The Rev. Dr. Irina Dubinski
On this blog, you will find my weekly reflections that I write as part of my work in the Anglican Church, in which I was ordained in 2015. My vocation has been shaped by my studies at the University of Toronto, where I earned a Master of Divinity from Wycliffe College, Spiritual Direction Diploma from Regis College, PhD in Speech-Language Pathology, and BA in Linguistics. My ministry combines parish life with chaplaincy focused on end-of life care, and an interest in new clergy formation. My personal spirituality reflects an interest in the Orthodox heritage of my country of birth, my early faith experiences in the Evangelical church, transition to Anglicanism for theological and liturgical reasons, and formal training in Ignatian (Jesuit) spiritual direction. The practices I borrowed from each tradition comprise my own unique way of becoming aware of God’s presence and activity in the world, which I am delighted to share through my spiritual direction practice, and courses on prayer and meditation through art.
St Andrew’s Day and Advent 1, 2025
St. Andrew’s feast day, November 30, lands on a Sunday this year, aligning with the start of Advent. Although it is a Holy Day—i.e., liturgically, higher in rank than memorials of most other saints—it rarely attracts the attention it deserves in the midst of a season that quickly becomes full. This year’s timing, however, could…
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Living Water, Living Generosity
On this Stewardship Sunday, I would like to speak about generosity as something more than money: as water offered to the thirsty, as care offered when we are vulnerable, and as the way Christ continues to meet us in one another. To begin, I will tell you an old Russian fairy tale, and you can…
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Tikkun Olam: Healing the World Through Remembrance, Art, and Witness
Why do we gather, year after year, to mark Remembrance Day? For many among us, these stories are not mere history: we remember parents, grandparents, or siblings who served, suffered, or never came home. Even for those born long after the great wars, their losses still echo in our families and shape our world. Yet…
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On the Feast of St. Luke: Anointing as Both Comfort and Calling
St. Luke is one of the most multifaceted figures in the early Church: a physician, a writer who produced the first systematic history of the Church in Luke–Acts, and an artist credited with painting the first Orthodox icon of the Theotokos. Luke’s creativity was an expression of faith, through which he applied his artistry, storytelling,…
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The Bread That Teaches Us to Give Thanks
Gratitude is often recommended by psychologists and teachers as a tool for well-being or as a habit that builds character. We are told to practice gratitude and in return, feel calmer, more content, and more virtuous. In Scripture, gratitude—todah in Hebrew, found throughout the psalms—is never an end in itself. So while modern self-help turns…
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Animal Blessing 2025
This image depicts St. Francis worshipping with animals and the whole of creation. But it could also be seen to represent the story of Adam naming the animals—setting the robes aside, of course! The creatures’ interactions with one another, with the human figure, and with the holy light that filters from above, remind us that…
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Angels, Demons, and the Dreams We Make Real
In scripture, angels often arrive hidden in the ordinariness of life, and are glimpsed only once human eyes adjust to the mystery. This drawing invites us into that same experience: the angel is present, yet veiled in colour and motion, light and line. Where do you begin to see the angel take form? In the…
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Let Your Light Shine
As I began to reflect on our readings for this Sunday, three recent events in parish life directed my thoughts. First, over the summer, L.L., who was managing the work associated with our Little Free Pantry (LFP)—the box outside our building stocked with canned tuna, peanut butter, toothbrushes, juice boxes, granola bars, and similar items—asked…
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Back to Church – Back to the Race
At our parish, the first Sunday after school begins is always an intergenerational service, with a homily designed to engage all ages, as follows. Have you ever played hide and seek? My kids love it, and in playing over the summer, they often turned the house upside down—emptying every closet and filling the house with…
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Entertaining Angels: Hospitality and End-of-Summer Harvest Traditions
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some [i.e. Abraham in Genesis 18] have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2) A few weeks ago our readings paired the stories of two meals: Mary and Martha’s dinner with Jesus, and Abraham’s with his three mysterious visitors. It is to the…
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Bent and Belonging: The Gospel’s Challenge to the Cult of Normalcy
Just as my homily will ask us to see dignity and belonging beyond society’s standards of “normal,” my illustration also raises questions about how art itself can challenge or reinforce cultural expectations of beauty and disability. I chose to portray “the bent woman” from Luke’s Gospel as disabled and yet still conventionally beautiful — a…
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Ephraim and Judah: Sketching the Biblical Story of Israel
