SSJE Sermons

“I am daily reminded of my own need for ongoing conversion. I am a work-in-progress, and there’s plenty of work to be done. You, too, may know about this.” A hopeful word from Br. Curtis Almquist for all of us works-in-progress.

“All of us, at one time or another, have experienced setbacks in life. Joseph’s example today inspires us to look beyond these setbacks and apparent obstacles to see and trust God’s faithfulness.”

“Our prayers should express our deepest longings, our struggles, our anger, our anguish. God wants us to prevail, but also knows that the struggle is an integral part of the blessing.”

“Throughout Scripture, we see that the work of the Spirit drives people into doing things they could never on their own imagined doing. We see this in Ezekiel, a prophet sent to a people frozen by their inability to hear the word of God; We see this in Paul, a man frozen by his preconceived notion of God, until he was caught up to the third heaven, thereby driving him to become the very person he once persecuted; We see this in ourselves, as suddenly a world we could never have imagined opens before us, and we walk, tentatively at first, and then boldly, right in.”

“Rather than bemoaning the tragic consequences of our fallen human state, Jesus invites us to live with joy, constantly alert for signs of God’s grace around and within us. God is present and at work! Grace and salvation are here, and are available to us in abundance.”

“Saint Paul presumed a battle being waged in this world between good and evil, and it is we who are being fought over.” Br. Curtis Almquist invites us to pray for protection, for ourselves and others, as we begin and end our day.

“There is a paradoxical reason that the Church and the world know the names Peter and Paul: following their own very different paths, they relinquished the authority that comes with human charisma. This progressive renunciation allowed the authority of Jesus more and more to shape their choices, hallow their successes, and especially to redeem their failures. The paradoxical reason that we remember Peter and Paul as pastors of God’s flock is that they knew, better than most, what it meant to be harassed and helpless sheep.” On the feast of Saints Peter & Paul, Br. Keith Nelson acknowledges the surprising reason behind their ages-old fame: renunciation.

“The paradox is that we become like God, not by stretching out our hands in pride, but by choosing to stretch them out in humility and loving service, just as did Jesus.” In a brief four lines from Matthew's gospel, Br. Jame Koester discovers the truth of what God is like, and how we too become like God, in reaching out our hands in acts of humility and loving service.

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist Luke 1:57-80 What then will this child become? In the event of the birth of a child, this is not an uncommon question. As family, friends, and the wider community come together to celebrate a new birth, there are many hopes, dreams, and well-wishes expressed to the parents.…

“You probably know how it is to be sailing through life on the sunniest of days, and then a storm hits. There is so much to be afraid of in life when we are accosted by threats, whether they be familiar or foreign. These fears can seem so great and we feel so small. Fear is no respecter of age, or gender, or privilege. Fear may be the most common experience we share with all of humankind.” Br. Curtis Almquist finds in our all-too-human fear an invitation to take Jesus at his word: we need not be afraid, for God is with us. Fear becomes a channel for God's presence.