I’ve sometimes wondered if this season of Advent comes at the wrong time: just before Christmas. Now, you may say to me, “but isn’t that what Advent is for, leading up to Christmas?” Let me answer that in kind of a non-dualistic way: yes and no. I think we oftentimes see Advent as a time we walk through to lead us to the celebration of the birth of Jesus. We approach it almost as a sort of sentimental journey…

Today is the Feast of Christ the King. It’s the final Sunday of our church calendar year. Next sunday will be the beginning of a new church calendar year, with the first Sunday of Advent. Our calendar is a little bit different than the calendar we live in our day-to-day lives, but today is the final Sunday. And it’s called the Feast of Christ the King. You could say to yourself, if there’s a Christ the King, there must be a kingdom…

Matt. 23:1-12
I’m taken with the Gospel reading, these words that Jesus shares with his disciples. He’s giving some reflections on the leaders of the Jewish tradition at that time. I think it’s important to remember that when we look at the scriptures, particularly the New Testament, we see Jesus engaged with Judaism and with Jewish leaders and where he critiques. He’s not criticizing Judaism; Judaism is really a prototype for all religion…

Have I ever told you how much I love New York City? I love the teasing that goes on here at St. Paul’s about the various places we’re from and have traveled in our lives. My being a New Yorker is part of that. I love the kind of bantering we do, especially my Boston friends, Red Sox fans. You know the difference betwen Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park? You can get a hot dog at Yankee Stadium in October…

Where were you? Where are you? And where are you going? Those are three questions I’d like to share some thoughts on this morning as we gather on this tenth anniversary of 9/11, September 11, 2001. Where were you? Where are you? And where are you going? It seems there’s a certain part of us, whenever there’s some historic event that happens in our lives, we remember where we were when we heard about it or discovered it…

Increase in us true religion. Hear that phrase in the opening collect? It’s a catchy kind of phrase; it almost sounds like, “Give us that old time religion.” It’s a phrase that we can pay some attention to; there’s some depth to it. What is true religion? It’s been said in the Christian tradition that there is a perception that what Christianity is about is worshiping Jesus. And yet when we look at the scriptures, there’s no instance where Jesus ever said to anyone, “worship me…”

Have you ever wrestled with God? That’s what that first reading is about, from Genesis. Jacob as is described, wrestles with God. Jacob is about to encounter his brother Esau. He doesn’t have the best of relationships with Esau. He’s afraid of meeting Esau. He sends his family across the river, but he spends the night before crossing the river. And it is described that he goes through this wrestling experience. He struggles with God. And yet, during the struggle he doesn’t know who this is…

Happy 4th of July weekend as we gather. Some of you from the parish know where I’m from but those of you who are new may not know where I’m originally from; I’m from that colony up in the northeast called New York. I’ve realized there are actually a few of us here in the Cary area and others from that part of the country…

A couple of months ago I went through that ritual we all go through of completing our taxes, and I got to that second page where you sign it. Both my wife Mary and I signed our copies and then filled in that spot where it says “Occupation.” I always put down “Priest” and Mary puts down “Scientist.”…

Years ago when I was in college – at that time in my life I was considering a vocation to the priesthood – I remember that there was a priest on the faculty, and I got together with this priest and began an experience that is oftetimes referred to as spiritual direction…