I can still remember the first time somebody gave me salted fruit. I was visiting a plantation in Nicaragua, and the grower cut a fresh ripe pineapple in the field. He sliced it into these bright tantalizing spears, and my mouth was watering for the tang. I was just about to take the slice from his hand when … Read the rest
Continue reading "What Light Breaks Open" »
Where do we find hope these days? In things torn down, or in things raised up? According to Matthew, the answer is yes… and yes. There’s nothing—nothing—beyond God’s redemptive reach. But the lessons we read in church during Advent seem so divisive, and the stakes seem so high, that I sometimes find it nearly impossible to see past … Read the rest
Continue reading "Torn and Together" »“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place… “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.”
These things must take place, but, um, remember… “do … Read the rest
Continue reading "Apocalytic Hope" »Sermon for the 50th Anniversary of Women’s Ordination: Grace Cathedral. 2 November 2025 Isaiah 25:1, 4a, 6-10a and Matthew 27:50-56
If I were to open my phone to the most recent text exchanges I’ve had with Madre Anna Lange Soto, you’d notice that a lot of them have to do with choosing shoes. We pounded some pavement together … Read the rest
Continue reading "Lovely Feet" »“Be persistent, whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and … Read the rest
Continue reading "Love Wins." »Ten lepers healed. Shout about that miracle from the rooftops. And—Trinity Cathedral Portland—your new rooftop is looking awfully good!
In an age of high quality—if not highly accessible—medicine, it’s easy for us to forget the disaster that was chronic illness in Jesus’ time. Specifically of leprosy, a label that might have described any number of painful and debilitating … Read the rest
Continue reading "A Tenth of Gratitude" »“We have done only what we ought to have done!” That’s reassuring… sort of. At least the slaves seem to have known what they were supposed to do. Those hapless disciples, on the other hand, made what sounds like a perfectly reasonable request for greater faith, and instead, they got a rather confusing parable. All I can say … Read the rest
Continue reading "Good Influencers!" »
Many years ago, when I was a brand-new priest, I was asked to be the spiritual director for a weekend retreat. The retreat, sponsored by a well-established prison ministry, was designed for women whose husbands or sons were incarcerated. This is not a population with whom I had much prior experience, but I’m a Spanish speaker and so … Read the rest
Continue reading "A Name and a Story" »
Some years ago, I witnessed a rather masterful preacher interpret this parable by cutting up her MasterCard in front of the congregation, and then dropping the pieces in an offering plate. “No one can serve two masters,” she reminded us, while ceremoniously depositing shards of plastic. The object lesson was both clever and shocking. I’ll certainly never forget … Read the rest
Continue reading "No One Can Serve Two MasterCards" »
Trinity Sunday is something of a bane for preachers, probably because we’ve all been subjected to so many bad analogies for the theological majesty of one God in three persons. In my [sometimes not so] humble opinion, the Holy Trinity just doesn’t lend itself to comparison to an apple, an egg, or even to a shamrock. May … Read the rest
Continue reading "Triune Singularity" »
