[RCL]: Exodus 1:8-2:10; Psalm 124; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20 Fun fact: before there was coronavirus, the last time “corona” was in the news was during the solar eclipse of 2017. Back then, it didn’t refer to a virus, but to the dazzling light of the sun’s plasma or “atmosphere” that is usually invisible to us,…

[RCL]: Genesis 45:1-15; Psalm 133; Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28 Do you remember the children’s puzzle game called What’s Wrong with This Picture? Hearing the odd confrontation between Jesus and the woman in today’s gospel reading might well provoke us to ask, “What’s wrong with this picture?” Jesus and his disciples went into…

[RCL]: Genesis 32:22-31; Psalm 17:1-7,16; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:13-21 For the past several Sundays, our Gospel readings have been focused on Jesus’ parables as recorded by Matthew. First, there was the parable of the sower, then the parable of the weeds and the wheat, and last week, a whole panoply of parables: the mustard seed,…

[RCL]: Genesis 29:15-28; Psalm 105:1-11, 45b or Psalm 128; Romans 8:26-39; Matthew 13:31-33,44-52 The I Ching, the Book of Changes, is an ancient book of Chinese wisdom dating back to the time before Confucius. You toss coins or yarrow stalks and, depending on how they fall, you create a hexagram: a stack of six solid…

[RCL]: Genesis 28:10-19a; Psalm 139: 1-11, 22-23 or Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 We all inherit our lives – which is to say, there are things about us that are “given.” The very traits and narratives and worlds we occupy, by and large, were neither earned nor achieved. They were given….

[RCL]: Genesis 25:19-34; Psalm 119:105-112; Romans 8:1-11; Matthew 13:1-9,18-23 Let us begin with an invocation of the Holy Spirit by John Henry Newman: Come, O Holy Spirit.Come as Holy Fire and burn in us,Come as Holy Wind and cleanse us,Come as Holy Light and lead us,Come as Holy Life and dwell within us.Convict us, convert…