SSJE Sermons

“Every one of us has plenty of reasons to kneel in repentance today. But here’s the Good News: Jesus came for sinners. He was born, lived and died, and was raised again for people like you and me.” On Ash Wednesday, Br. David Vryhof acknowledges our humanity and points us to God's heart, overflowing with love for us.

“The good news of the gospel of the Transfiguration is not that some mystical experience happened long ago on a mountaintop far away, to someone not even remotely like us, who was simply pretending to be human. The good news of the gospel of the Transfiguration is that in Jesus, God has taken all that is disfigured, diseased, and dying and has transfigured it with the light of divine glory.” Br. James Koester finds light shining even in the darkness of our current moment: God in the person of Jesus has been here before us, and even now is transforming and transfiguring the world, and making it new once more.

“What is just as true now as it was then? Certainly the evil ordered by Herod to slaughter babies is timeless. It is just as evil to us now as it was then. It was an evil fueled by fear, anger, and power. Three poisons with timeless potency.” Br. Jack Crowley considers the relevance of the Church's Feast commemorating the slaughter of the Holy Innocents.

“Did his coming make a difference?  Has the Savior actually saved us?  If the Messiah has come, and if he now reigns, why is there still such suffering and chaos in the world? We say we have a Savior, but it often appears that we still need one.” Br. David Vryhof steps into the complicated "already, but not yet" of God's promises, realized and also still to come in Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

“Being human is amazing. Remember the wonder of our breath, every movement we make, our capacity for imagination and discovery, for being playful and creative. Remember how skin and other organs work to protect from and then restore after injury. Remember the healing power of touch, listening, tears, and laughter.” As we marvel at the mystery of "Word made flesh," Br. Luke Ditewig invites us to embrace the joys of being human, even amidst the challenges, even right now.

“Like Mary and Joseph, we live in a particularly dark world, filled with uncertainty, anxiety, fear and even resentment. Decisions made hundreds, if not thousands of miles away, have a direct and immediate impact on our lives. Suddenly, a decision made far away, throws our life into turmoil and chaos, and we find ourselves where we would never have imagined, less than 12 months ago. And into the darkness of our life comes a beam of light, as precise as a laser, piercing the darkness of the world, and illuminating the face of a tiny, helpless baby.” In a year none of us wanted or planned, Br. James Koester invites us to hear still the promise of Christmas.

“The symbiosis of imagination and faith is the fuel that is keeping my lamp lit in the darkness. Imagination and faith also are at the heart of the mystery we prepare to celebrate at Christmas. So I lift my lamp and walk a little further.” Br. Keith Nelson takes us one step closer to Christmas in the company of those two women who shared a vivid, tender, visionary Visitation.

“God’s will is done, even in the midst of the failings of human expectations. So we’re challenged: we should not become reliant on simply expecting the Christ we know. And we’re comforted: we should not become reliant on images of ourselves that degrade and dismiss.” Br. Lucas Hall discovers freedom in Matthew's genealogy of Christ.

Luke 7:19-23 Jesus heals. Jesus heals so often, so many, and so much, that it is easy to forget about. If you stick your finger in a random page in the Gospel, chances are your finger is close to healing. Our Gospel today features yet another situation where someone asks Jesus what he is all…

“I personally recognize these past months of pandemic as an experience of the wilderness such as they describe. Maybe you do too.  I know what it is like to have familiar landmarks taken away; to lose one’s moorings. One day merging into the next, and for how long?  It’s too much; how long can I keep on going? And yet, I too have seen new things. The Spirit I believe has opened my eyes in new ways.” Br. Geoffrey Tristram invites us, like the seers before us, to consider the gifts of our time in the wilderness.