When I was growing up our family observed a time-honored ritual every year which was affectionately known as “spring cleaning.” Unlike the normal cleaning from week to week, which amounted to dusting and vacuuming and generally straightening up, spring cleaning was an all-out assault on a year’s worth of filth and clutter. It was commonly…
I was listening to the radio the other day, and caught an interview with two NASA scientists. It turns out, the new Mars rover Perseverance has landed on the Red Planet. The host interviewing the scientists promised not to go overboard with her own speculations, but asked the question that we all wonder about: what would it…
Thank you for joining us today as we celebrate Ash Wednesday, the very beginning of the liturgical season of Lent. In preparation for today’s homily, I took some time to reflect on growing up in my family and how we celebrated Lent. Interestingly enough, we didn’t eat meat on any Friday throughout the year. Not…
“As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” I speak to you in the name of one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Mark is the shortest of the four gospels, lasting only…
The Merriam-Webster definition of “simplify” is “to reduce to basic essentials.” Lent is the time to spiritually simplify. On Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, preparing to fast, traditionally we clean out our cupboards and fridge of all that sugar and butter. (The reason for all of those pancake suppers!) Flowers give way to greens on the…
Good morning, friends. Today’s gospel is part two of the story of Jesus casting out demons. Last week you heard Kevin’s lovely homily. So, I pick up here where he left off. And this homily purposely has the provocative title “The Exorcist”. Exorcism. What an embarrassing word. What an overheated, overwrought, embarrassing word. Exorcism is…
He told me, “I have built a life that is perfectly balanced. I’m like a trained seal. I’m standing on a rubber ball, with a tray on my flipper, stacked with porcelain plates and cups. If I make a move in any direction, it’ll all come tumbling down.” * * * My family moved to…
Our texts this morning have a very apocalyptic feel. We start with Jonah telling the people of Nineveh “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” Then Paul reminds his brothers and sisters in Corinth that “the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they…
It will come as no surprise to many of you that I have been a bleeding-heart liberal from my earliest days. A teenage rebellion, I am sure against my tastefully conservative Republican mom and dad. A straight A student, I rebelled in hippy dippy ways. I skipped school to protest the Vietnam war. I served…
A couple of years ago, I read in The Times that the skies lit up over New York City. “There was a boom and a hum and smoke and the sky turned fluorescent blue.” Twitter like mindedly lit up with eerie lights. “It was spectacular”, a deputy inspector in the 114thPrecinct said. “You could see it a…
