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Sermons: 2007
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
December 23, 2007
I am pleased to present to you this morning one of the undersung
heroes of our common story; one of a long line of noble persons who, if
he were an actor today, would easily win the Oscar for “Best Actor in a
Supporting Role.” I present to you Joseph: son of Jacob, husband of
Mary, father of Jesus.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
November 11, 2007
I read a poignant story this week about a woman whose elderly
father cam to speak to her about his inevitable death. Gently, he told
her that he had decided to be buried beside the beloved wife with whom
he had spent the past ten years—his daughter’s stepmother. This, of
course, meant that he would not be buried beside her mother, and he
wanted to know how she would feel about that. Luckily, they were meeting
at a favorite diner, over coffee, and the woman made some reference to
the coffee’s quality and to their history of meeting there to give
herself time to ponder this unexpected intention.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik,
October 28, 2007
The wind and the
wildfires in southern California have died down for now. Hundreds of
thousands of people in San Diego and Los Angeles were evacuated from
their homes this week. Now they have largely returned, though there are
still fires in isolated areas. When the fires started last Sunday in
Malibu, I was reminded vividly of a conference I attended 15 years ago
at a Franciscan Retreat Center in Malibu Canyon. The Franciscans built
an attractive monastery in a remarkable place: on a butte, or promontory
of land set in the middle of the canyon with views of the Pacific Ocean
a mile or two off to the south, and Pepperdine University on a ridge to
the west. In the valley below the Franciscan Center, circling it on
every side, were the expensive homes of Hollywood luminaries.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik,
October 21, 2007
Dr. Reginald Fuller, my
professor of New Testament at Virginia Seminary, died earlier this year.
He was a notable figure in the world of biblical scholarship, and of
course important to me in my development as a Christian and a priest.
Dr. Fuller was British, small and slight in stature, and always dressed
in a tweed jacket and tie. He and his wife Ilse, who was German, were
known for walking their little dog, Philo, around the seminary campus.
He took particular joy in noting the bumper stickers on students’ cars.
One he liked had the message, “Read the Bible. It’ll scare the hell out
of you.”
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
October 14, 2007
Have you ever, in the normal course of a day, had an “aha” moment
like this: maybe you’re on the sideline of the soccer field on a crisp
and sunny fall afternoon, or your hands are sunk in a sink of soapy
dishes where you hear the warm laughter of your family in the next room,
maybe you are walking rapidly to the train on a Friday afternoon, the
weekend invitingly before you… have you ever experienced one of those
fleeting moments when you are sharply aware that you are just fine and,
more than that, blessed with abundance?
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik,
September 23, 2007
An old member of Calvary
once told me that having a Labrador retriever is like living with a
stomach with four legs. She told me that as I got my first Labrador. Now
I have two. And she was right. My dogs were bred for good temperament,
and I think they are well trained and well behaved. But sometimes that
stomach just gets the better of them — say, on a walk in the woods or
wandering around the yard — and there’s not much I can do but shout from
a distance when they go after something taboo. This time of year acorns
are a problem, a no-no for doggies, but they nibble them anyway. Or else
it’s the banana peel or chicken bone found on the ground — I yell, “No!”
but their tummies tell them to go ahead.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
September 16, 2007
So, my questions for this morning is “Which
is it? Is God this angry, vengeful overlord who heaps devastation and
desolation upon us because we cannot help but turn away and follow other
gods? Or is God the one who loves us so much that he simply cannot let
go; WILL NOT let go of a single one of us, no matter how far we may
stray. Does God throw up his arms and rain down destruction at our
faithlessness ….or does God bow down, come down… become one of
us, to collect us from the darkness that separates us from him?
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik,
September 9, 2007
John Kenneth Galbraith,
the gifted economist of the mid-20th century, left an imprint
on thinking in economics and public policy that looms large today. But
Galbraith’s range of inquiry was so broad, his stamp was placed on other
disciplines as well, on language, for example. Fifty years ago, in
writing The Affluent Society, he coined the term “conventional
wisdom,” a lasting contribution to post-modern discourse. For Galbraith,
conventional wisdom was not a compliment. He wrote, “We associate truth
with convenience, with what most closely accords with self-interest and
personal well-being, or promises best to avoid awkward effort or
unwelcome dislocation of life. We also find highly acceptable what
contributes most to self-esteem.” This is conventional wisdom, what one
admirer of Galbraith called whatever is “simple, convenient,
comfortable, and comforting — though not necessarily true.” Galbraith
was speaking of economic thought, of course. But what he wrote applies,
I think, more broadly to human experience.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
September 2, 2007
What do you think of yourself? Seriously,
how do you measure up in your own eyes? Are you intelligent? Kind? Do
you think of yourself as particularly generous? Empathetic or
understanding? By your own standards, do you consider yourself a good
person? Would you call yourself faithful, devoted, loyal, honorable…or
capricious, fickle, and vain? Are you never good enough, thin enough,
smart enough or young enough?
