26 Pentecost Canticle: (I Sam. 2: 1–10); I Samuel 1: 4–20; Hebrews 10: 11–25; Mark 13: 1–8 As Jesus came out of the Temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ Mark 13:1 Good People of St. James, these last weeks have been submerged in rhetoric, …

20 Pentecost Psalm 8; Genesis 2:18–24; Hebrew 1:1; 2:5–12; Mark 10:2–16 I begin my meditation this morning with an exclamation:  What an odd question!  I am referring to the question which the Pharisees (who were the intelligentsia, the scholars, the learned men of the community) put to Jesus.  And the question was, “Can a man …

14 Pentecost Psalm 84; I Kings 8:1, 6, 10–11, 22–20, 41–43; Ephesians 6:10–20; John 6:56–69 The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. John 6:63b A recent alumni magazine of my alma mater featured an interview with a freshly graduated young man who spoke about the power of words.  That did …

13 Pentecost Psalm 111; I Kings 2:10–12, 3:3–14; Ephesians 5:15–20; John 6:51–58 Giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 5:20 Our lectionary over these last four plus weeks has been unrelenting. Eating and drinking have held center stage, from the feeding …