Pablo Picasso’s “Mother and Child (First Steps)”, 1943, captures for me Hosea’s image of God teaching Ephraim to walk. My own digital painting, representing our cottage days, evokes the fleeting harmony of early childhood—when love is uncomplicated and trust comes naturally. Today we read one of my favourite passages, which offers a parental image of…
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“Do This, and You Will Live”: a Theology of Care
The readings for this Sunday and last work in concert to help us develop a theology of care. So many among you, when confronted with the illness or medical crisis of a fellow parishioner, respond with swift and thoughtful compassion. You prepare meals, offer rides, check in with quiet persistence, and remember one another in…
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Love in Action: the Good Samaritan, the Golden Rule, and bell hooks’ vision of love
The parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37) is one of Jesus’ most profound and disruptive teachings. Far more than a call to moral goodness, it is a challenge to our deepest assumptions about who belongs, and who deserves our care. The parable is unique to Luke’s gospel, and the exchange that precedes it is…
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June observances
This Sunday, we will transfer the feast of Corpus Christi from June 19th. Established in the 13th century at the urging of a nun named Juliana of Liège, the feast draws our attention to Jesus’ request that his followers continue to commemorate his life and self-giving by reenacting the last meal he shared with his…
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Pentecost as the reversal of Babel
“At the Table”Three figures gather around bread, cup, and dove—a visual meditation on both the Trinity and the Church. The older woman, loosely rendered and surrounded by a haze, gestures toward the Holy Spirit: present, nurturing, and elusive. The adult figure, contemplative and grounded, evokes the Creator’s abiding presence, unconstrained by gender. Only the child…
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An Invisible Thread
This image illustrates foot-washing, which came to symbolize Jesus’ New Commandment to “love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34), spoken after he washed his disciples’ feet at the final meal they shared before his death. Over the second half of Eastertide, we read excerpts from chapters 13 to 17 of John’s Gospel.…
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St Paul’s Conversion
Over the Eastertide, we take our first readings from Acts instead of the Old Testament, and today we read about the conversion of Paul. Acts recounts this event three times—first in third person (ch. 9), then in Paul’s speeches (ch. 22 and 26). Curiously, Paul writes little about it in his own letters, aside from…
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The assurance of Thomas
In a few minutes, I will pour water over a child’s head and apply oil to mark her with the sign of the cross. Later today, several individuals from our parish will stand before Bishop Andrew to be confirmed and reaffirm the promises once made. These distinct sacraments express the same longing: the desire to…
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Easter 2025
My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away, for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree ripens its figs,…
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7 last words of Christ
Today we meditate on the Cross—the focal yet most challenging aspect of our faith. It is always difficult to look upon the suffering of another, both because we feel each other’s pain and, frankly, because we might not know what to say. Jesus’ final words spoken from the cross specifically teach us the simple, graceful…
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Lent 5: The holy myrrh-bearers
Fifth Station of the Cross: Veronica Wipes Jesus’ FaceLike the woman who anointed Jesus, Veronica steps forward with bold compassion—reaching out, touching, offering what she has. Where one poured ointment and tears, and wiped Jesus with her hair, the other wiped his own tears, sweat and blood. Both acts tender, decisive, and scandalous. Both remembered.…
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Lent 3: on suffering
“Third Station: Jesus Falls” is the third artwork in my Lenten series on the Stations of the Cross, created in preparation for Good Friday. It evokes the weight of our own suffering—often as random, unjust, and undeserved as that of Jesus—that at times threatens to crush us. Yet the composition subtly forms a tunnel, leading…
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Lent 2: Jerusalem
“Second Station: Jesus Takes Up His Cross” is the second artwork in my Lenten series on the Stations of the Cross, created in preparation for Good Friday. In his Lament over Jerusalem (Lk 13:31-35; Mt 23:37–39) — the focus of today’s reflection — Jesus foreshadows his Passion (or at least conveys a sense of premonition).…
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Lent 1 – the temptation of Jesus
This drawing is part of my Lenten series representing the Stations of the Cross. ‘Station One: Jesus is Condemned to Death’ depicts what I believe was Jesus’ final temptation, a moment for which he had been prepared through his time of discernment in the desert. In January, we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord, and…
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Transfiguration 2025 – “one foot in Eden”
The parallel between today’s readings—Moses on Mt. Sinai and Jesus’ Transfiguration—has been drawn for centuries. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, created an analogy between Moses-the-man, whose face shone so brightly after encountering God that it had to be veiled, and “Moses”-the-text (i.e., Torah), which highlights so brightly our inability to fulfill the Law…