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
August 19, 2007
Those of you who are gardeners, as I am, are
familiar with the horticultural practice of division. When a perennial
plant has grown and multiplied itself over the years there comes a time
when it needs to be uprooted and divided in order to encourage new
growth. Years ago, when Matty and I moved to the farm, I was presented
with a number of long-neglected garden plants that needed just such
treatment. I remember, in particular, a massive clump of irises, their
tubers so thickly intertwined that they were literally strangling
themselves.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
August 5, 2007
This morning, George Hayman, our Parish
Administrator, has presented us with a rather strange image on the front
of our bulletin. From time to time, he likes to sneak some humor or
whimsy into our sometimes staid weekly practices. You have before you a
caricature of William Connor Magee, Bishop of Petersborough and later
(briefly) Archbishop of York in the late 19th century. George
found this image in his Google search around the word, “vanity” and you
can just make out the title of the magazine in which it appeared:
“Vanity Fair.”
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
July 29, 2007
The great 18th century writer
Samuel Johnson once said, “Great works are not accomplished by strength
but by persistence.” That is what I invite all of us to ponder
today—persistence, and particularly persistence in prayer. Some of you
may have seen a recent film called “Amazing Grace.” It is the story of
William Wilberforce, 19th century Member of Parliament in
England who, by the way, we remember in our church calendar
tomorrow—July 30th. William Wilberforce championed the cause
against the British slave trade.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
July 22, 2007
I have a dear friend for whom the story of Martha and Mary raises
hackles. I don’t think she is alone in having a decided reaction to this
story, for it does convey a seeming lack of regard for Martha’s service;
at the very least, a mixed message about how we are to respond
appropriately to Jesus in our midst. Indeed, one of the notes in my
study Bible reads, “Interpreters find in the story of Martha and Mary
conflicting messages on service and listening.”
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik,
July 8, 2007
“First, do no harm.”
Most of us recognize that phrase as the opening line of the Hippocratic
Oath, the ethical statement that physicians vow to uphold when they go
through the ceremony granting them the authority to practice medicine.
“First, do no harm.” Even if we don’t know anything more about the
Hippocratic Oath (and most of us don’t), that initial statement is
enough to give us confidence when we place our lives, literally, into
the hands of medical practitioners — confidence we will be treated well.
Such confidence, shared by the public, gives the medical profession high
standing in our society, a recognized reputation for intelligence,
educational achievement, and humanitarian dedication.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik,
July 1, 2007
One or two times a week
I like to leave the TV on after the late news and weather to watch a few
minutes of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Sometimes Jay does a funny
thing called “Jay-walking,” where he walks out on the street with a
microphone and asks passersby simple questions, easy ones, really. But
often people cannot answer them, or at least they pretend they can’t.
This week he asked about our nation’s birthday: What holiday is coming
up? One woman answered, “The Fourth of July.” What does it celebrate?
“July fourth,” she said. But why, what does that mean? “Oh,” she
answered, “Independence.” Independence from whom? A long pause. Then she
said, “America?”
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik,
June 24, 2007
Events this week
reminded me of another week in June, about a dozen years ago, also the
last week of school. Son Ben was finishing the fourth grade. On the
final half-day of classes, I picked him up around noon. Exiting the
school parking lot Ben leaned the upper part of his body out through the
open window (until I told him to sit down and put on his seat-belt),
shouting, “I’m free! I’m free!” His friends on the sidewalk yelled back,
“I’m free! I’m free!” We drove home, got out of the car, and I puttered
around the garage waiting for lunch. About 15 minutes later — 15
minutes! — Ben appeared at the door of the garage and declared, “I’m
bored.”
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
June 17, 2007
It is the season of school yearbooks, and I remember a popular
feature of mine—one that was eagerly anticipated by the whole senior
class. It was the “personality poll,” a somewhat tongue-in-cheek
collection of “awards,” naming people by a dominant quality of theirs.
