Category: Uncategorized

Lent 3 March 15, 2009

Exodus 20:1-17Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

1 Corinthians 1:18-25Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

John 2:13-22

â€œOn his first day of eighth grade at the former Holy Name Roman Catholic school in Washington, DC, last fall, Jeffrey Stone bowed his head, clasped his hands and began to recite the Lordâ€™s Prayer. Within seconds, his teacher chided him: â€˜We donâ€™t do that anymore.â€™â€*

Holy Name, like six other financially troubled schools in our Nationâ€™s capitol, was turned into a charter school over the summer last year.

Tags Exodus, Jesus, Law, Moses, parenting, Ten Commandments

Sermons Uncategorized

Lent 2 March 8, 2009

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Romans 4:13-25Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Mark 8:31-38

When I moved here to start as vicar, going on twelve years ago, I was new to email. (Sounds impossible to believe! Now email is being eclipsed by Facebook and Twitter.) I picked as my email address holyx, for Holy Cross. I didnâ€™t realize that I could have used a plus sign instead of the x and had an address that avoided negative connotations.

Anyway, itâ€™s occurred to me sometimes that X is an interesting take on the Cross. (Actually, the crosses used in crucifixion apparently werenâ€™t like the Latin crosses weâ€™re used to seeing. They were tau or T-shaped. And some crosses were actually X shaped, the victimâ€™s hands and legs stretched out more painfully.) But the thing about X and the Cross is that â€œX marks the spot,â€ X is the intersection of space and time, X is the cross-hairs in a gun sight. And all of that is true of the Cross of Christ, the Holy Cross, the namesake of this church.

Tags cross, grace

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Lent 1 March 1, 2009

Post author By vicar
Post date March 1, 2009

Genesis 9:8-17Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Mark 1:9-15Â Â Â Â Â

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

He sat in my study in the church back in Illinois, a very important man, rich and powerful. He wanted something from little our church: a place for his daughterâ€™s wedding. The family had been â€œmembersâ€ of the more fashionable parish in the next town, but they never attended church so the rector there had declined to do the daughterâ€™s wedding. Now this proud father found himself in an unusual position, begging. â€œI will make it worth your while,â€ he said. â€œThere will be a contribution. What does your church need?â€

Tags baptism, commandments, covenant, marriage, Noah

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Ash Wednesday February 25, 2009

Post author By vicar
Post date February 25, 2009

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

The weekday fasts and feasts that we celebrate here at Holy Cross always remind me of what a secularized world we live in, what a distance there is between the way the world sees things and the way we as members of the community of Christ are called to see them.

Tags Add new tag, confession, repentence, responsibility

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Last Epiphany February 22, 2009

Post author By vicar
Post date February 22, 2009

2 Corinthians 4:3-6Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Mark 9:2-9Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

I am not usually into yard sales, which I realize means I miss out on one of the great opportunities of local life. But driving along Concord Stage Road one day last summer I saw a yard sale that I had to stop for. The reason was a mounted deerâ€™s head, just the thing to bring home to Anne and hang on our screened porch. It turned out the deerâ€™s head was priced beyond my reach (which may have saved my marriage). But browsing the sale was an experience Iâ€™m glad I had.

Tags Add new tag, glory, Jesus, journey, transfiguration

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Epiphany 6 February 15, 2009

Post author By vicar
Post date February 19, 2009

2 Kings 5:1-14Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

1 Corinthians 9:24-27Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Mark 1:40-45

I donâ€™t know how many of you glance at the little biographies of the weekâ€™s saints that we run in the bulletins each Sunday. Someone said to me that the saints didnâ€™t â€œdo anythingâ€ for him. I guess they â€œdoâ€ a lot for me. They remind me of the struggles that others have faced to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of the fact that you and I stand on the shoulders of generations of giants who have gone before us. As the Letter to the Hebrews says, â€œwe are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [that we can] run with endurance the race set before us.â€

Tags cross, Darwin, evolution, humility, Lincoln, Naaman, saints, science

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Epiphany 3 January 25, 2009

Post author By vicar
Post date February 19, 2009

Â Jonah 3:1-5, 10Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Rt. Rev. Arthur E. Walmsley

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Mark 1:14-20

Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.

Two years ago, when Barack Obama announced his candidacy for the presidency, many who had read his books or heard his stirring address in 1994 at the Democratic Convention admired him and wished him well. The pundits doubted that this political newcomer would go very far in the free-for-all of presidential politics. But then something began to happen. Attracted to his message, a grass roots movement began to coalesce, fed especially by young people who dropped whatever they were about in life to campaign, making innovative use of the world of the internet. As we watched the Inauguration last Tuesday, what was singularly apparent across the faces of that enormous crowd was a kind of excitement and enthusiasm we havenâ€™t seen in American politics since the turbulent years of the 1960s.

Tags conversion, hope, Jesus, politics

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Epiphany 5 February 8, 2009

Post author By vicar
Post date February 19, 2009

Isaiah 40:21-31Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

1 Corinthians 9:16-23Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Mark 1:29-39

You and I are sick. We may not realize it, though some doâ€”the lucky ones. We medicate ourselves, trying to cure our sickness, but the medications only make us worse. We end up having to take medicines to treat the side effects of our medicines and then more medicines to treat those medicines. We go through therapies and then more therapies. And we only get sicker. There is another way of talking about this sickness, which is to say that we are possessed: possessed with demons.

That evening, at sundown, they brought to Jesus all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast our many demons.

What is our illness? What demons are we possessed with?

Tags Add new tag, busyness, healing, money, silence, simplicity, sins

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Epiphany 4 February 1, 2009

Post author By vicar
Post date February 19, 2009

Deuteronomy 18:15-20Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

1 Corinthians 8:1-13Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Mark 1:21-28

Â [H]e taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

â€” Mark 1:22b

A few days into our vacation these past two weeks, I began to experience withdrawal anxiety. We were having a great time, attending an interesting conference, visiting beautiful places and eating good foodâ€”too much good food. But I didnâ€™t have my daily New York Times. What was happening in the world? And, more important, what was I to think of whatever was happening? Ever since I went to college I have read the Times daily, looking to it for the â€œauthorityâ€ around which to shape my view of the world.

Tags atonement, authority, media, St. Paul

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Epiphany 2 January 18, 2009

Post author By vicar
Post date February 19, 2009

1 Samuel 3:1-20Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

1 Corinthians 6:12-20Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

John 1:43-51

One Sunday, after Iâ€™d left St. Matthewâ€™s in Evanston, Anne and I went to the Quaker meeting. Quaker meetings arenâ€™t large. Some, like the Weare-Henniker one, are very small. The Evanston meeting was about the size of Holy Cross, but in a smaller room, simple, beautiful, full of light. The meeting lasted one hour and during that hour not a single word was spoken; no music; no movement. For the first half hour the children were with us, even the youngest ones, and they too were silent and still.

There is something profoundly holy about being in a group like that.

Tags call, silence, vocation