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Vestry Sunday – The Golden Rule
Jesus strikes me as an economical preacher—a pithy sentence here and a parable there have always left his audience amazed, asking, “Who is this?” I wish I could do that but take comfort in Jesus’ longer discourses, such as the one held over the Last Supper (Jn 14-17), and particularly the two homilies—the Sermon on…
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The call of Isaiah
Today, my reflection is on Isaiah 6, while my drawing represents Luke 5. Today, we heard from Isaiah—an incredibly full book, and a really long one! Its ch. 1-39 (also known as First Isaiah) are attributed to the historical Isaiah of the 8th century BC. Born in Judah’s temporary safety, he witnessed the Assyrian conquest…
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The wedding at Cana
The context in which we read about the miracle at Cana is most often a wedding, which makes sense as there aren’t actually too many scriptural passages that describe wedding scenes. Marriages and love in general—yes, these come up very often; but there are not that many weddings per se, apart from Psalm 45 and…
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Baptism of the Lord, 2025
Jesus’ birth, the visit of the Magi, and His baptism mark moments of revelation, unveiling facets of Jesus’ identity as God. Initially celebrated as a single feast, these observances eventually diverged. Christmas remains universal, albeit celebrated on different dates, and its season always concludes on the 12th day with the arrival of the wise men…
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Sheila’s funeral
A few people asked me to post the reflection I shared at Sheila Goodwin’s funeral service. What follows is the notes I had made in preparation for speaking. The poem that Kimberley read to us ends with the line, “Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there. I did not die.”…
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Epiphany 2025
The holidays hold a special magic. Ask any child what they are about, and you might initially hear something about family togetherness and perhaps treats. But with a little persistence, they will eventually confess—it’s about the gifts! Around the world, however, the timing of this magic varies widely. Dutch children are the luckiest, receiving gifts…
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Christmas 2024
One of my favourite features of Christmas services is the candlelight. I love how its soft glow enhances the warmth and mystery of our gathering, illuminates your faces, and highlights each person’s features. As we pass it from one person to another, it reminds me of the power of human connection. Light, invisible as it…
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The Friendly Beasts
This reflection is inspired by the children’s Christmas play, presented during an intergenerational church service. Wasn’t it wonderful to see all the animals in our play? You all created a living crèche—a nativity scene that came to life. I brought my own crèche to show you, and this one is special because it’s from Ecuador.…
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On Joy
Advent and Lent are parallel seasons of preparation for a major feast. Each includes a special “pink” Sunday, about halfway through the season, that serves as a preview of the feast for which we are preparing and is marked by rose-colored vestments. In Advent, this Sunday is called Gaudete, and in Lent, Laetare—both Latin words…
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Advent 2: On Music
When do you think is the right time to begin singing Christmas carols? They’ve been on the radio and in stores for weeks now—a powerful tool to create a mood and get one into the spirit, whether for worship or shopping! Today, I’d like to reflect on how our musical choices contribute to shaping a…
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On Generosity
Last week, you received the annual packages highlighting our Joyful Giving program. Today, we continue to reflect on generosity as the force that enables us to light and heat this space, serve communion and coffee, hear the music, make friends, help our neighbors, and, in doing so, impact the world in ways we may not…
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Remembrance and All Souls Service
In preparing for today, I came across the Litany of Remembrance, the first line of which is almost identical to one we hear as part of the Ode of Remembrance: “At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.” The Ode, central to Remembrance Day ceremonies worldwide, is the…
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All Saints Day
The church calendar’s most meaningful observances are those that allow room for grief while also nurturing hope and belonging. All Saints Day is one such feast, originally commemorating Christian martyrs and later including both historically remarkable figures and our own loved ones. Early Christians observed it on the Sunday after Pentecost, but in medieval Britain, it…
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On the Feast of St Luke, Healing, and Grace
Today, we celebrate the Feast of St. Luke – a man of many talents. Colossians 4:14 names him as Paul’s colleague, “the beloved physician.” The Gospel that bears his name uniquely recounts the birth of Jesus, and its companion text, the Acts of the Apostles, extends the narrative to the birth of the Church. In…
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On the Epistle to the Hebrews