(the teens tell me it’s called “Senior Superlatives” in the Summit High
School yearbook.) I’m sure many of you remember something like this,
with categories such as “chatterbox,” “friendliest,” or “class clowns.”
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, June 10
2007
Names are important; we value people with the gift of remembering names;
and the naming of things — persons and places — is one of the
distinctive habits of humanity, well attested in history and literature,
including the Bible. Giving something a name establishes a relationship
with that something, and gives personality to that relationship. For
instance, the baptisms we perform today are the direct descendants of
ancient naming ceremonies. For generations parents have celebrated the
naming of their newborn children.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
Trinity Sunday, June 3, 2007
In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Or, in the
name of God the Creator, God the Redeemer, and God the giver of life…Or,
God of love, Prince of Peace, Spirit of life…Or, in the words of the New
Zealand Prayer Book: Love-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver… Today is
Trinity Sunday, the day in our liturgical year when we acknowledge the
triune God.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik,
Day of
Pentecost, May 27,
2007
One theme about Pentecost we all remember:
It is regarded as the birthday of the Church. So let me begin this
morning by wishing you the greetings of the day: “Happy birthday, dear
Christians, happy birthday to you!” Like all birthdays Pentecost has an
exchange of presents. Most of these gifts come from God to the Church.
But in one case the Church presents a gift to the world. Let me explain
by tracking down some of the interesting details of the story of
Pentecost recorded by St. Luke in the second chapter of the Acts of the
Apostles. more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
May 20, 2007
There is an
old and probably overused story about a little boy who was walking along
a beach littered with starfish. The tide had carried the delicate
creatures to shore where they were stranded, just out of reach of the
water they needed to live; and so the boy begins to pick up the
starfish, one by one, and throw them back into the sea.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik,
May 6, 2007
Sometime during the last year I passed a
personal milestone, having now lived in Summit longer than any other
place in my life. However, I have spent more years of my life in total
living within the borders of Virginia, the Old Dominion. That’s a matter
of some pride this week as the nation celebrates the 400th
anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown colony, the first permanent
English settlement in North America. One thing I share with most
Virginians is a love of history, and we could certainly indulge our
passion recently. For Virginians know well the history of Jamestown, and
believe it should occupy as important place in the national
consciousness as the landing at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts. Because
Jamestown was first. more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik,
April 29, 2007
At a Bible study earlier this week someone
said the rural, agricultural metaphors used in the Scriptures don’t
always make sense to us anymore. Here in suburbia, he said, we are so
distant from the life of a farmer that we hardly know what it means to
harvest wheat or herd sheep. I’m not so sure. Even in the city people
are aware of the cycle of life of growing things and appreciate the
blossoms of spring. more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
April 22, 2007
We keep killing each other. It’s one thing that we human beings do
consistently…since the time of brothers Cain and Abel, we have taken
each other’s lives. We kill each other because we are afraid, or because
we disagree; because we want something that someone else has; because we
are alienated, outcast, and angry; hurt, sick, demented.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
April 15, 2007
Here, once more, is the classic tale of Thomas, the one who gives
us permission to doubt and reminds us of Jesus’ longing for us to know
him and to trust him. Today, however, I’d like to focus not on Thomas
but on Jesus and, in particular, what it was that made the risen Christ
recognizable to his closest friends.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik,
Easter Day,
April 8, 2007
Happy Easter everyone! Christ is risen
indeed, and we are glad indeed to gather and to celebrate the power of
Resurrection on this Easter morning. It’s unusually cool for Easter,
perhaps even colder than Christmas. Yet we hope, through our prayers and
music this morning, to create in our celebration the warmth we associate
with the new birth of spring.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik,
March 25, 2007
Let me talk this morning
about several articles in the newspapers this past week. Whenever the
Episcopal Church is the object of journalism, when the news is
about the Episcopal Church rather than how the Episcopal
Church is responding in ministry to the news (of some disaster or
crisis), people get concerned and wonder what’s happening. They’re asked
by their friends what’s going on in their Church. They ask themselves
what to tell their families. Some P.R. person once said that no
publicity is ever bad. But I’m not sure our people really believe that.
When they read an article in the paper about their Church, at least they
wonder and sometimes they get concerned.
more
The Rev.
