Sermons
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Sermon Proper 16A - August 21 2011.pdf
In this homily, the rector discusses the contrasting ideas of authority of constraint and authority of appeal. Ultimately, the keys of the Kingdom are all different forms of love.
Sermon Proper 17A - August 28 2011.pdfThere are 3 kinds of congregations: inwardly-focused, externally-focused and balanced. Christian communities that are balanced both nurture the interior spiritual life AND express that life through courageous action in the world.
Sermon Proper 18A - Sept 4 2011.pdf
This homily invites us to make a commitment to building a healthy community. If we are to achieve a meaningful, supportive, safe and authentic community - a place of belonging - we must be willing to invest the necessary skills, time and energy.
Sermon Proper 19A - Sept 11 2011.pdf
This homily invites us to choose forgiveness over revenge and then outlines four steps toward forgiveness.
Sermon Proper 20A - Sept 18 2011.pdf
This sermon tackles the “religion of money” and its embedded nature in our minds and lives.
Sermon Proper 21A - Sept 25 2011.pdf
This is the first of a two-part series in which we ask ourselves how to best read and interpret the Bible. The rector describes the two ends of the religious authority (Bible interpretation) continuum: “the Church of the Words of the Bible, a.k.a., the Church of the Sacred Objectification” and “the Church of I Can NOT Believe or Stomach Any of This Any More.”
Sermon for Proper 22A - Oct 2 2011.pdf
This homily offers the suggestion that we can keep both mind & heart together as we interpret the Bible by granting ourselves permission to apply the same methods of scholarship to the study of the Bible as those used in all other areas study: physics, literature, biology and philosophy. The sermon closes with an invitation to read the Bible with a “second naivete.”
Sermon Proper 23A - Oct 9 2011.pdf
This homily offers three separate interpretations of the parable of the wedding banquet found in Matthew 22.
Sermon Proper 24A - October 16 2011.pdf
In this homily, the rector argues that our demand for certainty about God & the details of God works against the heart of Jesus’ spirituality, a spirituality of love, mystery, trust and the celebration of adventure.
Sermon Proper 25A - October 23 2011.pdf
In this homily, the rector recommends that we develop a sacred community into which people are first given assurance of belonging followed by an invitation to full participation. After, and only after these first two have been accomplished, will we expect people to work out their own answers to the questions of the nature of God & the spiritual life. The order is not belief first, behavior second and belonging third, but belonging first, participation second and working out one’s beliefs third.
This homily suggests that personal growth & maturity are not possible with taking some risks in life. If our parish community is to continue to grow in faith & mission, we ALL have to take the risk of increasing our level of giving. If we play it safe, we lose.
Sermon - Last Sunday of Pentecost A - Nov. 20 2011.pdf
In this sermon, the rector notes that the consistent practice of compassion is a discipline at the heart of faith. We are called to act as healer in a world full of suffering and we heal through compassion.
Sermon Advent 3B - December 11 2011.pdf
This sermon invites us into the idiotic and irresponsible actions of peacemaking, nonviolent confrontation of evil and working toward a just and equitable economic system for all. Such behavior is inspired by “The Song of Mary.”
Sermon for Christmas Eve 2011.pdf
This Christmas Eve homily invites us to think of Christmas as about God’s decision to expand God’s family and our invitation to do the same....even if it costs us something.
In this homily, the Assistant Rector discusses the power in a name. Claudia+ invites all of us to take the name “Christian” seriously by committing ourselves to worship & other spiritual practices. Through such efforts, we honor the Christ within and become more like him.
Baptism as an Act of Love - January 8 2012.pdf
In this homily, the rector suggests both a rethinking of the central idea of the Christian tradition as well as a possible reinterpretation of the meaning of baptism.
Sermon Epiphany 2B - Jan 15 2012.pdf
In this homily, the rector examines the gift of the ability to hear the voice of the Sacred.
Sermon Epiphany 4B - January 29 2012.pdf
In this sermon, the rector links modern question of authority to the shift that took place in the past 400 years in the way we answer the question: “How do you know that is true?”
Sermon Epiphany 6B - Feb 12 2012.pdf
The homily for Feb. 12th is about the key ingredient to healing & restoration, humility.
Sermon Epiphany 7A - Feb 20 2011 .pdf
Take no thought of revenge, go the extra mile and love your enemies; these are the topics of this homily. We continue to examine the vision of a new human community articulated by Jesus in his teachings.
