The Epiphany
Though today is officially the 2nd Sunday of Christmas, the Gospel lesson comes after the text for The Epiphany. It’s about what happens after the wise men visit the baby Jesus. So, we’re kind of out of order in the story. Tomorrow is The Epiphany, one of the most important holy days in the Christian faith, so I’d like to preach on that Gospel text instead.
November 24, 2024 Christ the King Sunday
Today is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year. To understand these lessons this morning it helps to know a little about the history of the people of Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean region. The people who would eventually become Israel were the ‘hapiru’ which means ‘the wanderers’, because they did not come from any one place. They were a wandering group of Semitic people made up of different races. What they had in common was the Semitic language, and they spoke mainly two versions of it in ancient times, Hebrew and Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. These people were all loosely related through Abraham.
September 29, 2024 Feast of St. Michael and all Angels
However, the root of all suffering in this world is evil and it is of a spiritual nature—meaning it has to do with God and Satan, and the condition of our souls. No one wants to believe they are evil, but Satan is the great deceiver. He uses lies and deception and half-truths to turn people to ‘the dark side’.
