Moment of Clarity With Rev. Lorrie Daly-Price

April 14, 2019 | On this Palm Sunday we hear about Jesus’ humble entry into Jerusalem. Jerusalem was a conquered city that was living under foreign and oppressive rule yet has a king enter in humbly on a donkey instead of a horse — signifying peace not war. Jesus enters through a gate called Bab el Rahmeh – The Mercy Gate (which years on was sealed shut so no king or false messiah could enter in through it).

When Jesus entered he is greeted by people laying down palm leaves at his feet, signifying praise and honour to the Jewish people. Then, he goes into ‘the heart of the city’, a broken temple, where he overturns tables and drives out those using extortion to keep people from freely worshipping God.

And it’s only the start of the week…Make way for the King!

April 7, 2019 | In our gospel reading this week from John it begins: “Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.  There they gave a dinner for him.”  This was more than just a meal though, it was a celebration and time of great rejoicing.

And in the midst of all the hoopla, Mary does an extraordinary, extravagant, celebratory thing.  She takes a pound of “pure nard,” a very expensive and aromatic perfume, and anoints Jesus’ feet with it.

It was an over-the-top act – but it was an over-the-top sort of day celebrating an over-the-top miracle. So Mary gave the precious perfume to show her gratitude. Of course she was criticized.  Nobody ever does anything outside the norm without being criticized or at least questioned.

We are invited to join with Mary in being extravagantly grateful and generous to the Jesus who died for us, the Jesus who lives in our hearts, the Jesus who lives in our midst.

March 31, 2019 | This week we hear a reading from Luke’s gospel that virtually every adult has heard, the prodigal son. We all know a family – or are a part of a family – whose child has gone astray. We all know the “lost child” or “black sheep” of the family whose relatives speak of them in whispers and with a sense of judgment. We know the embarrassment some families feel about a sibling or child who has gone astray. There’s a mixture of feelings – anger, hopelessness, worry, helplessness and denial. This is true now and was true in Jesus’ time.

Jesus told the parable of the prodigal son in response to an angry and judgmental audience who were certain of the scope of divine salvation and those whom God has abandoned or should abandon. So sure of their righteousness, they build a barrier between themselves and the sinners in their midst. In response to the criticism of Jesus’ welcome of outsiders, sinners and persons deemed unclean, Jesus tells the story of two lost sons and a loving parent as part of a holy trinity of parables describing God’s care for the lost. That’s God! God never gives up no matter how unfair it may seem to the rest of us!

March 24, 2019 | Ruthlessness: the one uncompromising rule of gardening – pruning, chopping, weeding, deadheading, dividing, removing the weak and sick, throwing away the plants that inhibit or crowd the others. Out go the plants that don’t produce fruit or function as a helpful neighbour to another plant. Out go plants that do not offer beauty or scent or pleasure or visual interest.

In Jesus’ parable the owner of the garden observes a barren fig tree. Reasonably, he orders it yanked out. But the gardener suggests that the owner give the fig another year. In the meantime he’ll break up the hard earth, aerating the ground around it so the roots can breathe and drink and take in nourishment. He’ll put manure around it, that golden substance which is the very ground of life and fertility – changing the very soil nurturing the fig tree.

So could it be that we are called to be good stewards of the gifts God has given us–our time, our talent, and our resources? That God expects us to be fruitful to the best of our abilities? Sure, we will have times and seasons when we are less than fruitful in our ministry, mission, worship, and generosity. Even plants and trees have fallow seasons or “manure years” during which they rest and replenish.

Lent offers the time of aerating the soil and adding humble manure. Lent is a time of taking care of things, while being taken care of.

March 17, 2019 | In the gospel reading that we hear this week, Jesus is warned that his life is in danger. This certainly is not news to him. Herod is out to get him. Yet, Jesus continues to care for and teach those who are with him. He must follow his vocation and in following it to seek salvation, he finds his strength. His life gains perspective. This is all part of God’s story of salvation.

In his book born of the Nazi concentration camps, Viktor Frankl quotes Friedrich Nietzsche, “Those who have a ‘why’ to live can bear with almost any ‘how’.” Jesus’ sense of purpose, his vocational sense, enabled him to face his fear of suffering and abandonment, trusting that his life had meaning and that God’s purposes for him were more enduring that Herod’s hatred.

May we have what it takes to not be afraid and the courage to respond with hope to the struggles of each new day.

March 10, 2019 | Every year, at the beginning of Lent, we hear the story of Jesus and his forty days in the wilderness. This was certainly not a friendly place to be. Look at the picture shared here of Qumran, it will give you a sense of what Jesus had to endure. Tall cliffs of sandy rock, dusty and dry. The kind that leaves you covered from head to toe in ashy dirt. You would also find scrubby trees and brief patches of prickly grass, cement-like clumps of hardened clay and boulders of every size. This is where Jesus went to fast and pray at the beginning of his ministry. 

It was here in the desert wilderness that Jesus faced what may have been the greatest temptations of his life. Can you think of 'wilderness' times in your own life where you have managed not to give in to despair or to the sorts of temptations which Jesus withstood?

March 3, 2009 | What can we do on this last Sunday of Epiphany when the Christmas lights are put away, the choir no longer sings the carols and the star of the magi has vanished?

We can come into God’s presence seeking the light of renewal.

What can we do on this last Sunday of Epiphany when our skies are mostly grey and we ourselves feel stuck in a rut and in need of a vacation?

We can come into God’s presence seeking the light of renewal.

What can we do on this last Sunday of Epiphany if we have forgotten the message of Christmas, our gifts have lost their newness and spring is far away?

We can come into God’s presence seeking the light of renewal.

Celebrate God’s Presence through Prayer.

Dianne Smith

January 17, 2019 | This week we hear about the call of Simon, James and John in Luke’s gospel. In this story Simon wins the lottery. He’s been out all night working trying to catch some fish and catches almost nothing. Then Jesus tells him to try again and they fill up the boat.

Simon’s a bit like a guy who wins the lottery, but then never goes to cash in the winning ticket. He doesn’t take that haul of fish to the market to sell so he doesn’t benefit from the bonanza. He and his partners, James and John, just leave everything there and follow Jesus.

These three men go stumbling over their nets and boats and follow Jesus and the crowd that saw all this witnessed a sermon in action that was more powerful than the one Jesus preached. Luke doesn’t tell us a thing that Jesus said in that sermon to the crowds gathered that day. Nor does he say whether Simon and his buds were paying attention. He tells us what they did. And we’re still talking about it.

February 3, 2019 | This week we look at a letter from Paul to the church in Corinth. A letter that holds love up as “a still more excellent way.” Paul takes time in his letter to explain what should be really important to them. He explains that it is not who has the most spiritual gifts or who drives the nicest car to church because all the spiritual gifts in the world will mean nothing if those receiving them do not love one another.

There is no greater feeling in the world than to be loved. Our children experience love from their parents and learn as they grow what it means to love another. A couple who fall in love, no expression can truly describe the joy they have found. Perhaps that is why this passage is so often read at weddings. Love can sometimes be hard to find in our world but this passage illustrates to us the power of love to transform.

January 27, 2019 |This Sunday the readings set before us have an overarching theme of ministry. First is Jesus' understanding of his ministry, articulated at its beginning when he opens the scroll and finds the words, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” This was a reference to the jubilee year, a year set aside once every five decades when land was returned to the poor and slaves were given back their freedom. This practice ensured that there was relative economic equality of both land and livelihood. This echoes the theme found in our passage from 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 where the apostle Paul affirms that we are all joined together as different types of people with many different gifts.

Working together for the good of all and when we do everyone benefits. How have you experienced that truth?