At our annual Youth Sunday service, two teenagers reflect on Acts 2:14a,36-41 and Luke 24:13-35.

John 20:1-18. John's Gospel frames the event of Jesus’s resurrection as the beginning of a new world. Can we see and believe?

Matthew 26:14- 27:66. The tearing of the temple curtain means that God is no longer a fearful mystery, that there is no separation to be breached, and that the love of God is for everybody.

From the propers this week, Father Harris addresses the exhaustion we often feel by the fifth week of Lent. As the "path of least resistance" beckons us to give up or skip the demanding rituals of Holy Week, this sermon reminds us why our presence matters: we are in church to remember the vision of a Kingdom of love in a world that feels increasingly hopeless.

Drawing on Ezekiel’s vision of the Valley of Dry Bones and the resurrection of Lazarus, Father Harris explores the agonizing moments when God seems silent or delayed. He reminds us that even when our hope feels "dried up" and our prayers go unanswered, God is often preparing something far more magnificent than we can imagine. If you are feeling discouraged by the weight of the world, take heart: the Spirit is at work in the "dry bones" of your life.

John 9:1-41. Jesus heals a man born blind and everybody misses the point. The only way to see what God is up to is to admit that you, too, are blind.

From the propers this week, Father Harris speaks to those of us stuck in the "uncomfortable middle"—whether of Lent, or of a life that feels unfinished and messy.

Drawing on the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, he reminds us that Christ does not wait for us to be "good enough" or "cleaned up" to meet us. Just as Jesus saw the woman’s five failed marriages and her present lies, He sees our half-hearted disciplines and our deepest anxieties. Whether you are playing Lent on "Hard Mode" or have forgotten it’s Lent entirely, the message is the same: Take heart. The God of the universe meets us in our lowest conditions to offer living water that finally satisfies.

John 3:1-17. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to be “born from above” to see the kingdom of God.

From the propers this week, Father Harris examines the jarring transition from Jesus’ baptism to his isolation in the desert. If the Son of God was led into the wilderness, we should expect no less: life after baptism does not get easier.

Through the lens of the Desert Fathers and the season of Lent, Father Harris breaks down the three core temptations we all face: appetite, security, and power. He challenges us to stop trying to "muscle through" our anxieties or manufacture our own safety. Instead, we are invited to enter our interior wilderness, face our attachments, and practice the hardest spiritual discipline of all: waiting on God.

Matthew 17:1-9. In Lent we are invited up the mountain with Jesus for a 40 day season of focus.

From the propers this week, Fr Harris tackles a common saying: "I'm spiritual but not religious." He explains how this often points to a reaction against empty rituals, where people go to church but their hearts and minds are somewhere else. Meditating on the wisdom of the Prophet Isaiah and Jesus, the sermon challenges this divide. True faith is both spiritual and religious. It means connecting our inner life with God to outward actions of justice and kindness, like feeding the hungry and helping the oppressed. This is how we become the "light of the world" we are called to be.