Year A Epiphany 3; 1.26.2020, Annual Meeting Matthew 4:12-23 “Tu has venido a la orilla” “Lord, you have come to the lakeshore.” This was the very favorite hymn of the Spanish speaking Saturday night congregation at Grace Church, Plainfield, New Jersey. They loved to sing it and sang it every week to the music […]
Year A; Epiphany 2; 1.19.2020 Isaiah 49:1-7; Martin Luther King, Jr. During my trip to Atlanta after Christmas to see my sister, we visited the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. On the lower level there is an exhibit of some of the documents of Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr.’s life from […]
Year A; The Baptism of our Lord; Epiphany 1; 1.12.2020 Matthew 3:13-17 Last summer during my visit to San Diego to see my sister, I had several “play dates” with my niece and her two little daughters. During a somewhat slow afternoon one day, I spied in the corner of my niece’s living room […]
Year A; Christmas Day; 12.25.2019 John 1:1-14 On Christmas Eve last night we heard the story of the birth of Jesus from Luke’s gospel. The story has the feel of a specific place in history: a mighty Roman emperor with a name, Augustus, a specific governor, Quirinius in a specific territory, Syria. There is […]
Year A; Christmas Eve; 12.24.2019 Luke 2:1-20; Luke 15:32 In the courtyard of Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina stands a bronze sculpture of three men. One man is on his knees, his head nestled against a short, standing, elderly man, arms around his waist. The short elderly man has his left hand […]
Year A; Advent 3; 12.15.2019 Matthew 11:2-11 Have you ever sat in a high school or college class and had a burning question for the history teacher or the biology professor, but were too self-conscious and afraid to ask it? You might have doubted the validity of the question and told yourself you didn’t […]
Year A; Advent 2; 12.8.2019 Isaiah 11:1-10 With much fanfare last week, the Fashion Industry announced the Color of the year 2020: Classic Blue. The VP of Global Purveyor of Color introduced this color and said, “Think Maine wild blueberries, or a feeling of vast expanse (I SWEAR she took that phrase right […]
Year A; Advent 1; 12.1.2019; Interactive Family Worship. One of the things I pray for regularly is that God will grant me patience. I’m not a very patient person and that gets me into trouble sometimes. I really am not comfortable waiting for things. Neither of my parents were patient. I learned that “waiting” […]
Sunday, November 10, 2019: Sermon preached by the Rev. Carolyn Eklund Year C; Proper 27, 11.10.2019 Luke 20:27-38 A few years ago the Mid Coast Hospital chaplaincy department invited area clergy to a breakfast presentation on end of life care. We had a conversation about helping dying patients and their families have hope even […]
Year C; All Saints Sunday; 11.3.2019 Good morning, saints! Good morning, saints! Yes! We can be called “saints” – not because we are perfect or are unique examples of the faith of Christ or served the poor or are martyrs or wrote a gospel or spread the faith throughout the world. No, […]