Robert Corin Morris, March 18,
2007
A Tale
of Two Brothers and the Gospel Call to Adulthood
Summary of a Sermon
preached by The Rev. Robert Corin Morris
at Calvary Episcopal
Church, Summit, NJ
on the Third Sunday in
Lent, March 18, 2007
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, March 11, 2007
Listeners of a certain age will remember these words: “Crest has been
shown to be an effective decay-preventive dentifrice that can be of
significant value when used in a conscientiously applied program of
daily use and regular professional care.” Remember that? If you were
watching TV in the 1960’s, you probably could repeat it from memory,
without having to look at the box. Crest was the first toothpaste to
receive approval from the Council on Dental Therapeutics of the American
Dental Association. It was heavily advertised. Suburban moms, like my
own, rushed out to buy in great quantities the pale blue toothpaste,
replacing the white Colgate that had formerly occupied their medicine
cabinets.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
Ash Wednesday,
February 21, 2007
Today we are invited to the observance of a Holy Lent. Nowhere else
in our liturgical tradition is there a clearer call to participation in
our common life in Christ. No such words issue in the season of Advent.
There is no declaration of intention at the start of Epiphany or on the
Feast of Pentecost. Lent, like no other time in our church year, draws us
into intentional holy living.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, February 18,
2007
Ladies and
gentlemen! Members of the press! And the radio and television
audience! I am proud to announce today the formation of an exploratory
committee to explore my candidacy for President of the United States!
Though I am not yet officially announcing that I am running for the
nomination, this exploratory committee will help me raise money as I run
without officially announcing whether I have decided to run. Therefore,
following the services today, I will embark on a “listening tour” to
Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, listening to the American people
tell me what I want to hear: that I should officially announce I am
running.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, February 4,
2007
Well, it’s Super Bowl Sunday in the US of A today, the weekend of the
year when even the amateur fan reads the sports pages and becomes a
football expert. Drive around Summit later this afternoon — once the
last minute dash to the store for more chip and dip is over — and you’ll
notice very little activity — an uncommon quiet in the streets even for
a Sunday afternoon — as people settle down before their TV’s to watch
the big game. I sat next to Bishop Counsell of New Jersey the other
night at a dinner. He remembers the same statistic I do for the Super
Bowl from a couple of years ago. On the day after the game the NFL
loves to boast about the size of its TV audience, which usually sets a
record. Back in the ’90’s, when I first heard the stat, that figure for
the Super Bowl (the biggest day of the year in football) was 150 million
viewers. But on that same day, an ordinary Sunday for Christianity,
attendance at worship was almost the same: 135 million
more
The Rev.
Robert Corin Morris, January 28,
2007
God’s Call in Our
Time—Yours and Mine
A written, and amplified,
version of the sermon preached by The Rev. Robert Corin Morris at
Calvary Episcopal Church
on the Fourth Sunday After
Epiphany, January 28, 2007
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
January 21, 2007
“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” Jesus
declared to his listeners. Faithful Jews were gathered in the synagogue to
hear the teachings of their faith. The words Jesus read were from the
great prophet Isaiah, who had lived some 500 years before that moment;
words that called out from a time of exile and oppression; words that
promised healing and restoration. Jesus reached back into the long story
of his people to define himself and his mission: he set himself squarely
in line with God’s loving intention for creation and named himself the
fulfillment of that loving intention.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, January 14,
2007
Twice in my life I’ve
taken on the discipline of flying lessons, of learning to fly a small
private plane — once when I was a teenager, and again, when I turned 40.
In both cases the expense of lessons and planes prevented me from
getting a private pilot’s license. But of course I enjoyed the
experience: the romance associated with the freedom of the open skies,
the appeal of mastering the controls of a fine piece of machinery, the
sense of adventure, the risk. And, of course, going through ground
school, I learned a lot of (maybe) useless information.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
January 7, 2007
What better way to
start the New Year than to recall our baptism or, for those among us who
are not baptized, to reflect upon its meaning and power. It is the
sacrament that births us into the body of Christ and into the Church of
God. What better way to be renewed than to remember the waters in which
we are cleansed from sin and reborn; sealed by the Holy Spirit, marked
as Christ’s own forever; and, like Jesus, named BELOVED by God. What
better way to begin 2007 than by remembering that each one of us is a
beloved child of the living God!
