Month: July 2007

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The Teacher’s Prayer

Fr. Scott Russell

Lord’s Prayer edit A sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost(Colossians 2: 6-19; Luke 11:1-13) It was in the basement of a small church in Munich that she saw him.  He was balding, heavy-set.  He clutched his brown felt hat between his hands.  The year was 1947 and Corrie ten Boom had been giving a talk on the recent war and its aftermath. As the man waited his turn with the others that had gone forward after her talk to speak with Ms. Ten Boom, Corrie struggled to recollect his face.  Where had she known him?  All at once it … Continue reading The Teacher’s Prayer

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Martha serves while Mary waits

Fr. Scott Russell

07 22 07 Martha and Mary A sermon for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost  (Amos 8:1-12; Luke 10: 38-42) I cannot resist kitsch, good kitsch.  Last month when I was at a provincial conference in Rehoboth, Delaware, I came across a store that is devoted to, you guessed it, kitsch.  It is packed, floor to ceiling with tacky little souvenir items, but also with nostalgia.  There were a few things I couldn’t resist – a toast stamper that will emboss an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on every slice, and, from the makers of Nunzilla (the little wind up … Continue reading Martha serves while Mary waits

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The Kindness of Not-my-Neighbor

Fr. Scott Russell

07 15 07 Good Samaritan a sermon for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 10 C: Amos 7:1-17; Luke 10:25-37) I am a fan of Robert Frost.  “Whose woods these are I think I know.”  “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.”  “I have been one acquainted with the night” – all “touchstone” poems in my formative years.  One of my favorites is simply called, “Mending Wall.” The narrator meditates on fences and neighbors, the desire in us to build fences, “Good fences make good neighbors,” but also the mischief in us to break them down, “Something there is that … Continue reading The Kindness of Not-my-Neighbor