Affirming “Brother Ass”

Readings for the First Sunday after Christmas Day Isaiah 61:10-62:3 Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7 John 1:1-18 Psalm 147 or 147:13-21 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka on Sunday December 31, 2023. 800 years ago, a 41-year-old deacon travelled to the Italian town of Greccio, where he pondered the mystery of Christmas expressed in the words […]

St. John, Celtic Spirituality, and the Heart Sense

Readings for the Feast of the Christ Mass Isaiah 52:7-10 Hebrews 1:1-4,(5-12) John 1:1-14 Psalm 98 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka for the Christmas Day service on Sunday December 25, 2023. Merry Christmas! In the ninth century, the brilliant Celtic theologian John Scotus Eriugena (815–877) wrote a homily on the Gospel we just […]

The Heavenly Peace of Silent Night

Readings for the Feast of the Christ Mass Isaiah 62:6-12 Titus 3:4-7 Luke 2:1-20 Psalm 97 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka for the Christmas Eve service on Saturday December 24, 2023. Merry Christmas! Some authors have argued that the spiritual character and contribution of each Christian denomination can be represented well with a […]

The Western Saint of the Winter Solstice

This reflection on St. Thomas the Apostle was shared on Thursday December 21, 2023, followed by an invitation for others to discover the divine light by simply snapping a twig and holding a stone as part of an interfaith gathering that included Sufi dance, body movement, poetry, and the powerfully sonorous vibrations of the gong. […]

Rewilding Prayer

Readings for the Second Sunday of Advent (Year B) Isaiah 40:1-11 2 Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8 Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on Sunday December 10, 2023. Today, on this second Sunday of Advent, we continue reading from the Gospel of Mark, but this time we begin appropriately at […]

Advent: A Season for Reorientation

Readings for the First Sunday of Advent (Year B) Isaiah 64:1-9 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37 Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on Sunday December 3, 2023. Teach me, O Lord, the precious things thou dost impart and wing my words that they may reach the hidden depths of […]

Advent: A Season for Ad Orientem

This article was written for the December 2023 Chronicle newsletter for Christ Church Eureka. On my last day in Aotearoa New Zealand, I preached at the historic St. Stephen’s Chapel in Auckland, beside a wooden altar upon which the first constitution of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa was signed. I preached on the gift of […]

The Reign of Compassion

Readings for the Twenty Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Year A) Proper 29 – Track 2 Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 Psalm 95:1-7a Ephesians 1:15-23 Matthew 25:31-46 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on Sunday November 26, 2023. Happy Feast Day of Christ the King! This feast, which we might consider our patronal feast day […]