more
Sermons: 2006
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, December 31,
2006
In September 1974 I
began my theological education, enrolling that month in Virginia
Seminary, located in Alexandria, just across the Potomac from
Washington, DC. . . The next day was Sunday, September 7th. I
remember the date because it was my birthday. A local parish, Immanuel
on the Hill, used the Seminary chapel for its Sunday services. That day
Immanuel Church’s new young curate, the Rev. Pat Merchant, preached one
of her first sermons. It was on forgiveness. In the congregation that
morning was a man who had worshipped at Immanuel for more than twenty
years . . . The man was Gerald Ford, and he had just become President of
the United States.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
Christmas Day, December 25, 2006
Our Presiding Bishop has
sent us a Christmas message this week. It is entitled, quite simply, “God
Among Us,” and it encourages us, at this feast of God’s incarnation, to be
open to the presence of God in all of life. Now, I have spent the season
of Advent teaching the Rule of Benedict, a way of life predicated upon the
reality that God is with us in all things and so I thought I knew all
about “God Among Us,” and her words about the birth of Christ really
resonated with me.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, Christmas Eve,
December 24,
2006
Merry Christmas,
everyone, and welcome to Calvary Episcopal Church on this holy night
celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, with prayers and
anthems and carols. And with communion, too. I want to make sure you
know you are invited to share in communion at the altar when that time
comes in the service. This is God’s holy table, not our own, and we
believe God wants us to share fellowship at the table just as God
offered to everyone the special gift of his Son on that night in
Bethlehem.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, December 17,
2006
I grew up in the New
York metropolitan area. I understand the customs, like the New York way
to walk down the street. Don’t make eye contact. Keep to yourself. Let
other passers-by just pass by — don’t recognize or acknowledge them.
Don’t look like an out-of-towner, gaping up at the buildings. Here’s
why: The New York way lets you maintain a sense of personal space in a
crowded, congested city. It values anonymity as a daily defense
mechanism, keeping the crazies at bay. But when I moved back to the area
twelve years ago, I consciously violated the custom. Walking back and
forth from the rectory to the church, I intentionally greeted people on
the Woodland Avenue sidewalk. This was conscious. .
.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, December 3,
2006
The first thing I need
to do today is to wish you a Happy New Year. Advent season marks the
beginning of the Christian calendar, the liturgical new year, and today
conveniently corresponds with the date of our annual meeting. As I
report to the congregation on the year that has passed, what comes to
mind is a series of pictures, mental photos from some parish family
album, pictures taken of scenes away from Calvary on those occasions in
2006 when the parish extended itself.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, November 26,
2006
It seems as if you can’t
call a business these days without hearing this phone menu: “To continue
in English, press 1. Por español, dos.” Does that irritate you?
Or have you pretty much grown accustomed to it? Globalization of the
world’s peoples and cultures is all around us, sometimes creating
conflict. The issue becomes more ominous when it concerns religions. The
newspapers are full of these stories. Just last week six Muslim holy men
were kicked off a plane in Minneapolis.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
November 19, 2006
A couple of weeks ago, I saw the Wizard of Oz on television. I’m
sure most of you are familiar with the story. Like many classic tales, it
deals with perception and reality and our human experience of both. The
scene I want to remind you of is near the end of the story—after Dorothy
and her friends have dutifully destroyed the wicked witch of the West and
removed the dark pall of her presence in the land. They return to the
palatial room of the great Oz, who gave them this awful task, to apprise
him of their success and to receive their respective rewards...
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, November 12,
2006
Let me begin this
morning at the point where I intend also to finish. And that’s with an
admission: I was wrong. Let me say that I think I was wrong in my
initial response to the news about the election of Katharine Jefferts
Schori as our next Presiding Bishop. Back in June, when all this
happened, my first response was irritation or exasperation that someone
so inexperienced had been chosen for the highest office in our Church.
.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
October 22, 2006
In this time when we are celebrating our stewardship, let’s see if
we can stand with our ancestor and fellow-steward Job this morning. Let us
take our place beside this man who suffered through every catastrophe
known to humankind—loss of loved ones, the ruin of his business, a plague
upon his body and the unmerciful judgment of his peers. If we stand with
Job then we, too, face God’s challenging inquisition, only some of which
we heard in our reading. more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, October 15,
2006
Exactly 200 years ago this autumn the Corps
of Discovery, captained by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, were
floating down the lower reaches of the Missouri River ending their
expedition across the North American continent. They had made their way
successfully and scientifically from one end of Thomas Jefferson’s
Louisiana Purchase to the other. And, in so doing, they had established
a new identity for the young United States of America, granting it
continental status across a rich and varied land, rather than just
thirteen struggling outposts huddled along the Atlantic coast.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, October 8,
2006
Last week’s rain cleared away just enough on
my day off to bring a cool fall afternoon. I took one of the dogs and
headed for a favorite trail along the Paulinskill River. For most of the
hike we had the woods to ourselves. We saw no one else, except for a
large turkey buzzard we startled — or rather, who startled us, and flew
up into a tree to give us the ugly eyeball. Then, just about the point
we intended to make a U-turn and head back to the car, we came across a
group of school children intently examining something along the side of
the trail. While the kids petted the dog, the principal introduced
himself and his school, a charter school located on a ridge above the
valley of the trail. more
The Rev.
