Love
God’s Courtesy – Br. Lain Wilson
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Br. Lain Wilson
Julian of Norwich
The fourteenth century was a lousy century. Famine, plague, war. Absolutely lousy.
You wouldn’t know it reading Julian of Norwich, whom we remember today.
Julian would’ve been about six years old when the Black Death swept through England. She likely didn’t have any, or many, memories of this devastating event, and would’ve likely heard stories as she grew up. But we don’t know what she thought of it, or of any of the other horrors of her time. Her “Showings,” which testify to a series of visions she received in 1373, at around the age of thirty, are fundamentally optimistic. Read More
If One is Good, Two is Better – Br. James Koester
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Br. James Koester
The Fifth Sunday of Easter
One of the fun things about Jerusalem is the multiplicity of holy sites scattered around the Old City. What is even more fun is that there are multiple sites commemorating the same thing. There are, for instance, two upper rooms: the Upper Room, up,[1] and the Upper Room, down.[2] In one you go upstairs to enter. In the other you descend a flight of stairs. There are two places that commemorate the resurrection: the Church of the Resurrection[3] within the Old City, and just outside, the Garden Tomb.[4] Clearly the pilgrim industry operates on the principle that if one is good, two is better. Read More
Jesus’ Secrets – Br. Curtis Almquist
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Br. Curtis Almquist
Saint Mark the Evangelist
Ephesians 4:7-8, 11-16
Mark 1:1-15
In the calendar of the church, we remember today a gospel writer named John Mark.[1] Call him Mark. Mark was not one of the original twelve apostles; Mark was among a wider circle of seventy disciples whom Jesus also appointed.[2] We know from the New Testament that Mark became a companion on missionary journeys with Paul, with Barnabas, and with Timothy.[3] We infer Mark had a close relationship with Peter, who writes about “my son Mark” (1 Peter 5:13). And according to the Acts of the Apostles, the home belonging to Mark’s mother in Jerusalem became a house church for Jesus’ followers.[4] Mark was martyred in Egypt in year 68, and the Coptic Church remembers Saint Mark as its founder and patron.
The Gospel according to Mark does not begin in eternity before all time (like the Gospel according to John); nor does Mark begin with Jesus’ infant birth (like the Gospels according to Matthew and Luke). Mark begins with Jesus’ baptism. Jesus is already an adult. Soon Jesus’ public ministry becomes shrouded in secrecy. Jesus will ask something, or listen to something, or do something miraculous, and then Jesus will say, “Don’t tell anyone.” In many instances, Jesus insists on others’ silence.[5] And it’s not just with strangers. The same pertains to his twelve apostles. Early on, Jesus asks them, “‘Who do you say that I am?’ Peter answers, ‘You are the Messiah.’ And [Jesus] sternly orders them not to tell anyone about him” (Mark 8:29-30). Read More
Do Not Be Afraid – Br. Jack Crowley
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Br. Jack Crowley
Easter Day
Good morning and Happy Easter to you all! On behalf of all my brothers, I just want to say how thrilled we are to have you here with us today. If this is your first time in the monastery, welcome. You are welcome to join us in this glorious celebration. Alleluia, Christ is risen!
When I was a child and my eyes would open on Easter morning, usually my thought was “where’s my Easter basket?!” and I would tear through the house trying to find it. My family is here, you can ask them. Later on Easter morning, I would always find myself sitting in church, full of sugar, looking at the preacher, wondering how long he would go on for. So it’s with great irony that I finally find myself preaching on Easter morning.
We all have our own memories and feelings about Easter. For some, this is the most important day of the year. The day we celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For others, Easter is more about family, brunch, and the arrival of spring, all good stuff. The good news is, whatever brought you here today, and whatever feelings about Easter you brought with you here today, please know that you are not only welcome, you are also loved by God.
One of the truths we celebrate here is the unconditional love of God. Unconditional. It doesn’t matter what you are thinking or feeling, God loves you. It’s a love not based on conditions, it’s incredible. Read More
Love and Sorrow – Br. Luke Ditewig
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Br. Luke Ditewig
Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
John 18:1-19:42
“Did e’er such love and sorrow meet?”[1]
The Good Shepherd lay down his life for the sheep, allowing arrest to final breath. “Wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.”
