Listen to the sermon preached by the Rev. Liz Maxwell on the Second Sunday After the Epiphany, January 14, 2024.
You can read the scriptures for this service here: 1 Samuel 3:1-10(11-20); Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51.
Sermons and audio content from the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in the City of New York
Father Ed explores René Girard’s mimetic theory—how we unconsciously learn what to desire through imitation. Drawing on gospel examples like John the Baptist’s death and Pilate, he suggests Jesus repeatedly helps listeners recognize their unwitting participation in violence. This Sunday’s gospel shows Peter spectacularly illustrating this mimetic contagion. Father Ed invites us to examine how we’re unknowingly directed toward violence, subtle or overt.
Listen to the sermon preached by our intern Yunjeong McSeol on the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, August 23, 2026.