Christmas Eve
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Christmas Eve

Readings – Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:1-14; Luke 2:1-20 There is a French proverb that Voltaire was fond of stating-   L’enemi du bien est le bien. (The perfect is the enemy of the good.)                      Winston Churchill wrote in a similar vein- Perfection is the enemy of progress. If we pursue only the perfect, we…

Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost
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Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost

Readings – Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 12:2-6; II Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21: 5-19 There was a time not far from here, counties to the east, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Carbon, Northumberland, when coal was king.  The mines were booming; the railroads were hauling; the small towns were thriving.  Many of us remember those times. And then the abandonment…

Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
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Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost

Readings – Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4; Psalm 119:137-144; II Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12; Luke 19:1-10 This morning I will focus on the well-known passage from our Gospel according to St. Luke.  It occupies an important position in this Gospel, being placed just before the final approach of Jesus to Jerusalem, and the Holy Week narratives that begin…

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
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Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Readings – Joel 2:23-32; Psalm 65; II Timothy 4:6-8,16-18; Luke 18:9-14 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,                                     the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face                                                of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of                                                the waters. … the first day…the second day…the third…