hellish alienation does not last forever …
God is infinitely patient…
God will last the selfish, unhappy sinner out.
Because…think about it…
One soul lost forever would mean God was not able to complete the divine creation…..
Like the Father of the Prodigal Son…
God would have lost a beloved child…Forever…