Robert Corin Morris, October 1,
2006
I got an email recently from my cousin in
the South, one of those circular email political jokes sent, I suspect, to
get a rise out of me. It started with the widespread conspiracy theory
that a UFO crashed in New Mexico in 1947, whose alien inhabitants escaped.
The whole thing was covered up by the U.S. government. “Where are those
aliens now?” the joke wondered. It turns out they are the leaders of the
political party I vote for. My cousin’s vote goes to the other end of the
political spectrum more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, September 24,
2006
Yesterday, before the start of the diocesan
convention to elect the new bishop, I helped register and orient the
reporter from National Public Radio. He was at our convention, of
course, because one of the nominees on the ballot was an openly gay man
from California. “What do you do if we don’t elect him?” I asked. “Then
you don’t have much of a story.” He agreed that the newsworthiness
depended on the gay candidate.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
September 17, 2006
A priest of this diocese died last month. His name was Dana Rose
and I attended his memorial service at the cathedral yesterday. I knew
Dana some; we shared a common interest in youth and he came here a couple
of years ago to address the J2A group. At the service, several people
offered remembrances, and I learned more about his rocky path of faith.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, September 10,
2006
The dog is not man’s best friend in the
Middle East. Domestic canines do not have the same level of affection we
hold for them in the West. Middle Easterners don’t fawn over them or
pamper them or keep them in such close companionship as we do. In some
cases dogs are regarded as only one small step in respectability above
the pig. more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, September 3,
2006
This weekend marks the
end of summer, the relaxed season of the year. But around the parish
office the end of summer is actually quite busy, and there’s been a lot
of activity at Calvary recently. Our new coordinator of children’s
ministry, Bonnie Magnuson, has been hard at work recruiting and training
teachers, finding new curriculum, checking out the classrooms, and
generally introducing and orienting herself to our parish. Laurie
Matarazzo has been busy planning the youth groups for fall....
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
August 27, 2006
t’s not often that our holy scriptures conform to popular culture, but I
must say that two of today’s readings are as much about “image” as our
favorite magazines. Some might say, we are obsessed with personal image in
these United States; and here we have Jesus and Paul weighing in on two of
the most important components of image—what we eat and what we wear. This
morning, these two rival the food and fashion editors of “GQ” and “Elle”--
Jesus with his advice on our diet, and Paul with his outrageous fashion
statement!
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, August 20,
2006
Somewhere out there in
TV Land — maybe on the Animal Planet Channel — is a new series about dog
obedience training hosted by its latest guru. This is a man who got his
start working as a professional dog walker in the City. His shtick is a
critique of American dog owners for their laissez-faire attitude when it
comes to dog training. Dogs are pack animals, he points out, and they
will obey you only if you lead them like a top dog. Americans let their
dogs go first. He believes he should go first.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
August 13, 2006
Has anyone ever
surprised you? …I don’t mean as in showing up on your doorstep
unannounced; or, jumping up from behind a sofa on a particularly
memorable birthday… I’m talking about the
kind of surprise you feel when you think you know someone…you’ve known
them a long time, maybe you even live with them. You have an idea of how
they think and a sense of how their emotions run; you’ve watched them
respond to circumstances and challenges; you’ve been with them when they
were angry and when they were at a loss for words… I’m talking about the
kind of surprise you feel when someone you think you know behaves in a
completely unexpected and wonderful way. Has anyone ever surprised you
like that? more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
July 23, 2006
The news from the Middle East once again threatened to bury my hope
for peace under escalating counts of rockets and missiles and bombings
and deaths this week. Last Sunday, in conversation with my mother, I
heard myself say, “I am hopeless about the situation.” Hopeless is an
awful word and an even more awful condition, and one that should be
foreign to we who hope for a kingdom where peace will reign, where truth
sets people free, and where love is the essence of all life.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
July 16, 2006
The Psalmist asks, “Who
shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy
place?” The answer: “Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do
not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear
deceitfully.” more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, July 9, 2006
Three weeks ago I was
sitting in the lobby of a hotel somewhere in central Anatolia, getting
ready for another day of sight-seeing and dialogue on the
interfaith/intercultural tour of Turkey that I described for you last
Sunday. Someone in the group had brought along a laptop, which produced
the news from home that the Episcopal Church had elected Katharine
Jefferts Schori as the next Presiding Bishop. A woman on the tour asked
me my reaction. She, a Roman Catholic and a professor of Religion at
Felician College, favors women’s ordination and seemed pleased by the
news. I surprised myself, however, by the negativity of my response.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, July 2, 2006
Listen to the following
propositions and consider if you agree:
-
“Religions, languages, and ethnicities exist so that we can
learn from, not fight, each other.”