The picture above illustrates the gospel for this week, but once you read the post, can you think of any possible links between this verse and the ones I cite from the letter to the Hebrews? You may know that I enjoy endurance sports, and participate in a few triathlon races each summer. If you…
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The Woman of Strength (Proverbs 31)
When we celebrated the start of the new academic year, I asked if you knew some truly wise people. Last week, I spoke about one such person in Christian history – Helena, the mother of Constantine I. While we empathize with her story, it’s hard to imagine the life of a Roman Empress in all…
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Saint Helena of Constantinople – Holy Cross Day
When I was about the age of my oldest daughter, I visited Jerusalem. Unlike her, I knew very little about Jesus then; yet, when I stepped into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, I had a sense that the place was special – though I didn’t know to use the word “sacred” to describe my…
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On Wisdom: Back to Church Sunday
As this will be an intergenerational service, the reflection is very informal and meant to be accessible to children. Congratulations to students and teachers on your first week of school – and welcome back to church, everyone! At the start of another year of learning, growth, and reconnecting, I wanted to talk about wisdom, as…
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On the Song of Songs
Much of the world’s literature across all times and cultures explores the power of love over death. Grief is a universal emotion, and even its earliest, legendary depictions still resonate with us. Andromache mourns Hector as greatly as Achilles grieves for Patroclus (“The Iliad”), David – for Jonathan (2 Sam 1:26) and Gilgamesh – for…
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Unity of Believers: Exploring Ephesians Themes and Verses
We are reading portions of Ephesians on July and August Sundays this year, and we have already read through this entire epistle at our Morning Prayer services on Zoom over the spring. The letter doesn’t address any specific church or situation, and its main theme is the unity of all believers. To develop this theme,…
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Fishes and Loaves
The miracle of the fishes and loaves is the only one that all four gospels describe (aside from the empty tomb!), and do so quite consistently: from the content of the meal, to its timing (the spring festival of Passover, many traveling, and green grass), to where it’s situated within the narrative (preceded by John…
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On Rest and Relaxation
Mid-summer is the right time to read today’s portion of Mark, as it describes the moment Jesus affirmed the value of rest. As Jesus took his teaching and healing from village to village, he sensed that the moment was right for his disciples to begin to contribute to his ministry. Then, “calling the Twelve to…
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David and Goliath
Since the 1800s, “a philistine” has referred to a narrow-minded and materialistic person who deprecates the life of the arts, spirituality, and intellect. Historically, however, the Philistines were just an ethnic group of an unclear genetic origin, who lived in the Late Bronze to Early Iron Age (12th – 9th century BC) in the 5…
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On Jesus’ Parables
Jesus’ preferred method of instruction was rather indirect. In today’s gospel, we find two of his analogies, of the type we call a parable – an extended metaphor illustrating a moral or spiritual lesson via making a comparison. Jesus used tangible, familiar images to reflect on aspects of spiritual reality that included prayer, love, relationship…
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On Eucharistic Prayers
In asking, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” was Jesus disdainful towards his family, or referencing the core of his message – that is, in communion with God we become closer to others, and in touching other people’s lives we encounter the presence of God? As we sometimes say at the conclusion of the…
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On the Sabbath and Eucharist
1700 years ago, Constantine the Great decreed that, “on the venerable day of the sun” city dwellers would rest, but farmers were free to work, “lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost”. As the Jews rested on Sabbath and God rested on the 7th day of…
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Trinity Sunday
This year, we mark the observance of Trinity Sunday by viewing the series of skits that the children produced in response to reading the book of Acts over the past two months. Traditionally, Acts replace the OT readings over the Eastertide season, while the second half of the season is especially focused on reflecting on…
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Pentecost 2024
The passage in Acts employs dynamic and memorable imagery to signify the movement of the Holy Spirit: the natural phenomena such as wind and fire, and the psychological ones, such as mutual understanding, discernment of the future, and the ability to speak convincingly. Thereby, the passage effectively epitomizes all other scriptural references to the Holy…
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Sing to the Lord a New Song
If at times you feel a bit dissatisfied with our hymn choices – don’t worry; you’re in good company. About 350 years ago, a boy once complained about church music so much that his father gruffly retorted, “write your own then.” This is what my own kids hear whenever they don’t fancy their dinners, and…
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Good Shepherd 2024
