God on Trial (on Good Friday)

Readings for Good Friday Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Psalm 22 Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 John 19:1-37 This sermon was preached on Good Friday at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on April 15, 2022. During the first few months of this year (2022), I taught a class online at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley. The class was […]

Appreciating our Feet (and other Burden Bearers)

Readings for Maundy Thursday Exodus 12:1-14 Psalm 116:1, 10-17 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 John 13:1-17, 31b-35 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on April 14, 2022 Last month, I spent a day hiking the Headwaters Forest Trail, a 5 ½ mile trail along the Elk River that winds up into an old-growth redwood […]

Guide to Holy Week (2022)

Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week, named after the palms that were used like confetti when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. On this day, we carry palms and shout, “Hosanna!” which means “Save!” or “Saviour” to commemorate Jesus’s Triumphal Entry. Palm Sunday is also called Passion Sunday because we read the account of […]

William Law and outdoor Worship

Readings for the Feast Day of William Law 2 Peter 1:3-11 Psalm 1 Matthew 6:1-8 This reflection was shared at Sacred Saunter Outdoor Eucharist on Saturday April 9, 2022 at Sequoia Park in Eureka. William Law was a Church of England priest in the 18th century who challenged Anglicans to take Christian living seriously in […]

Louis Weil and the Mystery of Matzah

This article was written for the April 2022 Chronicle newsletter for Christ Church Eureka, soon after attending the Solemn Requiem for the Rev. Dr. Louis Weil on Friday April 1, 2022 When I was in Berkeley last weekend to attend my wife Ashley Bacchi’s Borsch-Rast Lecture at the GTU, I had the opportunity to also […]

Returning to the true Self

Readings for Laetare Sunday, the Third Sunday in Lent (Year C) Joshua 5:9-12 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 Psalm 32 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on March 27, 2022. Happy Laetare Sunday! Today is a day in which we are invited to rejoice (which is the English translation of the […]

From Blaming the Victim to SubVerting the system

Readings for the Third Sunday in Lent (Year C) This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on March 20, 2022. There is a strong temptation among Christians and religious people in general to engage in a very insidious way of thinking that is called ‘blaming the victim.’ It is essentially blaming the victims […]

“Patient, Humble Love”

Readings for the First Sunday in Lent (Year C) This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on March 6, 2022. The forty days of Lent have begun, even though today (Sunday) is not counted as one of those days. Remember Sundays are still feast days throughout the season of Lent, so if you’ve […]

“Dust and Ashes”

Readings for Ash Wednesday Joel 2:1-2, 12 – 17 Psalm 103 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 This homily was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on Ash Wednesday, March 2, 2022. On Ash Wednesday, we recognize our mortality and finitude, our utter dependance on God for every single breath we breathe. As the author of […]

Listening to Amplify

Readings for the Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany (Year C) This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on February 20, 2022. Last Sunday, we heard the opening words of the Sermon on the Plain, a sermon that Jesus preached after staying up all night in prayer and after calling his twelve disciples, on […]