-
“We share
values to promote; we share problems to solve.”
-
“Coexistence of civilizations is possible
only through dialogue; dialogue is a virtue of globalization.”
-
“The
pillars of dialogue are love, tolerance, compassion and forgiveness:
Love is the essence of existence. Tolerance is our binding spirit.
Compassion and forgiveness are inclusive aspects of a just society, in
which individuals will flourish, and community will arise.”
-
“Diversity
is our richness. Diversity without dialogue causes fear; dialogue
without diversity brings distortion.”
Are these sentiments with which you can agree?
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
June 18, 2006
When our Parish
Administrator George Hayman first showed me the picture he had created
for the cover of today’s bulletin, I laughed.... If you look, you will see there a
photograph of a mustard bush, towering over the head of my husband, Matty.
On second thought, I realized the value of the picture for our
reflection this morning. It brings the message of our scripture into our
present lives more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, June 11, 2006
W.W.J.D.: What would
Jesus do? That catchphrase was invented by a youth minister a couple of
years ago. She wanted a handy way for her teenagers to refer to the
example of Jesus when making decisions. W.W.J.D. More recently the
catchphrase has taken on a contemporary edge: What would Jesus
drive? more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
June 4, 2006
Let us begin, this morning, by taking a deep breath, as we are
able. Let us to be aware of this life-giving activity…this essential
movement that supplies oxygen to our bodies. Note the rhythm of exchange
as you inhale and exhale; notice the air around you and in you.
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
May 21, 2006
Jesus calls his disciples friends and invites them to abide in his
love. He declares that this abiding friendship will yield “fruit that will
last.” more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, May 28, 2006
I once heard that, in the 1860’s, the
editors of The New York Times withheld publication of an
editorial opinion on some issue, pending the outcome of the discussion
on the same issue at the annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of
New York. more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, May 14, 2006
. . . I, however, have just returned from a
mission trip to Mississippi for Hurricane Katrina relief, and I want to
report on it. more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
May 7, 2006
We call this “Good Shepherd” Sunday, the 4th Sunday of
Easter. After two weeks of appearance stories, we are reminded of the
character of this Lord who died and rose again for us. He calls himself
“The Good Shepherd.” Psalm 23—arguably the most well-known of all the
Psalms—eloquently expresses the nature of our Lord and our relationship
with him.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, April 30, 2006
I did something for the first time ever this
week, and I’ll bet you did, too: I paid three dollars for a gallon of
gasoline. more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
April 23, 2006
“Peace be with you.” Here are the risen Christ’s first words to his
friends upon his return from the grave. “Peace be with you,” he says in
greeting these men and women who are full of fear and mightily confused,
and maybe on the very edge of despair.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, April 16, 2006
Easter Day
One year spring came this way: the earth
moved around her axis and pointed her north end toward the center if the
solar system. The sun’s rays penetrated the atmosphere and warmed the
soil, just the surface at first, then, gradually, deeper and deeper. The
days grew longer. The birds returned. This was just as God had intended.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, April 9, 2006
What does it mean to be a member of a church
called “Calvary,” named for the hill on which Jesus was crucified? What
does it mean for us to follow Jesus on the Way of the Cross?
more
The Rev. Laura Matarazzo,
April 2, 2006
John 3:16. We see it in the stands at professional football games, held
aloft on a poster by faithful fans who seek to bring Christ into the
stadium. more
The Rev.
