The Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord and reflects on resilience and healing in the face of American violence.

On Christmas Eve, the Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista preaches at St. Paul’s outdoor drive-in service: “It wasn’t suppose to happen this way. The year 2020, of course, but also the gospel reading for today, the birth of Jesus Christ” (Luke 2:1-20).

On the Second Sunday of Advent, the Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista reflects on the strange opening of Jesus’s story in Mark 1:1-8, which begins in the wilderness and asks us if we are willing to follow a wandering Messiah: “the way of Jesus winds its way through the wilderness road, far from the places you know and love.”

The Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista reflects on the end of the liturgical year, the parable of the Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46), and how to make the most of our one precious life.

The Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista reflects on a mountaintop dialogue between Moses and God (Exodus 33:12-23) and the tenacious work of building a better world together. Fr. Javier’s homily includes an update about ONE Wake and its founding assembly.

The Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista reflects on the bonds that bind us together: “What Jesus intends for us isn’t the kind of bond that is predicated on uniformity and sameness… The church is an organism, not a prison.”

The Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista discusses forgiveness: what it means to forgive others and how to seek forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35).

The Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista reflects on seeking the welfare of all God’s people and exercising the right to vote (Exodus 1:8-2:10).

The Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista reflects on how Jesus’s teaching draws us out of isolation and into community in a noisy, easily distracted world where authentic connection takes effort (Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30).

The Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista reflects on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-21) and the hope it offers for our own broken world: “God doesn’t need more preachers, politicians, or heroes. God just needs you to join the throng of those who have witnessed God’s justice and love, a cloud of witnesses who choose life not in spite of but in the face of calamity, persecution, war, grief, death, and loss. Are you ready to learn new ways of belonging and being together?”