Matthew 3:13-17   Ten years ago, in 2016, I went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with a group of about 20 Episcopalians led by monks of the Society of St John the Evangelist, which is a monastery in Cambridge Massachusetts. It was the most amazing and inspiring trip I have ever made. Every day I was filled with awe as we entered the stories from the gospel. We walked on the field where Jesus gave the sermon on the mount, we sat at the well where he shared water with the Sama

Matthew 11. 2-11 / Luke 1. 46-55 The lessons from today’s teaching highlight the roles of two prophets in the Jesus story during this time of Advent. From the Gospel of Matthew, we have Jesus proclaiming the greatness of John the Baptist – the voice crying out in the wilderness – and his prophetic role of preparing the way for the incarnation of God in Jesus.   It was from the wilderness that God chose to announce that God’s reign of justice and peace was coming in the form o

ADVENT / CHRISTMAS 2025     “What if we close our eyes right now and are interiorly awakened so that when we opened our eyes, we would see through our own awakened eyes what Jesus saw in all that he saw. What would we see? We would see God. Because Jesus saw God in all that he saw.    What is stunning is that it didn’t matter if Jesus saw his own mother or a prostitute. It didn’t matter whether he saw the joy of those gathered at a wedding or the sorrow of the burial of a lov

As we move toward the Holy Nativity and Christmas, we hear stories of John the Baptist, Mary, the Archangel Gabriel, the dream of Joseph, the journey to Bethlehem, and the mystic stargazers from the East. We are given rich opportunities to anticipate the coming of Jesus and reflect on what it all means in our lives.    The Advent stories are part of the belief narrative that Christ has come and will come again. It is a narrative that looks both to the past and to the future b

John 18. 33-38 This scriptural account of the exchange between Jesus and Pilot feels fitting in that it speaks of kings and of truth, both of which are relevant to the times in which we live. Ours is a time when many people are resisting the desire of the one who seems thirsty for power and eager to wear the crown of a king. This is also a time when there are big questions about what is truth.    I have learned that scripture does not have all the answers but instead filled w

by Brother Robert Sevensky, OHC I begin with a quote from Father Dan Ward, a Benedictine monk of St. John's Abbey, Collegeville:   “Monastic life is not a static life of perfection...but a journey of coming to recognize human weaknesses and then depending upon God's mercy and help to grow into a tender, understanding and gentle person. Thus, monastic commitment is not a commitment to be instantly perfect, but a commitment to seek God and grow into perfection. This is why a mo

Luke 18:9-14 I like parables, and today’s is no exception. As the story goes, two men went to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee who seemed quite pleased with himself; the other a tax collector who couldn’t even raise his face to God out of his sense of unworthiness and need for mercy. The Pharisee thought that he had gotten it all right and thanked God he wasn’t like the wretched tax man who had it all wrong, right? Wrong. Jesus identifies the tax man as the one who is justi

Matthew 11:28-30 When a young ox is being trained to pull heavy loads, they are first yoked with a stronger, mature ox at their side. ...