Category Archives: Sunday Morning

On the borderline

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When I was in seminary, our homiletics professor had lots of advice and pointers for the Sunday homily. The professor was pretty adamant about not explaining theology. And I mostly agree with his point – it can make a homily really dry and fill it with language that needs its own explanation. The professor’s final point was that your explanation was likely to cross the borderline of orthodoxy and give an inaccurate or heretical version of the underlying theology.  Best to just keep it simple and well clear of the border. Continue reading →

The Chosen

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Remember last Sunday’s gospel – “I am the vine, you are the branches… remain in me…bear good fruit.” Today’s gospel is part of the same conversation Jesus was having with his apostles – and if it wasn’t clear last week, today’s readings leaves no doubt: it’s about learning to love as we have never loved before. It that way we will remain in Christ, who will remain in us, and we will bear the desired good fruit. Here is a sampling of verses from today’s readings. Continue reading →

In the first light

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There is something poetic, mysterious, and magical in a vineyard before the harvest on an early morn with the dew on the vine and the first light of a just-rising sun glistening upon the fruit. But, if you are like me, you probably do not have any experience in the vineyards except perhaps as a visitor.

The vineyard does not just happen by itself. There is a complex dance between the vine, the branches and the vine grower. For example, did you know that a single grape vine can produce as much as 13 feet of new branch growth in one growing season. What happens if all that new growth remains un-pruned? It would not be unusual for that un-pruned vine to have as many as 300 fruit producing buds. While that might sound great, that’s way too many buds for the plant to support. You might have lots of produce, but it will be incredibly low quality, and good for nothing. It would probably just end up as fuel for the fire. You would have to remove as much as 75% of the buds and the associated vegetative growth so the plant can properly develop and ripen the fruit it produces. The goal is always good fruit.

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Leadership

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Note: still away from the parish, but here is another offering from the trove of homilies past.

After having graduated from the US Naval Academy – the first cauldron of forming leaders for the Navy and Marine Corp – and after finishing nuclear power training and submarine school, I reported as a bright shiny Ensign to my first submarine! I was ready to be a deep-diving, backing down full at crush depth, denizen of the deep – “Run Silent, Run Deep” and “Hunt for Red October” all rolled into one. Continue reading →

Hunger Games

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I am away from the parish and have the luxury of a “homily holiday!”  But I thought I would reach into the trove of homilies past and post something, hopefully, food for thought.

I recently [2012] saw the movie Hunger Games and thought it was an interesting saga.  If you haven’t seen the movie, the general situation is this: as punishment for a long-ago revolt of the outlying districts against the central government, there is an annual spectacle called the Hunger Games in which a young adult man and women from each district are required to fight to the death, while the entire nation watches. Continue reading →

Act 4

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There are lots of ways to tell a story. Just start at the beginning and move ahead to the end. That’s one way. One you see used a lot in television is to show a scene where the protagonist is in mortal peril with the outcome uncertain. For example, the scene opens, Jesus is standing before Pontius Pilate and the crowds are shouting “crucify him, crucify him”, then Pilate washes his hands, and the screen fades to black with the on-screen title, “Five Days Earlier.” There are lots of ways to tell a story. Continue reading →

Footlocker Letters

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As we come to the end of our Lenten journey we begin to hear the echoes of Holy Week and the Passion of the Christ: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” It is hard to hear those words and not think of the coming passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. The One who came that we might have life and have it to the fullest. The One who even now, just like on the cross, has arms wide open to welcome and embrace us. The One whose heart is filled with love for us. The One who is love itself. Continue reading →

Your Chronicle’s Ending

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I think it is fair to say that I am a card-carrying, fully committed Bible nerd. If you are a regular reader of friarmusings.com then you have probably realized I write biblical commentaries for fun. I even know Bible dad-jokes! When God created Adam from the clay of the earth, what time of day was it? ….just a little before Eve. [groan…] Anyway… I have been at this for a while and it is only recently that I spent time with the Book of Chronicles.  I remember when I first encountered it my reaction was, “This is a repeat of the Book of Kings” … turn the page. My bad. Chronicles is a great book to read during the season of Lent. Continue reading →