How do we respond when tragedy befalls us? The answer Jesus gives is to repent. What in the world could our good Lord mean? I do think our initial shock at this answer comes from a misunderstanding of what it means to repent, which is what I’d like to explore with you today, because I think repentance is really a remarkable gift, not a punishment.
Read MoreOne day God asked the Archangel Michael to give a report on the state of things on earth. After conducting his research, St. Michael sheepishly shared that things were not going very well. 90% of the people on earth were behaving very badly and seemed to have little confidence that God could do anything about it. The other 10% were doing pretty well. They were trying their best to live a godly, righteous and sober life but were feeling discouraged and unsure of what God’s will for them was. So God, in His infinite wisdom, came up with a plan. He told St. Michael to send a group text message to the righteous 10% with instructions on what to do so that the other 90% would have a chance to amend their ways and follow him. And do you know what that text message said? I don’t know, I didn’t get it either.
Read MoreIn the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, amen.
Today is the last Sunday of the season of Epiphany, which is a season focused on helping us see the ways that God shows up for us tangibly in the world. It begins with the first Epiphany experience, when the Magi visit the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Christ child after His birth and it ends with this mysterious event known as the Transfiguration, which we hear of today. Now before I get into the Transfiguration, I want to say that it’s always been fascinating to me to think about sacred geography; that is, where spatially God shows up for us. Throughout scripture you’ll notice a common pattern of God revealing Himself to us in two specific places – deserts and mountaintops.
Read MoreLove your enemies and turn the other cheek. This is perhaps one of the most difficult teachings of Christ presented to us in all of the Gospel. When I first read these words last week I thought that this is either the worst possible timing for this Gospel lesson to appear, when country, and neighbor, and even household is so bitterly divided, or it is the Gospel we need desperately to hear now more than ever. Love your enemies and turn the other cheek.
Read MoreFriends, I can’t tell you how good it is to be back with you today, and if you are visiting or new, then welcome. In case you have forgotten, my name is Paddy Cavanaugh, the associate rector at St. George’s, and for the past three months I have been on paternity leave with my wife Winnie, who gave birth to our first daughter, Mary Winston, in October. Since then I have been wrapped in a blanket of wonder, love, and praise, at the miracle which new life promises.
Read MoreToday we remember the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. MLK was a prophet, very much in keeping with the Old Testament prophetic tradition. In our reading from Isaiah today, the prophet speaks to a people who had been in captivity in Babylon for many years and are now experiencing a kind of PTSD. They are divided, disillusioned, and lack a common vision. Some have stayed in Babylon. Some have returned from exile to their homeland. And a new generation has been born after their return that do no share that earlier experience of captivity with their parents and grandparents.
Read More