Readings Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7; Acts 10: 34-38; Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22 Preacher: Sonja Livingston While thinking about the week’s readings, I tried to imagine John the Baptist living in our time. This wasn’t an easy task. Even more than his camel’s hair clothing, diet of locusts and wild honey, and full-throated insistence that God is near, I suspect John’s humility… read more →
Readings: Job 38:1, 8-11; 2 Corinthians 5: 14-17; Mark 4: 35-41 Preacher: Sonja Livingston In spring of 1657, 12-year old orphan Françoise Nadreau boarded a ship in La Rochelle, France, and landed months later at the rugged outpost of Ville-Marie, which today we call Montreal. In 1855, 15-year old James Cass, body weak from famine, left a Tipperary workhouse for America.… read more →
Readings: Isaiah 60: 1-6; Ephesians 3: 2-3a, 5-6; Matthew 2: 1-12 Preacher: Sonja Livingston Last year, my husband convinced me to go to Mendon Ponds to see the Geminids, the strongest meteor shower of the year. To see the stars, we’d need to drive out late at night, in the cold and dark of mid-December. I’m fairly certain I grumbled while… read more →
Readings: 1 Kings 19: 9a, 11-13a; Romans 9: 1-5; Matthew 14: 22-33 Preacher: Sonja Livingston Does this happen to you? You need to read the tiny script on the back of a bottle or take a quick drive to the store, so you reach for your glasses, only to find they’re not there. You check the kitchen counter. No luck. You… read more →
Readings: Isaiah 11: 1-10; Romans 15: 4-9; Matthew 3: 1-12 Preacher: Sonja Livingston Edward Hicks was an 18th century Quaker minister and American folk artist famous for a series of paintings inspired by the words from Isaiah we read today. Hicks was so gripped by the imagery of Isaiah 11:6-9, he made 65 paintings of the scene over the last thirty… read more →
Readings: Jeremiah 38: 4-6, 8-10; Hebrews 12: 1-4; Luke 12: 49-53 Preacher Sonja Livingston After more than two years of avoiding conferences and airplanes, I attended my first packed event last week. Singer Lyle Lovett was coming to Geneva; how could I resist? My husband and I masked and sanitized. We stuck together, leaning so far into each other we might… read more →
Readings: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Revelations 21: 10-14, 22-23; John 14: 23-29 Preacher: Sonja Livingston The class I teach on Monday nights was struggling a few weeks ago. We’d reached that point in the semester—almost, but not quite, the end—where a break does not seem possible but is precisely what’s required. Besides managing their other classes, part-time jobs, relationships and looming uncertain… read more →
Readings: Isaiah 42: 1-4. 6-7; Acts 10: 34-38; Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22 Preacher: Sonja Livingston This past summer our parish welcomed a new pastor. The first Sunday I heard Father Daniel celebrate Mass included a baptism. As much as I enjoy the sight of babies and christening gowns, when I saw the family gathered at the back of the church, I… read more →
Readings: Exodus 16: 2-4, 12-15; Ephesians 4: 17, 20-24; John 6: 24-35Click here to download a PDF of this homily.Preacher: Sonja Livingston I have to confess that, like the Israelites grumbling in the desert, when my insecurities mount, I tend to focus on bread. I don’t mean the “true bread of heaven” described in John’s Gospel. I mean the bread… read more →
Readings: 2 Chronicles 36: 14-16, 19-23; Ephesians 2: 4-10; John 3: 14-21Click here to download a PDF of this homily.Preacher: Sonja Livingston One of the few passages I know by heart is John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.… read more →