Listen to the sermon preached by the Rev. Ed Chinery on the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 17, 2023. The readings for this day: Exodus 14:19-31; Psalm 103:8-13; Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35.
This week, the associate rector writes: “Do you ever wonder how best to support efforts toward reversing what has been a paradoxical betrayal not only of our originating religion, but also of this nation’s founding principle that all human beings are created equal? I have to admit that, while I can be seen as having just stirred the ‘outrage pot,’ it’s becoming more and more compelling – more and more characteristic of a New Reformation – that there may also be new ways to support the development of beautiful new stories – new cultures of justice throughout the world. And, best of all, this Sunday’s gospel lesson offers helpful clues to such an end, even as Jesus himself stirs the outrage pot in the parable of the unforgiving slave.”
Listen to the sermon preached by the Rev. Posey Krakowsky on the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 10, 2023. The readings for this day: Exodus 12:1-14; Psalm 149; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18:15-20.
This week, as we bid farewell to a summer season marked by the tangible impacts of climate change, Mother Posey emphasizes the importance of caring for our planet and how scripture has for too long been used as license for destroying God’s creation. In her message, she asks us to reflect on our relationship with nature and encourages parishioners to join with the many more people who will march together on September 17th (to coincide with the start of the UN General Assembly) as part of the growing, global call to end the use of fossil fuels. Learn more in this week’s newsletter.
Listen to the sermon preached by Shana Kaplanov on the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 3, 2023. The readings for this day: Exodus 3:1-15; Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c; Romans 12:9-21; Matthew 16:21-28.
Listen to the sermon preached by the Rev. Ed Chinery on the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, August 27, 2023. The readings for this day: Exodus 1:8-2:10; Psalm 124; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20.
In 1989, leaders of the Greek Orthodox Church proclaimed September 1 to be a day of prayer for the entirety of creation. In fact, the Orthodox church year starts on that day with a commemoration of how God created the world. Subsequently, the World Council of Churches was instrumental in making the special time a season, extending the celebration from 1 September until 4 October. Christians worldwide have embraced the season as part of their annual calendar. And in recent years, statements from religious leaders around the world have also encouraged the faithful to take time to care for creation during the month-long celebration.
This week, Fr. Ed reflects on how the recent hacking of the rector’s phone (reminder: “the gift card thing is always a scam!”), political malefactors, and all the modern dystopia that assaults our equanimity makes it harder and harder to love people. Yet Jesus calls us to a world without violence, without retribution. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds,” the apostle Paul says in Sunday’s epistle, “so that you may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Listen to the sermon preached by the Rev. Ed Chinery on the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, August 20, 2023. The readings for this day: Genesis 45:1-15; Psalm 133; Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15: 21-28.
