Series

Shield the Joyous

Nov 15, 2020   ·  

Last Saturday, a week ago from yesterday, the presidential election was called, finally. It had been a long week filled with anxiety, foreboding, and hope. But it followed an even longer four years of worry. A four years of many people worrying about their immigration status; their ability to marry the person they love; our ability, as a nation to deal with big issues from police reform to climate change to the daily toll of gun violence. Not that we were doing such a great job of dealing with these issues more than four years ago, but last week, it seemed space to breathe and act opened up. And there was joy. More

It Is Not Easy, It Is Not Work for the Faint Hearted But It Is Our Work

Nov 03, 2020   ·  

There is voter restriction all over this country and we are reminded that we have to continue to fight for everyone’s voices.  It is not easy, it is not work for the faint hearted but it is our work, to bring the conversation, the debate to all.  To learn how to not only bring out Heart Mind, and soul into the conversation.  But to bring in others too, and to listen to the Heart Mind and Soul of all and in that we can live into the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.  More

In the end, everything is God’s

Oct 19, 2020   ·  

God, after all, is the force that animates us, and as such is the ultimate overseer of whatever happens to the world and to its creatures. This comes through very clearly in today’s lesson from Isaiah, where the prophet reminds us that even if Cyrus didn’t know the God of Israel, it was this God who was in charge! More

Thou Shalt Love 

Oct 04, 2020   ·  

It is work for us and for Jesus to show up and speak our truth.  It is a lot of energy to turn your energy out, to put it all on the line, and to name your truth.  To believe that by doing it we can and should call a new world into being.  It is what we need to do, what we are called to be in the world.   We are in a place where for some of us we are in a pause, we are able to stay away from one another, we wear masks as an act of love.  We continue to support people by continuing to pay our dog walkers, our garden helpers, our lawnmowers, our hair stylists, and for some of us the folks who clean our houses.   I am not using those services right now but I continue to pay for them because I know those folks need support. More

Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud

Sep 27, 2020   ·     •   Matthew 21:23-27

Jesus is very clear that we are called to change. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw (them change), you did not change your minds and believe him. I am taking a class at EDS and the book we are reading is Black Theology and Black Power by Dr. James Cone. Dr. Cone, who is the father of Black Liberation wrote this book in 1969…and what Dr. Cone is writing then could today have the phrase Black Lives Matter replace Black Power. Fifty-one years ago we heard that it is impossible to place whiteness and our white sensibilities in the way of moving toward a life in Jesus.  More

Forgiving ourselves

Sep 13, 2020   ·  

When Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a generous king, I initially like the idea very much. I imagine that the king is God and hope this God will generously forgive my debts, my transgressions… But then if I’m the slave whose debt is forgiven, I have to face my own meanness of spirit—my inability to pardon even the smallest debt from a fellow servant although I have just been granted enormous generosity. And where did God’s initial mercy go? Did the king-God decide that my sinfulness is so great that I do not deserve any more generosity but rather to be tortured? It’s a hard lesson to take. How can I apply this to my own life and come out a better person on the other side? More

Hidden Stories

Aug 23, 2020   ·  

The Reverend Patricia Catalano August 23, 2020 Proper 16   When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son … More

Under the Table

Aug 17, 2020   ·  

We have to be careful here because Jesus initially treats this woman very, very badly. There is nothing that can take away how painful it is that Jesus calls a woman in need a dog. And it’s not particularly soothing that she uses that same dog language to expand his thinking. It’s insulting and baffling, and I don’t think we should easily move on from that stumbling block. I do want to say that the Rev. Dr. Joy Jay Moore[3] reflected on this text by saying that she did not think it was ok that a woman of color or a minority woman had to argue for her humanity, argue for the fact that she was made in the image of God to God itself. Instead she preferred to interpret the text that Jesus was voicing the prejudices of his peers, knowing, all along, the humanity of the woman in front of him. More

… grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world

Aug 09, 2020   ·  

The image of Jesus off alone praying crops up in the narratives of his life and as I have gotten older I have craved this kind of example that he sets, this connection to quiet, and to his ability to anchor the work that he is doing in the world. I have spent more time in quiet meditation since March than I have since I was in seminary. I have gotten quiet a lot. I am trying to find a way to anchor this experience of grief and sadness as we continue to try and stay home and keep each other safe.   Cases are over five million in this country and over 160,000 people have died. More

Women and children count in the feeding of the 5,000

Aug 02, 2020   ·  

Well…. Not only did he teach with them, parable after parable, story after story he spent time with them, and he with drew got on a boat and moved to another place in says in the text that, “Moved to compassion Jesus moved along them and healed them.”

Moved to compassion, what a great phrase. What a wonderful way to hear about moving through the world. What an amazing aspirational stance to take when you look at people.   I looked at people and I was moved to compassion. We look at a group of people and we are moved to compassion. We look at each other and we are moved to compassion. More