Abiding and Bearing Fruit

Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year B)

Acts 8.26-40; 1 John 4.7-21; John 15.1-8

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

I have a confession to make. Today’s Gospel reading always makes me feel a little inadequate. But not for the reason you might think.

You see, I come from a long line of “green thumbs.” All my grandparent had wonderful gardens. They all had beautiful beds of flowers and lush green plants in front of their homes. And in the summer, they always had vegetable gardens with delicious tomatoes and other assorted veggies. My mother inherited their abilities. She has roses in her back yard, flowers in the front yard, and lots of potted plants throughout her house. She likes plants so much that for years I have sent her some sort of plant for Mother’s Day. A number of years ago I sent her a Ficus benjamina, no more than six inches tall. Now, years later, that ficus is taller than I am and fills a corner in Mom’s family room. Such is her gift with plants. And my sister is the same. Every summer she plants all sorts of vegetables in her back yard and has fresh herbs pretty much all year round.

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Called to be Good Shepherds

Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year B)

Acts 4.5-12; 1 John 3.16-24; John 10.11-18

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Here at the mid-point of Eastertide, we shift our attention, although not our primary focus. In the first half of the Easter season, we heard accounts of several of Jesus’ post-Resurrection appearances. We examined what these direct experiences of the Risen Lord meant for the disciples, and what they continue to mean for us as Easter people. Now we are done with those accounts. For the remainder of this season we look at various well-known images that Jesus uses to describe himself. Images that he offered prior to his death. Images in which he attempted to give the disciples, and us, a foretaste of how we are to live in light of what was to – or for us, has already – come. Images that provide more depth to what it means to live the resurrected life than can be gleaned from the post-Resurrection appearances themselves. Images that, in hindsight, we see are lessons for our lives of faith.

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Seeking to be in Relationship

Third Sunday of Easter (Year B)

Luke 24.36b-48

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

On Easter, we celebrate the glorious mystery that is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Throughout the remainder of Eastertide – the great 50 days of Easter – we, along with the disciples, struggle with sorting out exactly what this means for those of us who follow the Risen Lord. For the first couple of weeks of Eastertide, we take a look at various post-resurrection appearances of Jesus in an attempt to answer this question. The disciples struggle with determining how their relationship with Jesus has changed in light of the Resurrection. And with them, we seek to discern how we faithfully live into the resurrected life that we have inherited.

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Moving Forward in Faith

Second Sunday of Easter (Year B)

John 20.19-31

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

During the Great 50 Days of Easter, our scripture readings focus on the meaning of the Resurrection that we witnessed on Easter Day. They focus on what it means to live into new relationship with the resurrected Lord. They focus on what it means for us to live into the resurrected life as followers of Jesus Christ. So what does it mean, then, that on this second Sunday of Easter, the icon for our relationship with and life in the Resurrected Lord is none other than Doubting Thomas?

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God's April Fools' Joke

Easter Sunday (Year B)

Acts 10.34-43; 1 Corinthians 15.1-11; John 20.1-18

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

For the past year, there has been excited conversations among clergy, both in real life and on-line, about the fact that, this year, Easter falls on April 1^st – on April Fools’ Day. Obviously, Easter does not come on April 1^st every year. It is just a chance convergence of our solar-based secular calendar and the intricate formula for calculating the date of Easter using the ancient lunar-based Jewish calendar. But clergy have been giddy with anticipation of the opportunity to peach about this confluence of Easter and April Fools’ Day. Because, from a theological perspective, nothing could be more appropriate.

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Culmination of Salvation History

Great Vigil of Easter

Genesis 7.1-5, 11-18, 8.6-8, 9.8-17; Exodus 14.10-31, 15.20-21;

Ezekiel 37.1-14; Romans 6.3-11; Mark 16.1-8

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

“This is the night!” As we heard in the Exsultet, “This is the night, when [God] brought . . . the children of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt, and led them through the Red Sea . . . This is the night, when [we] are delivered from . . . sin, and are restored to grace and holiness of life. This is the night, when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell, and rose victorious from the grave.” Just as this is the night when our Jewish sisters and brothers celebrate Passover, this is the night we celebrate our Passover.

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Being Vulnerable for Servant Ministry

Maundy Thursday

John 13.1-17, 31b-35

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

On this holy night, we come to the end of our Lenten journey and begin a new journey. The beginning of what is known as the Triduum – the Three Days – that begins with sundown on this day and extends through sundown on Easter Day. From the beginning of Jesus’ Passion, to in his death on Good Friday, culminating in the glory of his Resurrection on Easter. It was on this first day of the Triduum that Jesus’ had his last meal with his disciples. What we know and now commemorate as the Last Supper. As we hear in scripture, this period coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover, which Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem to celebrate when he was arrested, taken to trial, and executed.

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Christ's Passion, Our Passion

Palm/Passion Sunday (Year B)

Mark 11.1-11; Philippians 2.5-11; Mark 14.1—15.47

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

On this day that begins as Palm Sunday and then abruptly takes a turn, becoming Passion Sunday, how often do we sit back and merely observe the events that unfold before us, taking the part of dispassionate observers? Maybe dispassionate is not quite the right term to use. After all, as faithful Christians, we cannot help but be moved by what we witness on this day. By the exultation of witnessing Jesus making his triumphal entry into Jerusalem with shouts of “Hosanna!” which we willingly and joyfully participate in. And before the high of that experience can wear off, we are brought to the depths of sorrow and despair as we witness Jesus’ Passion. Again, an event we enter into and engage in a unique way, albeit reluctantly. As we seek to enter into the most tragic, yet the most important, period in the life of our Lord. The most important period in our lives of faith.

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On to Jerusalem

Fifth Sunday in Lent (Year B)

Jeremiah 31.31-34; Hebrews 5.5-10; John 12.20-33

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

We often talk about the Lenten journey being one of traveling with Jesus toward Jerusalem. With each week, we get closer and closer. The tone of the readings become more and more explicit, more and more urgent, revealing more and more about what we can expect. Well, today, just one week out from Palm Sunday and Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, our readings – the Gospel in particular – stomp on the accelerator, barrel headlong toward Jerusalem, and then take a sharp turn right into the gates of Jerusalem, coming to a screeching halt just shy of the venue for the Last Supper.

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For God Soooo Loved the World

Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year B)

Numbers 21.4-9; John 3.14-21

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

As we draw closer to Holy Week, our readings seek to prepare us for what will happen in Jerusalem – Christ’s Passion. Today’s reading from the Gospel according to John is part of a meeting Jesus has with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who comes to Jesus under cover of night to discuss some of Jesus’ intriguing teachings. In the course of their discussion about “being born from above” and other spiritual matters, Jesus gives his first prediction regarding his Passion – “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (Jn 3.14). Jesus then talks about what it means for the Son of Man – his term for himself – to be lifted up. What he reveals is not just about the predicted event, but what it will mean for all humanity. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (Jn 3.16).

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