Sermons from February 2024

2 Lent – February 25, 2024Mark 8:31-38          Just before this part of the gospel of Mark that we hear today, Peter stumbles onto the truth about his teacher, about Jesus – “You are the Messiah”, Peter realizes. And now, whatever great aspirations the disciples attribute to the Messiah, Jesus shuts down. He tells them he must undergo great suffering and be rejected and be killed. But he will rise again. Peter wants none of it and takes Jesus aside…

1 Lent Year B – February 18, 2024Mark 1:9-15          This Sunday’s gospel consists of three episodes: Jesus’ baptism, his temptation and his inaugural preaching.  Mark is brief and to the point.          We are now in the church season of Lent, which began this past Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, when I shared about dust. “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return”. It’s a statement about God’s faithfulness to us, about God’s love for us, God’s promise…

Last Sunday after the Epiphany: The Transfiguration – Feb 11, 2024Mark 9:2-9 Jesus is transfigured. Moses and Elijah appear and then strangely disappear. Peter is perplexed. James and John are silent. God speaks. The disciples are overcome with awe. Jesus tells them to say nothing about what has happened! Mystery and divine presence are pervasive in our stories for today.  So, what is the message for us?          On Transfiguration Sunday, we come to the end of another church season,…

 5 Epiphany – February 4, 2024Mark 1:29-39               Our gospel selection for today has three parts: a healing story, a description of the multitude brought to Jesus and the many who are healed and exorcised, an account of Jesus going to the wilderness to pray and, when found, expresses his resolve to go to proclaim the message in the towns throughout Galilee.          The scenes alternate between “private” and “public,” an encounter among a few people in a “house,” then…