Laura Matarazzo,
March 26, 2006
John 3:16. We see it in the stands at professional football games, held
aloft on a poster by faithful fans who seek to bring Christ into the
stadium; we see it on license plates, T-shirts, bookmarks, baseball caps
and bumper stickers. It just may be the most famous verse of the New
Testament. Martin Luther called it “the gospel in miniature.”
“For God
so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, March 19, 2006
Two of the pillars of the ancient world —
Jewish ethics and Roman law — conspired to crucify Christ. Two of the
accomplishments most important and notable in the development of
civilization more
The Rev.
Laura Matarazzo, March 12, 2006
For most of us, death is about the worst
thing than can happen in this life. Your take on this position may depend
upon your age, experience, circumstance, or faith in God; but, by and
large, for most people, death is about the worst thing that can happen in
this life. more
The Rev. Robert Corin
Morris,
March 5, 2006
Every encounter of our lives involves a choice for or against Christ and
our own potential Christhood more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, February 28, 2006
Out in the country west of here I have a
favorite road I travel over as often as possible. It’s on a regular route
that I have to take — well, okay, it’s the scenic version of the regular
route. But it’s not so far out of the way that I can’t justify using it.
The road is narrow and slow, crossing a brook time and again as it
traverses a little valley. As it nears the end, the road takes two sharp
curves — a right, and then a left — as it descends a steep hill. Of
course, those curves are marked with a yellow sign to warn drivers what’s
coming. But the sign is wrong. It shows the road curving first left, and
then right -the opposite of what’s the case.
more
The Rev.
Laura Matarazzo, February 19, 2006
Today’s readings
and collect speak to us of love and of newness. In our collect we prayed
for God to “send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest
gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and all virtues.” Through the
prophet, Isaiah, God declares that God is doing a new thing; and in our
gospel story we see Jesus bring newness of life to a paralytic. So, let’s
look at what we know about love and about new things.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, February 12, 2006
I want to say three
things this morning, and only the latter two are connected. First, today
is being observed as Evolution Sunday. Charles Darwin, originator of the
theory of natural selection, was born on this day in 1809. …Theology
done well and thoughtfully is not negated by scientific discovery.
Religion that resists science tends to lose the intellectual argument.
See Galileo and Copernicus, for example. Yet let me make the same point
in a different way by reminding you, as I’ve mentioned in sermons
before, that Charles Darwin was an ordained Anglican clergyman.
more
The Rev.
Laura Matarazzo, February 5, 2006
“In the morning, while it was still very
dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.”
This one sentence in scripture, the like of which occurs only rarely and
which is almost always lost behind the dazzling miracles and the
astounding teachings, is the one we need to hear today.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, January 29, 2006
Religions sometimes
establish strange customs. Sectarian religious groups are often known
for unusual traditions in clothing, eating, or habits. Observing these
customs gives believers a sense of identity apart from the wider world —
indeed sometimes they seem a defense from the wider world. more
The Rev.
Laura Matarazzo, January 22, 2006
The Psalmist sings, “God has spoken once,
twice have I heard it, that power belongs to God.” Power belongs to God.
Think about it; this acknowledgment is at the very heart of our faith.
Power belongs to God. more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, January 15, 2006
Two Friday evenings ago I
got back to the house after walking the dogs when the phone rang. It was
the voice of a parishioner: “We’re wondering if you’re watching the
program,” she said. “You know, the new program about the Episcopal
priest.” I wasn’t watching it, but thought maybe I should. It isn’t often
that our Church and my profession get any attention from the popular
media. The program’s name is “The Book of Daniel,” and it’s about the
rector in a wealthy Westchester congregation, the Rev. Daniel Webster,
whose personal and professional problems are manifold.
more
The Rev.
Laura Matarazzo, January 8, 2006
To begin with, today, I invite you to a
brief exercise about listening, using this Tibetan prayer bowl. I ask
you to close your eyes, as you are able, and try to listen with more
than just your ears. Try to listen with your whole body.
more
The Rev.
Christopher Brdlik, January 1, 2006
As we begin a new year, 2006, let us pause first and consider this
point: Habits are made up of virtues and vices. There isn’t a soul alive
with an operating conscience who doesn’t know the difference. And there
isn’t a soul alive who doesn’t know about itself which virtues need
encouragement and which vices need change.
more
Sermons: 2006
Sermons: 2005
Sermons: 2004
Sermons: 2003
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