Speaker
Date
Book
Series

Conquering Fear: Palm Sunday 2021

Apr 07, 2021   ·  

Evidently, the crowd knows who Jesus is, but the difference now is that Jesus doesn’t silence them. He is ready to fully assume his messianic identity and confront the authorities in the capital city. Matthew and John in their respective versions quote a passage from the prophet Zechariah, which talks about a king that will come riding on a donkey not a warhorse, one who will be peaceful and meek. This king was David coming back to Jerusalem, peaceful and humble. He had been saved and vindicated by God. And Jesus is seen as the new David who will save his people from oppression. More

In it for the long haul

Feb 07, 2021   ·  

“Offer yourself to God, like Jesus did, with love and compassion in service to others, and you’ll know what it is that you have to give and will be sustained in whatever that is for the long haul.” 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

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

On the Occasion of Our Nation’s 244th Birthday

Jun 30, 2020   ·  

The United States of America will be 244 years old on Saturday. I ask you, how are we going to celebrate? We cannot waste this moment of righteous anger; we cannot waste the energy that is moving people to protest and to do the work needed to change a status quo that is hurting many— in particular, people of color. More

A Prophet’s Fate

Aug 25, 2019   ·     •   Jeremiah 1:4-10; Luke 13:10-17

The word for prophet in Hebrew is navi, which means to be called. Therefore, a prophet is not someone who sees or tells the future… A prophet is someone who speaks on behalf of God or of a higher Truth to the people in his or her life, in their context and about their current situation. A prophet’s life is not easy. From the moment he was called by God, and to the end of his career as a prophet, Jeremiah was vituperated, railed against for being unfaithful and even traitorous to the king. He was thrown in jail, and sadly, eventually and, despite it all, proven right! More

Faith Matters

May 26, 2019   ·     •   John 13:31-35

This very incident—that Jesus healed a man on a sabbath, which was forbidden by the law; that the man was then caught by the authorities carrying a mat on a sabbath, which was also forbidden; and that, eventually, the man was able to identify Jesus with said authorities—was the beginning of the end of Jesus’ ministry and of his life as an itinerant healer and teacher. More

Leave Her Alone

Apr 07, 2019   ·     •   John 12:1-8

I’ve been thinking about my dad and about other men whom I have encountered in my life who have supported me, and I hope that other women also think of those men in their lives… men who are willing to let women shine without jealousy or possessiveness, men who truly appreciate women as fellow human beings. More

Aliens Among Us

Feb 03, 2019   ·     •   Luke 4:21-30; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Being an alien is not easy.  When you’re an Alien you are the Other, an Outsider, a Foreigner, a Stranger; in sum, you are one of  THEM and not one of US.  Being the other is scary for the alien but sometimes even scarier for the one who looks at that stranger from the other side. I know, because I have been an alien many times in my life. More