Mark 9:2-9 This week, I came across a social media post by a fellow priest that I cannot stop thinking about. It reads like this: “Noticing in this Sunday’s gospel lesson that Peter begins that time honored church tradition: Facing a terrifying existential threat (in this case the glory of the Lord) by proposing aContinue reading “Time Honored Traditions”
Author Archives: amcaudill27
A Day in the Life
Mark 1:29-39 There are some days when I feel especially grateful to the hundreds and thousands of people who contributed to the composition and preservation of the Scriptures. Today, as we read this passage from Mark, is one of those days. A lot of people over two thousand years and many continents made it possibleContinue reading “A Day in the Life”
Expansive Love
This sermon was preached on the Occasion of the baptism of twin boys, and speaks more to that momentous occasion than to any specific lections. The Propers for the day were Epiphany 2, Year B. While I was on my pilgrimage this past fall, the last site we visited was also my favorite. It wasContinue reading “Expansive Love”
The Fourth Birth Narrative
Mark 1:4-11 For a long time, I believed there was only one story of Jesus’s birth- the one with the small town and the manger and the angels and shepherds and wise men. Then I learned that there were two- one had the wise men, one didn’t. Then I studied the four Gospels for yearsContinue reading “The Fourth Birth Narrative”
The Perfect Fit
Isaiah 61:10-62:3 I had the great blessing of going home to Kentucky this week to see my family and celebrate Christmas with them. As so many of us have done over the last week, we exchanged and opened gifts together. We all received beautiful flannel shirts from our grandmother, and many of us were soContinue reading “The Perfect Fit”
The Good News
Luke 2:(1-7) 8-20 The theologian Frederick Buechner wrote that the Gospel is bad news before it is good news, and I wonder if the Holy Family would say amen to that. The good news of Jesus probably felt like bad news at first. The young woman is unmarried, and I doubt many people believed herContinue reading “The Good News”
Living Jubilee
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Today’s Isaiah passage might be familiar to some of you. Jesus read from this part of Isaiah in the synagogue of his hometown, then told all who were listening that this scripture had been fulfilled in their hearing. This particular passage was important enough that Jesus was run out of his hometownContinue reading “Living Jubilee”
Comfort That Lasts
Isaiah 40:1-11 Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Our world is crying out for comfort. So often when we seek comfort, we are not seeking the comfort Isaiah proclaims. We seek happiness, contentment, disruption of the unpleasant sensations and emotions that come with being human. We find distraction, fleeting pleasures to fill theContinue reading “Comfort That Lasts”
Honest Hope
Isaiah 64:1-9 In our first gathering for our Advent study this past Thursday (it’s not too late to join us!), I invited everyone to introduce themselves and share one thing about this time of year that they love, or that is special to them. People shared stories of childhood, of sacred time with their ownContinue reading “Honest Hope”
What To Do at the End of the World
Matthew 25:31-46 Lately, I’ve been having a lot of conversations about the end of the world. The pandemic, the once-in-a-generation cataclysms that are happening multiple times a year, the horrors of war and genocide all have us anxious, and grieving, and exhausted. A friend who lives and works in Jerusalem recently said to me “IContinue reading “What To Do at the End of the World”
Mother A Writes 