Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
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Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Readings – Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25; Psalm 78:1-7; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13 I can remember as a child sitting next to my father in our 1951 gray Plymouth two-door and cruising the neighborhood gas stations looking for $0.23 gas. Some of you can probably remember even buying lower-priced gas. I don’t think those prices for…

Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost
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Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost

Readings – Deuteronomy 34:1-2; Psalm 90:1-6,13-17; I Thessalonians 2:1-8; Matthew 22:34-46 Scholars write that St. Paul’s letters to the congregation at Thessalonica may be the earliest of his letters, being written at 50 CE when St. Paul was in Corinth.  He may have written earlier letters, but these are the first letters we still have. …

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
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Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Readings – Exodus 20:1-4,7-9,12-20; Psalm 19; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46 St. Paul, before he was so named, was called Saul, a well-respected rabbi.  As Saul he presided over the stoning death of St. Stephen, stoned because he declared that Jesus, the crucified one, had risen from the dead and was the long-awaited Messiah.  According the Acts…

Celebration of St. Francis
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Celebration of St. Francis

Readings – Jeremiah 22:13-16; Psalm 148:7-14; Galatians 6:14-19; Matthew 11:25-30 This morning my sermon will be an old-fashioned three-point reflection on St. Francis whom we honor today.  Our entire liturgy honors him with the Beatitudes, with the post-communion prayer that is attributed to him, with the four-part blessing, and with the lessons and collect designated for…

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
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Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Readings – Exodus 16:2-15; Psalm 105:1-6,37-45; Philippians 1:21-30; Matthew 20: 1-16 “It’s not supposed to be like this.”  It is a familiar thought for many of us as we journey through life.  “It’s not supposed to be like this”, said the ancient Hebrews after their flight from Egypt.  Moses, did you bring “us out [of Egypt]…

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
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Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Readings—Exodus 12:1-14; Psalm 149; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18: 15-20 I think we can safely say that the first two words of our Gospel reading are not accurate – “Jesus said…”.  Much more probable are these words – “St. Matthew said…”.  Remember that before the reading we say, “The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according…

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
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Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Readings – Genesis 45: 1-15; Psalm 133; Romans 1-2a,29-32; Matthew 15: 10-28 The Prayer of the Church is the Lord’s Prayer, the “Our Father”.  Every Sunday, we pray together at the conclusion of the Great Thanksgiving, just before the climactic “Breaking of The Bread” – “The Gifts of God for the People of God”.  Morning…