Every year half-way through Eastertide, a number of clergy around the world all face the same challenge: preaching about sheep. It’s hard to find something new to say, while also avoiding a lecture on animal husbandry or creating a sentimental children’s book illustration. There are a few other options, which I tried in the past,…
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Taste and See
I used to think that once Jesus escaped the tomb, he hung out with his friends for 40 days straight, and then went into the sky. But even though some have tried, it’s actually impossible to wrestle all the stories from the gospels, Acts 1, and Paul’s letter into a cohesive narrative with a clear…
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Peace be with You
In the early 1940s, in Amsterdam, a child spent the last two years of her life behind locked doors, barred by a bookcase. In the diary she kept through this time, one entry reads, “I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too,…
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Easter Sunday 2024
Thank you for joining us at St Tim’s on this special day. Is there a facet of worship that particularly held your attention or moved you today: the music, words, or familiar faces; touching and tasting communion; memories or associations coming to mind; or volunteering and contributing? What does this say about how you connect…
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Easter Vigil 2024
Tonight is a special night in the church calendar, traditional for baptisms. So we are privileged to have three today! It’s wonderful to see the families and sponsors standing round the baptismal font together with the candidates. This, to me, is a visual reminder that God is with us at all points of our lives,…
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Good Friday 2024
This Friday hardly seems any “good.” Well it is that, in a sense of “holy/dedicated”; but not at all “pleasant/beneficial”. The worst part is that what happened to Jesus wasn’t unique to him, or even to the olden days. There’s enough in the news and in our own lives to make us sad without having…
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Palm Sunday 2024
To me, this is the most difficult service of the year. Good Friday is tough, but I know what to expect; here, the transition between the Palms and Passion always catches me off guard. I don’t like saying, “Crucify him!” because it reminds me of all the times that I, too, have betrayed and rejected…
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The Bronze Snake
Half-way through Lent, the readings hint at the approach of Holy Week – at the tragedy and hope that is epitomized in the “lifting up” of the one whom we believe to be truly man and perfectly God. It might seem odd that Jesus is said to have compared himself to a snake, albeit the…
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Lent 2 – Covenants
In Old English, “lencten” meant “spring”, probably due to the lengthening of daylight hours. So for me, Lent is for spring cleaning. I try to address what clutter has accumulated, and which routines, spaces, and equipment need sprucing up – on the spiritual, personal, and domestic level alike. This might result in giving up a…
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Ash Wednesday 2024
Historically, Lent began as the final stage in the spiritual formation of new believers in Christ who, after spending up to three years in preparation, would be baptized on the night before Easter. It probably did not take very long for the rest of the Church to realize that every believer, new and old, could…
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Swing Low
On the Sunday before Lent, we always read about transfiguration – the turning point of each synoptic gospel that opens the final chapter of Jesus’ life. The OT readings that complement it are often about Moses on Mt Sinai and his radiance of face that he acquires there, because that’s similar to what happens to…
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Good for Something
Two weeks ago, I posed to you the question Jesus asked his first disciples, “what do you seek?” Afterwards, someone said to me that at her age, the question is no longer applicable because she is now “good for nothing”. I struggled to find the right response (and failed), but the remark resonated with me.…
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First Disciples and Jonah
Whenever you applied for work, study, or funding, what were some of the trickier questions you had to answer as part of each admission process? If you have ever sought employees or students, granted funding or casting, what did you truly want to know about your candidates? I recall that the question I most consistently…
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Samuel and Nathanael
The main feasts of Christmastide – Nativity, Epiphany, Baptism of Jesus – as well as Candlemas, celebrate the same theme: God’s ongoing self-revelation. As the wisemen follow the star, we strive to discover the meaning of life and build connections with God and people, and receive guidance towards achieving this in most ordinary circumstances. The…
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Epiphany
Every Christmas morning at 8 am, my son says, “I am sad that Christmas is over”, and I reply, “Oh, but it lasts 12 days!” It is, indeed, tough to go from the month of growing excitement to the “Now what?” of the day itself. So, traditions developed to separate out what was originally one…
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Christmas 2023
Every year, the mystery we call Incarnation eludes my words, but its visual counterpart, the image of the holy Mother and Child, draws me in. In art, it predates Christianity, and most world spiritualities honour the sacredness of birth. Our tradition keeps it at its very heart: in the new life in the manger at…
