Home > Advent Blog 2022 My Soul Magnifies the LordDecember 22, 2022 Isaiah 29:13-24 | Revelation 21:22-22:5 | Luke 1:39-56 Not being a Biblical scholar, I’m on shaky ground when I claim that nowhere else in the Good Book has an angel of the Lord spoken directly to...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 Life’s CornerstonesDecember 21, 2022 Isaiah 28:9-22 | Revelation 21:9-21 | Luke 1:26-38 Therefore thus says the Lord God, See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: ‘One who trusts...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 Serve in moving God’s purpose forward.December 20, 2022 Isaiah 11:10-16 | Revelation 20:11-21:8 | Luke 1:5-25When Zechariah entered the Lord’s sanctuary to burn incense, he was at a hinge of history and did not know it. Everything was going...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 Each stump becomes an altar of transformation. December 19, 2022 Isaiah 11:1-9 | Revelation 20:1-10 | John 5:30-47During the bleak days of Covid, my husband coped by realizing a new purpose in life. Our home on a river, was visible only...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 Emmanuel – God is with us. December 18, 2022  Isaiah 7:10-16 | Romans 1:1-7 | Matthew 1:18-25That’s really all we need to know. It's so elemental that it strips away everything else. We first hear about “Immanuel” in the Old Testament verses...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 So, what do you do to inspire people to follow God?December 17, 2022 Isaiah 10:20-27 | Jude 17-25 | Luke 3:1-9 Some may say that they don’t know how to help other people. But I think that everyone can help others find themselves and God.In...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 Glass half empty? December 16, 2022 Emma Walsh, one of 15 St. Luke’s Episcopal Church young adult missioners, building a church on the grounds of Campamento Monte De La Transfiguracion, Jarabacoa, República Dominicana, February, 2006.Isaiah...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 Take Jesus‘ hand this Advent December 15, 2022 IsaIah 9:18-10:4 | 2 Peter 2:10b-16 | Matthew 3:1-12For all this, his anger has not turned away; His hand is stretched out still.The Isaiah passage could have been written yesterday, so apt are...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 “It does not matter how small…”December 14, 2022 Isaiah 9:8-17 | 2 Peter 2:1-10a | Mark 1:1-8 Yikes, what readings today, false prophets, cities falling, thankfully followed by John’s message of hope. I am about to invite your company...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 ”I Believe.“December 13, 2022  Today's New Testament lesson shares the story of Jesus being mocked and beaten by the authorities. They are trying to trick him & get him to admit what they want to hear.But one of Jesus' responses is “If I...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 I Will Hope in Him December 12, 2022 Isaiah 8:16-9:1; 2 Peter 1:1-11; Luke 22:39-53 And I will wait on the Lord, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; And I will hope in Him. – Isaiah 8:17 I don’t really think God hides His face from...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 Be patient…really? How much longer?December 11, 2022 Isaiah 35:1-10 | James 5:7-10 | Matthew 11:2-11Over the years, I’ve grown to love Advent and its call to us for anticipatory waiting, though it hasn’t always been that way. “Getting things...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 Where do you find peace? December 10, 2022 Isaiah 8:1-15 | 2 Thessalonians 3:16-18| Luke 22:31-38  Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with all of you. The season sometimes is referred to as...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 Experience first-hand St. Luke’s loving community. December 9, 2022 Isaiah 7:10-25 | 2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5 | Luke 22:14-30  To celebrate my 82nd birthday (today, Dec. 9th) – and just when I was getting kind of complacent about my dear...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 Ponder the mystery of Christ in new waysDecember 8, 2022 Isaiah 7:1-9    2 Thessalonians  2:1-12   Luke 22:1-13 Even after all these years in the Episcopal church, I find it jarring to be reading about Jesus’ last week of life right before...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 Judgement December 7, 2022 Isaiah 6:1-13 |  2 Thessalonians 1:1-12 |  John 7:53-8:11Judgement – it seems to surround us these days! We watch behaviors in isolation and make judgements. We hear the news and make judgements. We make decisions,...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 Day By DayDecember 6, 2022 Isaiah 5:13-15, 24-25 | 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 | Luke 21:29-38One of my favorite things to do, is to have a “planning session” with my Gary.  We have them often, like daily…and they usually involve a cup of...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 Kept me in the light.December 5, 2022 Isaiah 5:8-12, 18-23 | 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 | Luke 21:20-28My thoughts will be on 1 Thessalonians 5:5,8-11.'5for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 God’s Own Seeds December 4, 2022 Isaiah 11:1-10 | Romans 15:4-13 | Matthew 3:1-12“Righteousness ” or “righteously” occurs six times in today’s readings and is referenced throughout the texts. The concept grabbed my attention and allowed me...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 The Gift of Hope December 3, 2022 Isaiah 4:2-6 | 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 | Luke 21:5-19[The Coming of the Lord]But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 Seen By God December 2, 2022 Isaiah 3:8-15 | 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 | Luke 20:41-21:4 The story of the widow’s mite is about giving all that you have even when you have little to give. It is also about the idea that Jesus sees what humankind...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 “Thy Kingdom Come” November 30, 2022 Washington National Cathedral - Photo by Lawrence OP  http://lawrenceop.tumblr.comIsaiah 2:1-11 | 1 Thessalonians 2:13-20 | Luke 20:19-26they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 By what authority are you doing these things? November 28, 2022 Isaiah 1:10-20 | 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 | Luke 20:1-8 As we venture into Advent, the season of the church year where we prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus into the world...

