Crosses of Ash: One of the Most Life-Giving Things We Can Do

Ash Wednesday

Isaiah 58.1-12; 2 Corinthians 5.20b—6.10; Matthew 6.1-6, 16-21

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

What we do on this day is perhaps one of the most honest things we can do in our life of faith. It is also one of the most life-giving things we can do. Why is that? It’s all in the ashes.

As I thought about how I was going to preach Ash Wednesday this year, I thought about the varied themes of the day. There are, of course, ashes. And then there is the Gospel reading, with Jesus talking about various practices of piety. Namely, giving alms, prayer, and fasting. The three disciplines that have come to be associated with Lent. In the past, my Ash Wednesday sermons have always focused on these Lenten disciplines. But this year, I was pulled in a different direction. To ashes and just what they symbolize.

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Invitation to Transfiguration

Last Sunday after Epiphany (Year A)

Exodus 24.12-18; 2 Peter 1.16-21; Matthew 17.1-9

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Last year during Lent, I did a presentation on my Holy Land pilgrimage, entitled “The Fifth Gospel.” I chose that name based on a comment that our tour guide made—echoing the sentiment of many Biblical scholars—that the land is the fifth gospel. That in order to truly understand the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—you need to know something of the land in which those stories took place. That the land provides additional insight into the Gospels, and to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

In the year since my return from Israel, I have certainly found this to be true. Having been to the locations of many Biblical events, I find that even as I read old familiar stories from the Bible, I see them in a new way. I see the places where those stories unfolded. And those stories take on new meaning, new significance. Some more so than others. The story of the Transfiguration is one of those stories that takes on a new and deeper meaning for me by virtue of the geography.

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YOU Are the Salt of the Earth

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (Year A)

Isaiah 58.1-12; Matthew 5.13-20

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

“You are the salt of the earth” (Mt 5.13a). “You are the light of the world” (Mt 5.14a). What do these two things—salt and light—have to do with each other? One is a chemical compound and the other is a form of electromagnetic radiation. Very different things. Yet, in Jesus’ mind, they apparently have something in common. Something that ties in with the first part of the Sermon on the Mount that he had just preached. You know, “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven . . . blessed are those who mourn . . . blessed are the meek . . . blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness . . . blessed are the merciful . . . blessed are the pure in heart . . . blessed are the peacemakers . . . blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake . . . blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you” (Mt 5.3-11).

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Presentation of Our Lord . . . and Ourselves

Presentation of Our Lord (Year A)

Malachi 3.1-4; Luke 2.22-40

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

It has been 40 days since we celebrated the birth of Jesus at Christmas. The Christmas decorations have long since been packed away and the tree left on the curb for pick-up or relegated to the garage until next year. The Church has celebrated the circumcision of Jesus eight days after his birth. And we have celebrated Epiphany, the twelfth day after Christmas, marking the coming of the magi. Thus endeth the Christmas season.

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