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Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year B

I apologize for not getting on line a little earlier. The demands of the week have been quite heavy. Tomorrow we have a special speaker from the Foodbank giving us a talk as we continue to celebrate FaithWorks.
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Proper 24, Year B

I am My Brother’s Keeper

Readings: Proverbs 1:20-33; Psalm 19; James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-38

I have a Twitter account. I have to say, I am not very active on Twitter. I don’t like to follow people who constantly let me know exactly where they are and what they are doing. However, I do find it an effective way to communicate what is important to me. This past week I have found myself retweeting many messages about the Syrian Refugee crisis and what is being done about it.

Instant communication is the good side of social media, but there is certainly a negative side to it that can be very destructive. We have seen it destroy peoples’ lives. Twitter and Facebook make it very easy to communicate, but they also make it very easy to start a rumour. It only takes a moment or two before every one of our followers has the latest bit of gossip complete with picture. Privacy is a thing of the past.

But then, rumours have always been a problem. James warns the early Christians to be caref…
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Proper 15, Year C

Who is My Neighbour?

Readings: Psalm 82; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37

A lawyer comes to test Jesus. “What should I do to be saved?” Jesus does not give him the answer. He seldom does. Instead, he turns tables on him, asking him, “What do you think you should do?” The lawyer gives the correct answer. “Love God and love your neighbour.” He knows the law. He says all the right things. He does all the right things. He lives a respectable life. He knows that he cannot be challenged on his knowledge of the law. But he wants to justify his actions, so he asks another trick question, “Who is my neighbour?”

Being a lawyer and an upstanding Jew, he knows the definition. Long before Christianity, Jewish tradition taught that love of neighbour was one of the great principles of the Torah. In fact Judaism’s love principle goes deeper than most people imagine. We Christians pride ourselves on the concept of loving our enemies, while the Torah gives examples of how to love do it…
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Proper 14, Year C

No One is an Island

Readings: 1 Kings 21:1-3, 17-21; Psalm 5:1-8; Galatians 6:7-18; Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

John Donne writes: (No apology given for the change to inclusive language!)

No one is an island,
Entire of itself,
Everyone is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any one’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in humankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

No! I am not making a statement about Brexit, although I suspect it applies quite nicely. The theme in Donne’s poem resonates with today’s readings. They all point to our need of God’s grace and of our need to share it for the empowerment of ourselves and others. No one walks alone through life. There is an interdependency on others and on God, no matter how hard we try to make it otherwise.

That is very much the les…
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