Home > Advent Blog 2022 “Making Ready” November 27, 2022 Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44I love trees… From the tallest, most majestic to the tiny saplings struggling to grow.This time of year the color has mostly faded from the leaves that dressed...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 Ponderings on Christmas Day December 25, 2021 Isaiah 62:6-12 | Titus 3:4-7 |Luke 2:(1-7)8-20 | Psalm 97  “…But Mary treasured all these words, and pondered them in her heart.” Luke’s lyrical account of the Birth of Jesus, and its reference...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 Live fully into this love relationship with God. December 24, 2021 Isaiah 9:2-7 | Titus 2:11-14 | Luke 2:1-14(15-20) | Psalm 96 Today’s readings proclaim God’s gift of divine love that has been, is, and always will be with us. To start us...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 “His Name is John” December 23, 2021 Psalm 25: 1-14 | Malachi 3:1-5 | Luke 1:57-66 A controversy. Elizabeth and then her husband Zechariah find themselves being challenged by some traditionalist priests over what to name their child. What’s...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 Mary voices radical humility December 22, 2021 Psalm 113 or Psalm 122 | 1 Samuel 1:19-28 | Luke 1:46-56 As a chorister, I grew up singing the Magnificat, the song of Mary, whenever we did Evensong. I still sing it every Sunday at my church...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 Love Story December 21, 2021   Psalm 33:1-5, 20-22 | Song of Solomon 2:8-14 | Luke 1:39-45 Don’t you love a great story? The men of Theology on Tap have been talking a lot about stories this past year. We’ve focused our attention on...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 Notice the miracles in the smallest of changes. December 20, 2021 Psalm 24, Isaiah 7:10-14; Luke 1:26-38 “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it." Psalm 24 proclaims the majesty and wonder of God and all His creation. I most clearly...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 Restore Us December 19, 2021 Micah 5:2-5a | Hebrews 10:5-10 | Luke 1:39-45 (46-55) |Canticle 15 (or 3) or Psalm 80:1-7 The birth of Christ brought a much-needed light into the world. Each year our collective Christmas tradition includes...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 Fall Down on Your Knees. Fall Down on Your Knees. December 18, 2021 Psalm 25:1-14 | Malachi 3:1-5 | Luke 1:57-66 I’m going off script -- my apologies for not writing about today’s Advent readings. Because I want to share with you something...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 Selah…Selah…Selah… Bask in God’s presence and love December 17, 2021 Psalm 67 | Isaiah 56:1-8 | John 5:33-36 Psalm 67  -  Partial quote “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah” “Let the nations be...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” December 16, 2021 Psalm 30 | Isaiah 54:1-10 | Luke 7:24-30 In the season of Avent, we begin our liturgical year and look forward to the coming joy of Christmas. We celebrate...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 Imagine a world without shame. December 14, 2021 Psalm 34:1-8 | Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13 | Matthew 21:28-32 Reading today’s Psalm, two sections jumped out at me. The first was line 5: “Look upon him and be radiant, and let not your faces be...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 “Is a puzzlement.” December 12, 2021 Zephaniah 3:14-20 | Philippians 4:4-7 | Luke 3:7-18 | Canticle 9 Usually I enjoy puzzles: word, number, logic, jigsaw, a good mystery. If I’m to be honest, I waste a lot of time solving them. But the...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 “Happy are those who saw you and were adorned with your love!” December 11, 2021 Psalm 80:1-3,14-18, Sirach 48:1-11; Matthew 17:9-13 Well, gosh I want to be happy, I sure would like to be adorned with God’s love…how do I get me some of that?...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 God will walk the path with you December 10, 2021 Isaiah 48:17-18 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you for your own good, who leads you in the way you should go. The above words...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 I knew I was listened to, a sacred listening that required no actual words. December 8, 2021 Psalm 103:1-10 | Isaiah 40:25-31 | Matthew 11:28-30 Growing up, I was welcomed at the neighborhood Catholic church, or at least I felt I was,...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 Maybe you are a shepherd. December 7, 2021 Psalm 50:7-15 | Amos 5:18-24 | Matthew 18:12-14 Here’s a familiar passage that most of us have heard many times- the story of the Good Shepherd. I’d like to bring it into a modern setting. A teacher...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 God is with us. December 6, 2021 Psalm 85:8-13 | Isaiah 35:1-10 | Luke 5:17-26 I am humbled by the scriptures for today. Each one is a description of how God made his presence known to his people. And what a perfect Advent message. Emmanuel,...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 Love is contagious. December 5, 2021   Baruch 5:1-9 | or Malachi 3:1-4 | Philippians 1:3-11 | Luke 3:1-6 | Canticle 4 or 16 Paul to the Philippians: And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full...

Home > Advent Blog 2021 Dad is my cornerstone. December 2, 2021 Psalm 118:19-24 | Isaiah 26:1-6 | Matthew 7:21-27 When I think about a cornerstone in my life, besides Christ, I would have to say that my Dad is my cornerstone. Dad was everything to me, and when he...