Still Listening

Letters on loss, healing, and the mystery of being alive —
from deep in the woods.

Tag: Jesus

  • All the Saints who did not despair. John 11:1-45 All Saints Day

    John 11:1-45 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is…

  • Open your ears before you speak – Ordinary 23 B

    Mark 7:24-37 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down…

  • A Cleansing Ritual for Preachers

    Mark 7:1-23 7Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the…

  • Jesus the Janitor? John 6:24-35 – Ordinary 18B

    John 6:24-35 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I…

  • Ballast from Bethany-AscensionB

    Luke 24:44-53 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it…

  • Hosanna! Save us from Self-Interest! Palm Sunday-B

    Mark 11:1-11 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring…

  • Hooking up with Jesus

    (I only have cell phone connectivity here on retreat so this comes from my Blackberry with minimal formatting) Mark 1:14-20 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good…

  • Were those camel riders “Wise Guys”?

    (I am captivated by and participating in the beauty of Port Alfred in this Christ Mass week and so too lazy to write a full Blog) Here is my micro sketch of my sermon for Epiphany this Sunday. I have been contemplating how the Magi contrast with the rash of arrogant religious Wise Guys out…

  • Who put the “i” in Surprise? – Advent 1b

    Mark 13:24-37 “But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.…

  • Are you ready to risk? Ordinary 33a

    Matthew 25:14-30 “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at…