[RCL] Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62:6-14; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20 Let’s begin with a story. Imagine this: There once was a little Scottish girl whose parents died, and she was sent to live with an aunt in England. Now, she didn’t quite fit in—Scottish girl in an English village—but her aunt cared for her,…

“After John was arrested.” This line should arrest us where we stand. John’s arrest happens just moments after John the Baptizer baptizes Jesus in the Jordan River and Jesus is driven into the wilderness to be tested by the Devil. And then John is arrested. Arrested. He’s stopped in his tracks. That’s what the word…

In a recent National Public Radio report on contemporary family life in America, a somewhat exasperated young father describes parenthood as “always filled with joy, but sometimes not much fun.” Most parents today could probably relate to his words. For being father or mother, with all its wonder and joys, is not easy in any…

[NOTE TO READER: “Lectio divina” is pronounced “LEK-tsea-oh di-VEEN-ah.”] The collect for this Sunday begins “Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation.” Do we seriously make that request of God? The reading from Mark in today’s…

The light of Epiphany shines on a truth accepted by both religious and agnostics: a person who spends his or her life dedicated to a good cause rises above the ordinary and many times is considered a hero. We call this “responding to a call,” acting on a mission. All our heroes, whether saintly or…

We all remember the story about Jonah being swallowed by a whale, but what we might have forgotten is why. This is the story: God asks Jonah to go to Nineveh, a corrupt city, and tell them that if they repent, God will not destroy them. This annoys Jonah, who thinks that the Ninevites deserve…

Simon and Andrew were literally just minding their own business, that day on the Sea of Galilee. It was just a day like any other day. How many days of their lives had they spent in the same way — casting their net into the sea and hoping for a good catch? Fishing wasn’t just…

Recently, an ad appeared on television. It pictured the advertising media’s image of the ideal American family. The husband and wife were young and appeared successful and had two small children, a boy and a girl. They were sitting in the family room watching their children play. The boy was busy with a computer game…

1 Corinthians 7:17 & 20 “…let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you.” “…Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called.” These words sound very strange to us in a culture where all the pressure is on self-improvement whether in body…