The Rhythm of God’s Healing Love: Rector’s Report on 2023

Readings for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka on Sunday February 4, 2024. There’s a rhythm to the healing ministry of Christ revealed right away in the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel, where we read about Jesus first worshiping with his disciples in the synagogue, then healing, and […]

The Name That Charms Our Fears

Readings for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka on Sunday January 28, 2024. Six years ago today, I preached on these same readings on my first Sunday here, readings that proclaim the holy and awesome and life-giving power of God’s Name and the Name of Jesus Christ […]

Baptismal Covenant Epiphanies (From Karl Barth and beyond)

Readings for the First Sunday after the Epiphany This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka on Sunday January 7, 2024. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, when we read again portions from the Gospel of Mark that we heard back on the Second Sunday of Advent, when the camel-haired beast […]

New Year Reflections On the Saint of Rievaulx

This article was written for the January 2024 Chronicle newsletter for Christ Church Eureka. This January, I begin my seventh year at Christ Church (Jan 28), and I also celebrate the 10-year anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood (Jan 11). Since I was ordained on the Eve of the Feast Day of St. Aelred of Rievaulx […]

Affirming “Brother Ass”

Readings for the First Sunday after Christmas Day 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 of the Gospel we just heard read. Although his younger years […]

St. John, Celtic Spirituality, and the Heart Sense

Readings for the Feast of the Christ Mass 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 heard read, a homily that has been called […]

The Heavenly Peace of Silent Night

Readings for the Feast of the Christ Mass 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 great feast day of the church, claiming that […]

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) 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 the beginning, rather than at the apocalyptic end, as we […]

Advent: A Season for Reorientation

Readings for the First Sunday of Advent (Year B) 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 many a heart; in the Name of the Father, and […]