St. John’s Park Slope

It’s the 1st century. You’re a woman, a Gentile, and you’re begging a Jewish man to heal your demon-possessed child. By every standard, you’re an outsider. Yet this Jesus, who just declared all foods clean, goes further still—he makes the ‘unworthy’ worthy...

Jesus sees through the highly edited versions of ourselves and loves us anyway. No matter what lurks underneath, He draws near to heal our hearts.

Like the crowds, I don’t easily ‘abide.’ When I’m refused the quick fix or the easy victory, I scatter like the Twelve on their darkest day. But God is faithful even on our worst day. He’s moving toward us, even when we don’t stay

"If God chose to lay down his life rather than break his promise, how much more will he stay true to you and me now that the hardest work is done?"

C.S. Lewis and Rick Rubin share a similar truth: Lewis didn’t decide to follow Jesus—he was decided upon. Rubin’s creativity didn’t come from within—it came from without. Both reveal that “God’s compulsion is our liberation...”

Like the crowds following Jesus, I often seek the sign rather than what it’s pointing to. I’m fixated on loaves and fishes when the “bread of life” is right in front of me. Thankfully, Christ intervenes with “living water”—sustenance that will not perish but “springs to eternal life.”

Rev. Ben is back from vacation (and camp counseling) to continue unpacking the juxtaposition between the rule of Herod, Pilate, and Caesar and Jesus: "The Gospels juxtapose two uses of power: For Herod, Pilate, and Caesar, the ends justify the means. For Jesus, the means justify the ends."

Rev. Ben gave this sermon at St. Andrew’s-by-the-Sea in Saltaire (Fire Island) while on vacation

Brother John Castaldo from the Franciscan Community of Compassion gave the good word this morning!

“Unlike Herod and Pilate, our king would rather lose face than lose us. His reign is defined not by greed and fear, but by mercy and sacrifice.”

In Christ, you and I have been given a new family. We’ve been grafted into a bond thicker than blood. Our primary allegiance is no longer to our country, tribe, or even our family, but to Christ, our brother and Lord.

The hemorrhaging woman waited 12 years, Jairus stood by for what must have felt like an eternity, and you and I may wonder if Christ still heals, but the truth of the old spiritual remains, ‘God may not come when you call him, but he’ll be there right on time!’

“In the midst of the noise of all the storms we face, I hope that we can listen for that “still, small voice” that says to the powers that swamp our boats, “Silence. Be still.” -Canon Kris Viera Coleman Find a manuscript of the sermon below: https://open.substack.com/pub/spiritualimagination/p/catching-a-light-breeze-with-st-therese?r=4919w&utm_medium=ios

Listen to Rev. Ben’s sermon on Jesus’ parables about seeds (and the kingdom of God) wherever you get your podcasts. Here’s a teaser: “God’s kingdom is pure gift. he empowers us to sow seeds, but we can do nothing to manipulate or cajole its growth. What a relief!”

There’s a “Bennifer” in all of us: a yin and a yang. A J Lo who’d meditate and practice yoga every morning, and a Ben Affleck who’d prefer to sleep in and start the day by crushing a Marlboro Light. This is why we pray not just to “think the things that are right” but for the power to actually do them.

Jesus, the Lord of the sabbath, instituted the sabbath. And he says the sabbath is for us, not us for the sabbath…

The reason it’s so important that Jesus is one in being with the Father is that he’s more than just the best of us. His life and work not only show something but effect something…

Pentecost is the reversal of Babel. On this day, the 'dividing wall of hostility' was torn down, and the 'ministry of reconciliation' began…

In the Incarnation, the eternal divinity of God the Son is enfolded in our humanity; in the Ascension, our humanity is enfolded in his divinity, so that Christ’s destiny is our destiny.

"Self-giving love has never been about getting walked over. It necessarily involves agency. It includes willingly laying your life down for you enemies and turning over tables on behalf of the lowly...."

If you’re ever worried about whether or not you ‘abide’ in the ‘vine,’ don’t forget: the imperative is rooted in the indicative. We can ‘abide in God’ because we ‘have already been cleansed." "...and even when you don’t, remember that God leaves vineyards for prodigals.”

The Good Shepherd has every justification to leave us, yet while ‘All we like sheep have gone astray…’ Christ neither abandons nor betrays. He lays down his life to save…

...The more I tell myself the story that I’m better than other people, more evolved than other people, more on the right side of history than other people, a distance grows not just between me and those people but between me and God...

Jesus' word to doubters isn't you failed the test, but "Peace be with you."

It's more than an example. It's a picture of the Cross. #maundythursday