Sermon Epiphany 8A - Feb 27 2011.pdf
In this sermon, the rector invites us to think about the spiritual origin of much or most of the anxiety and worry we carry within us day to day. He then reflects on Jesus’ invitation to take a different path.
Sermon Last Sunday of Epiphany A - March 6 2011.pdf
In this homily, the Rev. Claudia Giacoma discusses the “via media” of personal transformation; the path between waiting for God to transform us without any engagement of our own versus the idea that it’s all up to us to do it on our own.
Sermon for Lent 1A - March 13 2011.pdf
The rector discusses three problems with the traditional idea of “sin” and suggests that God is much more interested in our capacity for love and our potential to make the world a better place than our failure to perfectly obey all of the rules.
Sermon for Lent 2A - March 20 2011.pdf
In this homily, the rector invites us to think of Abraham as someone who powerfully pointed to the relational nature of faith in God through the way he lived & chose. Faith in not propositional; it is about trusting someone.
Sermon Lent 3A- March 27 2011.pdf
In this homily, the rector argues that it is our interior places of pain and perceived weakness and shame that provide the best tools for our work to bring healing and hope to others.
Sermon for Lent 4A - April 3 2011.pdf
In this sermon, the rector suggests that all truth is God’s truth. It is the passionate, ongoing human quest for new knowledge and understanding that is our best hope out of blindness.
Sermon Lent 5A - April 10 2011.pdf
In this homily, the rector challenges the idea that miracles are to be linked with the existence of God and/or faith in God. “Miracles” may have been misused and misinterpreted by the religious community.
Sermon Easter Sunday Yr A - April 24 2011 - Full Text.pdf
This is the Easter sermon. The main idea is that the stories of the resurrection of Jesus are intended to point toward the possibility of a new consciousness, a new way of thinking and seeing. The mind of death is contrasted with the renewal of mind. The question is asked: “Are we ready to take Jesus by the hand and walk with him out of the tomb?”
Year A 2nd Sun in Easter May 1, 2011.pages.zip
In this homily, the Rev. Claudia Giacoma uses a painting by Carravaggio to talk about Thomas’ response to the post-resurrected Jesus. “It seems to me what Thomas experienced was what we call today ‘a paradigm shift.....’”
Sermon Easter 3A - May 8 2011.pdf
In this sermon, Claudia+ invites us into a reflection upon another painting by Carravaggio; this one about Jesus’ supper at Emmaus.
Sermon for Easter 4A - May 15 2011.pdf
In this homily, the rector addresses three approaches to the universal experience of suffering: that of the atheist existentialist Albert Camus, another from the Buddhist tradition, and finally a response flowing from our communion with the God of Jesus.
Sermon Easter 5A - May 22 2011.pdf
In this sermon, Charles+ offers an alternative interpretation of “I am the way, the truth and the life......” as he urges the religious community to adopt a spirit of humility.
Sermon for Memorial Day - May 29 2011.pdf
In this homily, the rector uses the concept of memory in the Holy Eucharist to think about why we celebrate Eucharist often and to connect it to the importance of remembering all who have given their lives for our country.
Sermon Easter 7A - June 5 2011.pdf
This sermon, entitled “The Revelation of God in Love and Courage,” is a reflection on Jesus’ prayer in John 17 and the ways in which Jesus revealed the reality and character of God on our behalf.
Sermon Pentecost Yr A - June 12 2011.pdf
In this sermon, the rector makes the case for connecting the Church’s mission with a commitment to deepening our love for and trust in God through a commitment to the practice of Christian stewardship.
Sermon Proper 9A - July 3 2011.pdf
The sermon challenges us to think seriously about the sin of omission, that is, the avoidance or refusal to do the good we could and should do. Reference is made to the scientific community’s resistance to doing the good and necessary work of moral & ethical reflection prior to acting, inventing and building.
Sermon Proper 10A - July 10 2011.pdf
This homily deals with the subject of the vision and mission of the Church, the task of planting seeds. It was written to launch the parish preparation process for Wine, Wishes and Wisdom II this fall.
Sermon Proper 15A - August 14 2011.pdf
In this homily, the rector notes the Scripture’s invitation to avoid succumbing to the politics of division and enmity and, instead, to live into the compassion and hospitality of the Christ.