Sermons by Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall (Page 19)
Longing for Healing
Photo by Danna Joy Images. Newborn Monarch at St Benedict’s On Thursday we started a six week class[1] focusing on Thomas Merton who was a Trappist monk and priest. Merton wrote over 70 books, mostly on spirituality, social justice and pacifism. This year is the fiftieth anniversary of his death and so it seems appropriate in this Season of Creation to look at his ideas about creation. In 1964, Merton wrote, “We live on a planet which has reached the point of extreme hazard…
Eating Jesus
Today we complete our five week study of Jesus as the Bread of Life and the gospel reading tells us that we are not the only ones who struggle with this – the disciples also found it difficult. In fact, some who were following him turned away. Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” We hear this same language when Jesus talks about himself as the true vine. And…
Eat Me!
Photo By Kate Remmer on Unsplash Ephesians 4:1-16 John 6:24-35 I think I was in my first year at seminary when I preached my first sermon at St. Benedict’s. It was on some part of this passage in John about eating the true bread. I had worked hard on trying to explain what Jesus was saying and thought I did a pretty good job. Afterwards, Bob Pelfrey came up to me and said some nice things about the sermon, and…
It is I: be not afraid
Photo by Brian Cook on Unsplash John 6:1-21 I really don’t like being hungry. I’ll do a lot to avoid even the possibility of hunger. And I don’t like to think of those I love being hungry. In today’s gospel reading, I’d be the one who made sure that my kid had plenty of food with him when he went off to follow the great teacher and healer. All four gospels contain this story; the story of the 5000 hungry people. But today…
The Mind of Christ
Ephesians 1:3-14 Mark 6:14-29 The beheading of John the Baptist has been a powerful image in the minds of artists through the ages. And not surprisingly. Here the death of the one who was speaking truth to power is literally served up on a plate. This must have been a deep sadness to Jesus, as well as an omen of how his life was likely to end. He and John were cousins, probably brought up together and John’s imprisonment was…
The Reign of God – here and now
2 Corinthians 12:2-10 Mark 6:1-13 A few months ago, I was visiting my cousin while she was having tile laid. When I was chatting with the tile guy he told me that he was the pastor of a local church and had started the community food distribution. I had to adjust my perception and no longer see him as just a tile guy but as a rounded human being with special gifts beyond laying tile In today’s gospel reading, Jesus…
Families Belong Together – Talk at Rally
Thank you for coming out this morning! We are here because we do care. We are here because our hearts are breaking at the injustice and cruelty that we see on our border. We are here because we know that families belong together. People of faith from all the great religious traditions agree that human connectedness, human compassion and caring are at the center of spiritual life, are at the center of a system of equality and justice; and where…
David’s Grief
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27 Psalm 130 I don’t like the feeling of grief. I’d much rather move on and think about positive things. Yet there is much to grieve. On a personal level I am still grieving the loss of Dr. Jean, and the loss of a close friendship that suddenly changed its form a year ago; on a societal level I grieve the inhumane treatment of immigrants in our cities and on our borders, and on the macro-level, I…
God’s Hope in Suicide
This week we heard of two prominent people who committed suicide. Two people who seemed to be at the peak of very successful careers. And CDC issued a report showing that between 1999 and 2006 the national suicide rate jumped by 30%, making suicide the 10th leading cause of death. So this morning I think we should spend some time thinking together about suicide. According to the CDC report the problems most frequently associated with suicide, are strained relationships; life…
Hearing God’s Call
I have often wished that I could hear the voice of God as clearly as Samuel did in the first reading this morning. It’s worth noting where he was when he heard God – he was in the temple, where the ark of God was. For the Hebrew people, the ark of the covenant was the resting place of God, the Holy of Holies. Samuel was physically in the presence of God. Our contemporary understanding of God is that God…