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Sunday, Christmas 1
12/27/20
Special Deliveries
Matthew speaks to us of three special deliveries at that first Christmas: a message to Joseph, a baby, and humanity. The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves walks us through each to show us that “Jesus came to put things right between us and God. The Christmas story is a story of salvation.” Read now.
Sunday, Advent 4
12/20/20
Time
On the final Sunday in Advent in the context of a pandemic where many have felt time has stood still the Rev'd Mark Hargreaves studies the Psalmist's words on the fleeting nature of time. The Psalmist "helps us to understand our Now by locating it between the beginning of God's creation and the end of the coming of the kingdom ... And because of that, we can talk of time having meaning and purpose." Read now.
Sunday, Advent 3
12/13/20
Mary’s Example
Mary speaks to us on this “Rose” Sunday when our lives, not unlike hers, are paused, and waiting. The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves invites us into this waiting. and asks us to examine how Mary’s example may be speaking to us in this time of pandemic. Read now.
Sunday Advent 2
12/6/20
A Paradoxical Treasure?
Waiting for the pandemic to end is not like Advent waiting. The Rev'd Mark
Hargreaves takes the first epistle of Peter's discussion of Advent waiting
and asks us "When this pandemic is over, will we be satisfied with going
back to normal?" What will we have found about ourselves? Will the pandemic have somehow been a "paradoxical treasure"? Read now.
Sunday, Advent 1
11/29/20
Our Advent Mess
On this 1st Sunday in Advent the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves clarifies that we’re not in a period waiting for Christ’s first coming, we’re in a period waiting for his SECOND coming, and “The call on us is not to make ourselves neat and tidy to meet with God, it's to reflect on our lives, and to admit that we have sinned, that we've not followed God perfectly.” Read now.
Sunday, Christ the King, Last Sunday of Pentecost
11/22/20
Little Things Matter
On this Christ the King Sunday we hear in Matthew 25 how our King will make his judgments in the end times. The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves parses this challenging gospel reading and with a poignant personal anecdote shows us how “Little things matter because they matter to God.” Read now.
Sunday, Pentecost 24
11/15/20
Investing to Banish Fear
The parable of the three servants, their talents, and what they do with them can be seen as a study in fear, and how we might act under those circumstances. The Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo examines the real fears swirling around us today and challenges us to make the investments in love, peace, justice, service, generosity, and in others “and see what God will do to multiply it.” Read now.
Sunday, Pentecost 23
11/8/20
Showing up
Ten bridesmaids. Five left to get more oil, and missed out. Jesus’ parable talks on many levels about being ready, being prepared, but the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves takes it one step further: yes, those five bridesmaids should have been ready, but they need not have left. He suggests to us “…don't allow your fear or your sense of inadequacy to keep you away from the party.” Read now.
Sunday, All Saints Day
11/1/20
God’s Normal
On this All Saints Day The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves talks about how we wish for things to get back to normal, but then asks us to examine what we think of as normal, noting that in the Beatitudes we heard read this morning, Jesus’ normal seems far different than ours. He urges us to “…pause and reflect on what we think of as normal. And as we slowly return to the new normal, may that new normal be for us more closely aligned with God's normal.” Read now.
Sunday, Pentecost 21
10/25/20
Love is the Answer
What we have in our gospel reading today are two paragraphs centered around two questions, both of which have the same answer: love. The Rev’d Mark Hargreaves explores the answers to both those questions as he surveys this central tenet of our faith. Read now.
Sunday, Pentecost 20
10/18/20
Heart Giving
Kicking off stewardship season the Rev’d Mark Hargreaves reflects on the our uniquely suitable gospel reading about what is due Caesar. In the end he quotes one of our beloved Christmas hymns: “. . . If I were a wise man, I would do my part. But what I can I give him, give my heart." Read now.
Sunday, Pentecost 19
10/11/20
What to Wear?
The Rev’d Carlos Garcia, our Diocesan Latino Missioner and pastor of St. Philip the Apostle, Lemon Grove, guest preaches examining parallels between our pandemic upset lives and Jesus’ parable of the king’s wedding banquet gone wrong. Fr. Garcia tells us “what matters is what kind of relationship we have with Jesus at this moment,” and that will be the robe that lets us into
​the banquet or not. Read now.
Sunday, St. Francis Day
10/4/20
Sowing Peace
Matthew’s Gospel has Jesus assuring us that if we but learn from Him and take His yoke upon us, the burden will be light. On this St. Francis Day the Rev’d D. Rebecca Dinovo shows us how St. Francis, taking that yoke, was able to sow peace, and with our current perilous times in mind, she urges us to do likewise. Read now.