Church Year – SSJE

On Palm Sunday, there is one word we repeat again and again: the Aramaic word “Hosanna.” “Hosanna” means to “save us” and to “help us”: the very thing that Jesus promises us, and which we most need: to be saved and helped. Br. Curtis Almquist looks to Palm Sunday as both a call to discipleship and a reminder that Jesus is with us always, and we need not be afraid.

We keep needing to be saved from our limits, graced by expansion from power beyond. Br. Luke Ditewig invites us to expand our imagination and ask what is ours to do to accept the gift of God's love.

Advent proclaims a message of God’s coming judgment and calls us to heartfelt repentance that paves the way for the good news of Christmas. Br. David Vryhof urges us to hear John the Baptist's call to repentance this Advent.

Amid images that saturate us with and by oppression, Jesus is the good image, the image of the invisible God who rescues us. Jesus reigns through the cross holding our past, our present, all that breaks our hearts, and our future. Br. Luke Ditewig draws our attention to the reconciling reign of Jesus, who establishes for us an example of cultivating compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patien...

Br. Keith Nelson explores how the Church has remembered the death and celebrated the life of St. Mary, the mother of Jesus, teaching us something essential about our own journey into God.

On this Day of Pentecost, Br. James encourages us to learn the language of God and become a people of compassion, unity, and understanding.

Palm Sunday John 12:12-16, 20-33 This morning, we enter with Jesus in triumph into Jerusalem, a king coming to his city. This morning, we join with a great crowd, bearing palm branches, shouting “Hosanna”—crying in jubilation and praise to our savior. This morning, too, we hear from Jesus that this triumph is only the beginning,…

"In this season of Advent, let us turn from the 'if only' to the 'even so,' embracing repentance and trusting in God’s promise: 'my salvation shall not tarry.'” Explore more in this thoughtful sermon from Br. Lain.

“We hold up today in prayer all those who have gone before us into God’s embrace, all those who hold us in prayer with God. They are with us still, part of our own vital rhythms, helping us to mark time in our earthly pilgrimage. We see their light, and it runs through us now, “like sparks through the stubble,” and we shine.” On All Souls Day, Br. Lain Wilson holds up all those, known only to us a...

“The quiet, calm purpose of Jesus is sealed by the confidence of his final words: “It is finished.” It is finished with great suffering, and with great love. It is completed, whole, and offered up in glory. With him, at long last, we exhale and are drawn to our knees – not in defeat, but in awe. There is nothing more for us to do, but ask for the spirit of Jesus to aid us as we make a fresh return...