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Advent 4
The last Sunday of Advent focuses on Mary’s “let it be” in response to the archangel. We have all said “let it be”, many times. Some of the forks on my road are likely different from yours, such as the decision to pursue my vocation, as expressed in the rite of ordination; but others I…
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Advent 1
This drawing is Part I in the series called, “Embracing Grace: Honouring the Rich Tapestry of Motherhood during Advent, 2023” We’re in the count-down time of the year! The jingles on the radio and in the stores extol the White Christmases, roasted chestnuts, presents, winter fun, and above all, happy families, which await us in…
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Reign of Christ
Prior to the 1970s, those attending church at the end of November heard, “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people…” and started stirring their Christmas puddings as soon as they got home. Most recipes require the pudding to “mature” to achieve its fullest flavour, and the batter does need…
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All Souls and Remembrance Day
It’s so disheartening to see the world’s leaders treat human lives as dispensable in pursuit of personal ambition; especially when such situations continue to unfold in our current world, rather than on the pages of history books. In the Middle East, Ukraine, etc.; on either side, people are forced to fight and die, and inflict…
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All Saints – Relaxed Service Message
Halloween is coming up on Tuesday, which means that Wednesday is All Saints Day. Most northern cultures have always celebrated the halfway point between the fall equinox (our Michaelmas) and winter solstice (our Christmas), and so All Hallows Eve took the place of Samhain (pronounced Sau-ihn), celebrated in Britain since very ancient times as a…
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On Stewardship, Hospitality, and Welcoming
We’ve had some opportunities recently to appreciate the extent of our parish activity, and thank those who give of their time and effort. Another thing worth remembering is that everything we offer here is fully dependent on your financial generosity. Staff and stuff, activities and music, food and coffee, electricity and communion – it’s all…
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St Luke – Healing Service
The feast of St Luke the Evangelist (aka “of Antioch”) is on Oct 18. In the Christian tradition, St Luke was a Hellenistic Jewish near contemporary of Jesus, who lived to the age of 84, worked as a physician, wrote Luke-Acts, accompanied Paul in prison when the latter awaited martyrdom in Rome – and, also…
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St Michael and All Angels
Today we celebrate St Michael and All Angels. With the figurines from our homes, we created a visual representation of this invisible order of creation. Our scriptures and traditions hint at who angels are, but leave most of it to our imaginations, which visual artists over centuries applied to reflect their diverse beliefs. So eventually,…
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St Francis, 2023
The rituals of blessing domestic and farm animals, such as the one in which we will participate in today, are traditionally held on or around the day we remember an Italian medieval monk called Francis of Assisi, who died on October the 3rd almost 800 years ago. Francis’ love of nature was a significant feature…
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Unfair Wages
Last weekend, I took a long drive through the Niagara countryside, and enjoyed looking at the vineyards along the way. I certainly know a lot more about consuming the fruit of a vine than about tending it, and so it helped to be reminded what a vineyard looks like “in real life”, especially since I…
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Back-to-Church Sunday — “when 2 or 3 are gathered…”
Photo by Pavol Svantner on Unsplash What follows is the reflection offered as part of the informal, multigenerational service, held to mark the start of the academic year and return of church programming after the summer hiatus. When we hold such a service in place of the principal Sunday morning liturgy, I hesitate to call it “relaxed”. (That’s…
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Walking on Water
Last week, we read that Jesus had sought a break from the crowds in a “remote place,” only to have 5K people follow him there. Instead of gaining some space to mourn his recently executed relative, he healed and fed them all with what appeared to be the contents of a boy’s lunch. The crowd…
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Feeding the Thousands
Feeding the 4/5000 is a “Biblical classic”; the only miracle apart from the resurrection recorded in all four gospels. This was early in Jesus’ ministry, so his popularity was growing rapidly, and the crowds gathered wherever he went. But why in “a remote place”? Matthew supplies a heart-wrenching detail, to explain: John the Baptist had…
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On Wisdom and Boredom
Image credit: Ryan Hopkins, “Chesapeake Oyster I” In our OT reading, God sounds a little like the Genie from an old lamp, saying to Solomon, “ask what I should give you”. Solomon didn’t ask for riches, luck, or power, but only always to know the difference between good and evil. To me, it seems that…
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The Two Sparrows