As his followers fought back, Jesus denounced violence and retribution. “Put away your sword.” Jesus spoke with authority not coercion or oppression. “My kingdom is not from this world. . . . Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Jesus spoke tenderly to his dearest giving them to each other: “here is your son . . . here is your mother.”
“Did e’er such love and sorrow meet?” Read More
Live-Wire Love – Br. Lain Wilson
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Br. Lain Wilson
Maundy Thursday
Exodus 12:1-14
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
I’ve attended a lot of Maundy Thursday services in my life, and for me there’s a clear dividing line, a clear before and after: the year 2022, when I entered the Society as a postulant. It’s a dividing line not because of that, though. It’s a dividing line because, for the first time in my life, I participated in the footwashing.
I’m not sure what had held me back before. I suspect it was many things – a sense of restraint, keeping something of myself firmly under wraps (or under socks); a belief that I didn’t need to go forward, that I couldn’t gain something from it that I didn’t already have; and, perhaps, a bit of embarrassment, that my feet were sweaty in my socks and what if they smelled and what will people think . . .
What I experienced in that dividing-line liturgy – when I untied my shoes and took off my socks and sat shoulder to shoulder with these men – well, I can only call it surrender, the surrender of all that had held me back for so many years. Read More
A Lifetime Being Sheep – Br. Curtis Almquist
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Br. Curtis Almquist
The Fourth Sunday in Lent
Our psalm appointed for today, Psalm 23, is for many people the most familiar of the 150 psalms in the Hebrew Bible. Psalm 23 is the first psalm I memorized as a young child – maybe also true for you? – and it has been the last psalm I have prayed aloud with those who are “walking through the valley of the shadow of death.” The comfort and veracity of Psalm 23 has been tested across the millennia.
Jesus knew Psalm 23. Jesus would have known this psalm from his earliest childhood.[1] He would have sung Psalm 23 in his participation in high holy days at the Temple in Jerusalem, and in his weekly attendance in the synagogue on the sabbath.[2] Jesus grew up in a culture which lived much closer to the ground than we do. Sheepherding abounded in Palestine, sheep being a necessity for Temple sacrifice, an important meat in the Jewish diet, and their wool, a staple for clothing and blankets. There are more than three hundred references in the Bible to sheep and shepherds. Read More
Loving God – Br. Jack Crowley
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Br. Jack Crowley
A friend of mine got married right around the same time I joined the monastery. Over the years we’ve chatted about the ups and downs of vowed life. Although he is married and I am celibate, we still have a lot in common. We are both in love, we both live with other people in close quarters, and we both have our own shortcomings that make the vowed life rocky at times. I asked him once if he had just one piece of advice to give to someone in the vowed life, what would he say? He looked me in the eye and said the key to a successful marriage is knowing that not every day will be a home run.
I often think about that quote when I hear our Gospel passage from today, especially when Jesus tells us to love God with all our hearts. Yes, I do follow Jesus’ commandment here, but I’m not gushing, head over heels in love with God every day. Not every day is a home run, some days are just quiet days at the ballpark, and I’ve grown to love that. Read More
The Mystery of God’s Love – Br. Lain Wilson
Br. Lain Wilson
Preached at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Little Rock, Arkansas
The Second Sunday in Lent
Good morning!
On behalf of my Br. Jack, and all my Brothers in Cambridge of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, it’s such a delight to be with you all this weekend. It’s been such a gift to us to share silence and conversation, to hear about what is active in your all’s spirits, and to talk a bit about our life and vocation.
It’s also a gift to hear this morning one of the key passages of John’s gospel, which is central to our own community’s understanding of who we are. Read More
Born Anew – Br. Luke Ditewig
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Br. Luke Ditewig
The Second Sunday in Lent
Genesis 12:1-4a
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
John 3:1-17
A woman and her young daughter move into a French village and open a chocolate shop. The mayor urges residents to keep away and not each chocolate because it is Lent. With kindness, generosity, radical welcome, listening presence, and great chocolate, the woman slowly ushers healing into many people and relationships, ultimately the mayor and town. The 2000 film Chocolat starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp tells this story.
The mayor was convinced he knew what was right and good and that he acted out of duty. Yet fasting was distorted into a legalistic rigidity and a sense of earning God’s favor. He treated his community and himself with restriction and condemnation. Many of us have received an image of God who is a harsh and stern authority with a pointing finger demanding an apology. Lent with fasting and kneeling on marble might trigger that image. Read More