Rotten Apple Seeds

Rotten Apple Seeds

By Matthew D’AmarioReligion & SpiritualityChristianity
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Rotten Apple Seeds episodes

  • Sermon for December 10, 2023, II Advent, Year A
    Here is todays sermon, December 10, 2023, II Advent, Year A. It is based on Isaiah 40, as well as Mark 1, “Make straight the way of the Lord.” I explain the context of Isaiah and then give a spiritual interpretation. There is a kataphatic spirituality wherein we add Godly activities to our lives. I explain rather the apophatic spirituality wherein the spiritual life if the process of subtraction. We are called to let go of the attachments in our lives.
    20 min
  • Sermon for November 19, 2023, Proper 28, Year A
    Here is today’s sermon, November 19, 2023, Proper 28, Year A. It is based on Matthew 25, the Parable of the Talents. In it I provide an explanation of how this parable reflects the economy of the time and how most Jewish people were oppressed by debt. I also apply this parable to church resourcing.
    19 min
  • Sermon for May 7, 2023 V Easter Year A

    Here is today's sermon, october 29, 2023, Proper 25, Year A. The congregation wanted to hear me preach on Matthew 22: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”


    I use the observation that our limited, contingent love is transactional, and we tend to love God for what we receive from God. We are unable to know God as Himself, since God is wholly Other. Using Iris Murdoch's definition of love as "the nonviolent apprehension of the Other as Other", I explain that we can love God while not understanding or having expectations of God.

    17 min
  • Sermon for October 22, 2023, Proper 24, Year A

    Here is today's sermon, October 22, 2023, Proper 24, Year A. It is based on Matthew 22:15-22, "render unto Caesar..." In it I draw the distinction between our obligations to the State, founded on violence and domination, and our allegiance to the Kingdom of God, founded on communion.

    18 min
  • Sermon for October 8, 2023, Proper 22, Year A

    Here is today's sermon, October 8, 2023, Proper 22, Year A. It is based on Matthew 21:33-46, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;this was the Lord’s doing,and it is amazing in our eyes". Aware of the amount of conflict and war in this violent world, I explain that the opposite of war is not peace as in armistice. Rather, the opposite of war is creation. Jesus references this when He responds to the Pharisees' desire for vengeance and instead offers resurrection. Rather than escalating our responses to injustice, let us rather focus on building the Kingdom.

    15 min
  • Sermon for Proper 22, Year A, October 1, 2023

    Here is today's sermon, Proper 22, Year A, October 1, 2023. It is based on Matthew 21:23-32, the Parable of the Two Sons. In it, I explain that the parable is about the ministry and preaching of John the Baptizer. The Pharisees rejected John's message while those who are considered unrighteous embraced John's message. In our world, authority is based on power and violence. I explain the Jesus' authority comes from the Kingdom of God and the ability of God's story to be a truthful representation of our lives. By seeing ourselves in the story of Jesus, we see ourselves rightly and forswear violence and power, but rather, embrace beauty.

    16 min

About Rotten Apple Seeds

From the publisher's feed

This podcast is the collection of my sermons and other opportunities to teach at the congregation I serve. I am an Episcopal priest. I am currently serving the congregation of Christ Episcopal Church in Denton, on Maryland's Eastern Shore.