This past Wednesday was the National Indigenous People’s Day. In 1996, this observance was assigned to June 21 because the summer solstice is significant in Indigenous spirituality, which recognizes the presence of the sacred in all manifestations of creation, as well as their interconnectedness and value. These ideas are less prominent in Christianity; but, they…
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Psalm 100
The image was inspired by the poem “Hope is the thing with feathers” (click here for text and analysis), which Romans 5:5 brought to my mind. Imagine that you were born and raised in ancient Israel. The time for yet another major religious observance has arrived, and you must make the required pilgrimage to the…
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The daughter of Jairus and a bleeding woman
This drawing represents an imaginary meeting of the girl whom Jesus’ brought back to life, and the woman whom he healed of a chronic condition. (I like to think that she had followed Jesus to the girl’s house.) Within its few lines, today’s gospel contains two stories in one. Each is quite moving on its…
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Reflection on being a Deacon (Trinity Sunday, 2023)
I will not be preaching this Sunday because Deacon Carol, our new curate, will do so. Nonetheless, I will say a few words to introduce her; and in what follows, I reflect on what it means to be a deacon. An “assistant curate” is a job – a role in the parish. It is similar…
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Pentecost 2023 – “relaxed” service
Today is someone’s birthday. That someone is the Church! What is a birthday? That’s the beginning of life outside the belly or egg, but not really THE beginning. Before you get “on the outside”, you already exist, act upon others, and others care for you. Yet, a birth defines the moment of starting your life…
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Ascension, 2023
May God “give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation… so that, withthe eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope towhich he has called you” (Ephesians 1:17-18) Ascension makes me wonder why at the end of his earthly time Jesus had to go up into the sky, rather than dissolve…
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Paul on Areopagus
Paul’s Speech on the Areopagus, delivered in Athens, is a dramatic tour de force of the New Testament. With remarkable fluency, Paul thinks on his feet and weaves together his knowledge of philosophy, literature, history, and culture. To appreciate it fully, let’s first travel much further back in time to consider the origins of the…
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Easter 5, 2023: Spiritual Home
At the last supper before his death, Jesus tried to offer a measure of peace to his friends. A traveling teacher without “a place to lay his head” for the past three years seemed to think that a promise of a “house with plenty of room” should be enough to lift his friends’ troubled hearts.…
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Good Shepherd (aka Vocations) Sunday, 2023
The middle Sunday of the Easter season is called the “Good Shepherd Sunday” as this week, we always read Ps 23, “the Lord is my Shepherd,” and John 10 that applies this analogy to Jesus over all of its 42 verses. This year, we read its beginning that presents Jesus, paradoxically, as the shepherd, gatekeeper…
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The Assurance of Thomas 2023
Longer than Lent, Eastertide has its own liturgical progression spanning the 50 days between the resurrection of Jesus and birth of the Church. So, we read Acts instead of the OT, the NT readings are from those attributed to Peter and John, as the presumed Church founders, and the gospel readings progress from Jesus’ appearances…
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Easter 2023
As I was planning what to say today, I reviewed some of my previous homilies. The opening line of “Easter, 2021” read: “It’s been a while since we’ve had a “normal” Easter!” At the time, I was referring to the fire that engulfed Notre Dame (Holy Week 2018), Sri Lanka bombings (Easter 2019), and first…
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Easter Vigil 2023
Those of you who lost friends and family might remember that multitude of tasks that hit you in the early days of each loss, which all seem insurmountable and yet keep you somewhat sane at the same time. I think it was like that for these 8 or so women, whose names the gospels mention…
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Good Friday 2023
Once again, we got through the difficult exercise of recalling, step by step, the details of Jesus’ final hours of life. Oh, why must we keep revisiting this unpleasant story year after year? As it is, this Friday is, frankly, only “good” in a sense of “holy/dedicated” and at all not “pleasant/beneficial”! The worst part…
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Maundy Thursday 2023
Tonight, after the flurry of this busy liturgy is complete, we will go home in silence, leaving our church stripped of adornments, without a blessing or communion. This will represent that sense of perceived absence of God that would have characterized the days when Jesus suffered and died. I imagine that those who gathered at…
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Eve of Palm Sunday 2023 – “Relaxed” Communion” The Tale of Two Donkeys
Do you know what it means to meditate? Have you tried it yet? Has someone tried teaching you? Now, the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “meditation” is probably… BORING. Sitting quietly and thinking about nothing is not easy. But you know, there is a different way to do it, to pray…
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