Luke 17:7-10 The story is told about a young man who set out on a quest. [i] More than anything else in the world he wanted an answer to the question, “What is the meaning of life?” He asked his question all around, but without satisfaction, and finally he heard of an old monk who…

Luke 6:20-26 (27-36) As a teenager I discovered the glories of Anglo-Catholicism as it was practiced in some of the great Canadian Anglo-Catholic parishes. What I saw and heard and smelt was a far cry from St. Mary’s Church, Regina where cassock, surplice and stole were the order of the day, and where candles were…

Luke 18:9-14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am…

John 14:15-27 There is very little talk of peace. Not up until now, at least in John’s gospel. This portion of John’s gospel which we’ve just heard is a flashback to that earlier scene in the Upper Room – what we call the Last Supper – when Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not let…

Luke 16:19-31 Every time I hear the story of the rich man Dives and the beggar Lazarus, I feel uncomfortable.  Not only do I feel guilty for knowing I hold back from doing much more than lip service for the poor and needy, and not just for the destitute I encounter on the streets at…

Exodus: 33:18-23; Psalm 84 All of us here should have had the experience of being protected: of being guarded by someone’s act of kindness and care, of being held back or hidden or shielded or removed from something that would be too much for us to bear – too dangerous, too awful, too awesome for…

John 12:24-26 Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal…

Luke 9:28-36 This past week I’ve been re-reading the extraordinary novel by Charles Dickens’ entitled, A Tale of Two Cities. You may remember that Dickens begins this great epic of war and revolution in Europe by speaking about the irony and paradoxes of that time in history. Support SSJE Please support the Brothers work. The…

Luke 12:13-21 These days whenever I drive down High Street in Newburyport I see houses under construction. Sometime the new building is on one of the few remaining open spaces along the street, but most often it is on lots where houses already stood, perfectly good houses built in the last fifty years. Support SSJE…

Luke 10:38-42 When first glimpsed over the flat, scrub-covered land, it appeared quite small. Gradually though this was revealed as an optical illusion created by its isolation in the vast expanse before us. As the truck driven by our host Father Gabriel moved closer and closer, its immense height and expanse became clear. Its proportions…