John 7:16-18 When we hear “south of France” today, we may think of sunny beaches or fields of lavender. A nice place to go on vacation. But in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries the association was with heresy. Followers of a heterodox form of Christianity, whom history has come to know as Cathars, were prevalent throughout the region.…

Br. Curtis Almquist Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15 Psalm 78:23-29 John 6:24-35 Back when I was seven years old I had this wonderful opportunity to attend a symphony orchestra concert for my very first time. I was with my second-grade classmates from school, and we paraded into a vast orchestra hall and settled ourselves into seats that were way too big for an…

Matthew 13:54-58 Today’s Gospel lesson isn’t about Jesus. Rather, it’s not about the Jesus we have come to know, to accompany in his ministry with the disciples. Instead, it’s about another Jesus, one of memory, of presumption, and of misplaced expectation. In the Rule of our Society, we understand as part of the practice of silence the honoring of…

Br. Luke Ditewig Ephesians 4:14-21 John 6:1-21 When I was a young child, my parents began a sabbath tradition adapting Jewish practice with special prayers and bread at the Saturday evening meal. It is a way to make Sunday special first at home before church the next day. This includes Dad blessing me and any visiting children, which soon expanded …

Judith 9:1, 11-14 John 20:11-18 Psalm 42:1-7 We encounter tonight two very different women. The first prays to God for the success of her plan of deception to save her besieged city. The other, a young woman, stands weeping by an empty tomb. What connects these two women—the one, daring all to save her people; the other, alone and bereft, met in th…

Br. Geoffrey Tristram Jeremiah 23:1-6 Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 In the year 1919, the poet W B Yeats wrote a poem called ‘The Second Coming’. There is a famous line in that poem which has resonated through the decades. He wrote, ‘Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.’ The first world war had just ended, and it felt like chaos had descended on the wo…

Br. Curtis Almquist Isaiah 7:1-9 Our reading from the Prophecy of Isaiah is an 8th century BC version of what we are seeing every day in our own newspapers and online: a world, including our own homeland, teeming with conflict. For Isaiah, the players were King Pekah and King Remaliah of Israel; King Rezim of Aram-Syria; and Kings Tabeel, then Uzia…

Br. Lucas Hall Mark 6:14-29 One of my favorite films came out roughly five years ago. It’s called A Hidden Life. It’s a Terrence Malick film, if you’re familiar with him. One reviewer called it a “grand cathedral” of a movie. And I agree, because it’s very big. It’s about three hours long. It’s quite quiet, reflective. The story—It’s based on a tru…

Br. David Vryhof Proverbs 2:1-9 Luke 14:27-33 The author of the Book of Proverbs tells us that there is much value in wisdom. Wisdom is not a given, something that all of us naturally acquire with age and experience. It is instead a treasure that must be desired and earnestly sought after. “If…you cry out for insight,” the author of Proverbs instru…

Br. Luke Ditewig Psalm 115:1-10 Matthew 9:32-38 I have gotten water in my ear while swimming. Muffled, it took a lot more effort to hear and pay attention. Remember what it’s like to lose part of your perception. The psalmist tonight says idols, gods which humans make, are not worth worship. “They have mouths but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.…