Matthew 3:13-17 When I was a teenager, one of my household chores was to wash the dishes every evening. One thing that became very clear to me, during these years of my juvenile dish-washing career, was that if you put dirty dishes into clean water, the water gets dirty. Depending on how encrusted…
Shirley Belair Funeral – 2 Corinthians 4:11-18 Quite a while before I moved to Minnesota, I saw a video – of a certain tongue-in-cheek, humorous character – about the Minnesota “long goodbye.” The video was ostensibly introducing people from other states – who might visit or move to Minnesota – to this aspect of Minnesota’s…
Epiphany – Matthew 2:1-12 In the Middle Ages, in western Europe, the festival of the Epiphany came to be seen as a festival about three gentile kings – from Arabia, Persia, and India – who were guided by a star to come and worship the Christchild. The names that were attached to these kings were…
Matthew 2:13-23 The festival of Christmas is always a day of joyous celebration. We remember God’s goodness and love in the sending of his Son to be our Savior, and as we do so, we are glad. The story of the birth of Jesus is a declaration that God cares about us. He has not…
Matthew 1:18-25 In today’s Gospel from St. Matthew, we are told that Joseph was a just man – or, what would be a better translation, a righteous man. This description of Joseph’s character applies to more than one aspect of his life. First, it means that he was an honorable and moral man. He had…
Luke 2:10-11 EXORDIUM: Christ is born! Let us glorify him! Today is the festival of the Nativity of Our Lord. It recalls the day in Bethlehem, so many centuries ago, when God’s Son entered into this world, and set out on his life’s journey as humanity’s Savior. God’s Son had, of course, been a part…
Luke 2:8-12 Christ is born! Let us glorify him! “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign…
Malachi 4:4-6 Please listen with me to a reading from the fourth chapter of the Prophet Malachi, beginning at the fourth verse. The Lord is speaking: “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet…
Isaiah 40:1-11 There is something inside every human being that gives him or her an innate desire to live, and to avoid death for as long as possible. Indeed, the quest for immortality is one of the recurring themes of the human imagination. It is reflected in history. In the sixteenth century, Ponce de Leon…
Malachi 4:1-6 Fire. Heat. Sunshine. Light. These are familiar images. Especially at this time of year, these images resonate with us in positive ways: as we wish that we could replace the cold temperatures we endure during a Minnesota winter with more heat, and replace the darkness of our short days with more sunshine. But…