Protection against “the Evil Eye”

Readings for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year A) Proper 20 – Track 2 Jonah 3:10-4:11 Psalm 145:1-8 Philippians 1:21-30 Matthew 20:1-16 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on Sunday September 24 2023. Several years ago, I picked Ashley up at the SFO airport after the holidays when we were first dating and […]

The Process of Forgiveness

Readings for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year A) Proper 19 – Track 2 Genesis 50:15-21 Psalm 103:(1-7), 8-13 Romans 14:1-12 Matthew 18:21-35 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on Sunday September 17, 2023. Last Sunday, our Scripture readings invited us to choose life. Today our readings remind us that choosing life […]

Supporting the Saint of Hopeless Causes

A reflection on St. Judas Thaddeus inspired by the oil painting of Fr. George Leonard Shultz (1896 – 1971). This same reflection was published in the Times-Standard on Saturday September 16, 2023 as Supporting the ‘Saint of Hopeless Causes’ Since the fall of 2020, I have been offering reflections on Father Shultz’s paintings of the 12 apostles, which […]

Riders on the Storm

“There is nothing more praiseworthy in friendship than loyalty, which is its nurse and guardian.” – St. Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship Jacob was my fellow rider on the storm. The two of us spent a lot of time on the road together; and one of my favorite memories of him was in 2001 when […]

Turning Towards Life’s Open Windows (THe Hebrew LEtter “HE”)

Readings for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year A) Proper 18 – Track 2 Ezekiel 33:7-11 Psalm 119:33-40 Romans 13:8-14 Matthew 18:15-20 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on Sunday September 10, 2023. It’s good to be back indeed! After 15 consecutive Sundays away, it’s good to be back. One of my […]