Readings: Isaiah 35: 4-7a; James 2: 1-5; Mark 7: 31-37 Preacher: Susan Howard Video Reflection: click here There are many people who are curious and maybe even skeptical about the teachings and parables of Jesus. The first disciples were, too. It took more than three years for them to grasp what Jesus was all about. So if you are among the doubters… read more →
Readings: Acts 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48; 1 John 4: 7-10; John 15: 9-17Preacher: Susan Howard Divine Love, a love that is so complete and self-giving that it is bigger than life itself. That is the love that Jesus embodied; it is the love that Jesus hoped we all would embrace and make room for in our own hearts. Divine love… read more →
Readings: Exodus 22: 20-26; 1 Thessalonians 1: 5c-10; Matthew 22: 34-40 Preacher: Susan Howard We have always needed God’s instruction to learn what love is. From the very beginning of time we have struggled to learn how to live together on this planet— how to survive complicated social structures, how to communicate with people, how to honor people’s differences. And so… read more →
Readings: Isaiah 55: 6-9; Philippians 1: 20c-24, 27a; Matthew 20: 1-6a Preacher: Susan Howard Sisters and Brothers, Paul makes it clear that the Kingdom of Heaven is for both genders. He is reiterating what Matthew has written in the Gospel that all people who work at being disciples will receive their reward of eternal life. Of course, you knew that, but… read more →
Readings: Acts 8: 5-8, 14-17; 1 Peter 3: 15-18; John 14: 15-21 Preacher: Susan Howard “If you love me you will keep my commandments…” What does this love look like? The great commandment to love one another and your neighbor (stranger or in this case a neighboring country) as yourself is a difficult and arduous undertaking if you try it on… read more →
Readings: Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4: 4-7; Luke 2: 16-21 Preacher: Susan Howard A dear friend sent me a Christmas gift a few weeks early. She’s very organized and thoughtful like that, worried about slow mail and lost gifts, but it arrived safely and I put it under the tree to wait until Christmas. So with eager expectation now at its peak… read more →
Readings: Exodus 32: 7-11, 13-14; 1 Timothy 1: 12-17; Luke 15: 1-32 Preacher: Susan Howard Several years ago one of our churches held a procession with the Blessed Sacrament on Feast of Corpus Christi. I had the task of finding someone to carry the cross that leads the procession. I could have asked one of our faithful ushers, or one of… read more →
Readings: Acts 7:55-60; Revelations 22: 12-14, 16-17,20; John 17: 20-26 Preacher: Susan Howard Participating in Divine Oneness, the Glory of God, is the ultimate gift. It’s not a commodity that you can touch or feel, not something we earn. It is a pure thing, a spiritual reality. It can come in a split second of spiritual conversion or over time and… read more →
Readings: 1 Samuel 1: 20-22, 24-28; Colossians 3: 12-21; Luke 2: 41-52 Preacher: Susan Howard The interconnection between making our voices heard and the loosening of the Holy Spirit to act in the world is the key to the dynamics of change. From a cursory reading of today’s texts one might imagine that the purpose of the Feast of the Holy Family… read more →
Readings: 2 Kings 4: 42-44; Ephesians 4: 1-6; John 6: 1-15Click here to download a PDF of this homily.Preacher: Susan Howard When I was 18 I traveled to Europe with a girlfriend. It was one of those bootstrap wild and crazy trips that one never forgets. We had lodging and summer jobs in a little town in the Alps of… read more →