Wars and insurrections. Nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom. Great earthquakes. Famines. Plagues. Dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. The law that’s helping fuel Delhi’s deadly air pollution. [1] Vast brush fires rip across Australia. [2] The battle against one of the worst Ebola epidemics ever is in trouble. [3] Civilians rush to escape […]
I am so grateful to have all of you here, gathered together to thank God for all of our gifts, especially the gift of each other. Today, following our tradition, through the waters of Baptism and by the power of the Holy Spirit, two more souls will join us as our sisters in Christ. Last […]
I don’t know if many of you have met my brother Brian. Brian and I are quite similar in that we’re both slowly but surely turning into our father, but we’re also quite different. Yes, I’m older; Brian’s taller. Yes, he can grow a decent beard while I must shave. But I think the real […]
Good morning. I’m Clare Beam, and I’m the chair of the stewardship committee. I thank you for the honor of welcoming me to this podium. In turn, I would like to welcome you into the excitement of stewardship, and specifically the annual pledge campaign, at Holy Cross. This is the second year I have overseen […]
Good morning. Today I want to talk about two topics raised by this morning’s Gospel reading. The first topic is the question, “How can I find the strength to do all the things God has called on me to do?” And the second question flows from the first, “Can I actually make a difference?” You […]
Who am I in the story? This is the question that haunted me from the Gospel today. Am I Lazarus, suffering from lack of resources, pained, hungry, humbled by my need to beg, lost, self-conscious. Am I the rich man in the story, ignoring Lazarus at my gate? Feeding my dogs, and enjoying my life […]
Happy Holy Cross day! What does Holy Cross day mean to you? Of what significance is this day? We celebrate this day together as a parish family with a picnic, and remember what it took to take The Church of the Holy Cross from a dream, to this church, this congregation. We celebrate the service […]
The last time I preached, I had lamented that while Denise got the “Fear not little flock” Gospel, I had the father against son, mother against daughter and so on, or the Family Feud Gospel as I referred to it. I joked that I thought Denise did this on purpose. Well, I did the preaching […]
O God; open our hearts to your word, a word that passes faithfully from the ear to the heart, from the heart to our lives, Amen. “Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that, some have entertained angels without knowing it. Do not neglect to do good […]
Good morning. I’m glad to see everyone here in the congregation this morning. Especially because weather in Washington this week was brutal. It reminds me of the old joke that the motto of the Washington Chamber of Commerce is: “Come for the traffic—you’ll stay for the humidity.” Today’s Gospel reading has been the subject of […]