Readings: Amos 6: 1a, 4-7; 1Timothy 6: 11-16; Luke 16: 19-31 Preacher: Cathy Kamp This Sunday’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus takes me back to when Pope Francis declared the Year of Mercy in 2015-2016. At that time the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization and Our Sunday Visitor published The Parables of Mercy, a way… read more →
Readings: Amos 8:4-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13 Preacher: Deirdre McKiernan-Hetzler The biblical concept of justice is central to our readings today. There, justice involves the external ordering of society. In ways that life is most able to thrive. Justice, reflected in the Law, requires special concern for the powerless: Widows. Orphans. The resident aliens. The needy. And especially, the poor.… read more →
Readings: Amos 8: 4-7; 1 Timothy 2: 1-8; Luke 16: 1-13 Preacher: Deni Mack As I prayed with these readings from Amos, Timothy and Luke, I succumbed to a distracting temptation—I read my texts. Little did I think the scriptures would come alive on my iPhone in a most horrific way! A family we love is being evicted! The wage earner,… read more →
Readings: Exodus 32: 7-11, 13-14; 1 Timothy 1: 12-17; Luke 15: 1-32 Preacher: Susan Howard Several years ago one of our churches held a procession with the Blessed Sacrament on Feast of Corpus Christi. I had the task of finding someone to carry the cross that leads the procession. I could have asked one of our faithful ushers, or one of… read more →
Readings: Wisdom 9: 13-18b; Philemon 9-10, 12-17; Luke 14: 25-33 Preacher: Christine Nowak Kvam I do not mean to diminish the honor and privilege it is to be asked to write for God’s Word Many Voices, but when I first read the lectionary texts I would be reflecting on for this Sunday I laughed out loud. And if you had been… read more →
Readings: Sirach 3: 17-18, 20, 28-29; Hebrews 12: 18-19, 22-24a; Luke 14:1, 7-14 Preacher: Sister Karen Dietz Several weeks ago I fell and what we thought was a severely strained back ended up being a fracture. Over the course of these weeks I have had to depend on others in ways I never imagined. From taking on my household chores to… read more →
Readings: Isaiah 66:18-21; Hebrews 12: 5-7,11-13; Luke 13: 22-30 Preacher: Marilyn Catherine Full disclosure: I didn’t like this gospel. Jesus is asked a simple question: “Will only a few people be saved?” Can’t he just say, “Yes” or “No.” That’s wishful thinking on the part of my western trained dualistic mindset. Jesus’ answer is messy, confusing, even contradictory, not really an… 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: Wisdom 18: 6-9; Hebrews 11: 1-2, 8-19; Luke 12: 32-48 Preacher: Sr. Joan Sobala Abraham, we are told in the Letter to the Hebrews today, travelled to a horizon beyond which he could not see. “Abraham…went out, not knowing where he was to go.” (Heb.11.8) All he could do was to have faith and trust in the God who told… read more →
Readings: Ecclesiastes 1: 2, 2: 21-23; Colossians 3: 1-5, 9-11; Luke 12: 13-21 Preacher: Nancy DeRycke “NOW” is a very important word. I remember a poster: “Do it now.” And a Lenten song in college: “Love them now…don’t wait ‘til they go away; love them now, while they’re still around…” We all may have regrets about questions (a favorite recipe…a family… read more →