The Rev. Jonathan R Thomas Augusts 21, 2016 (Proper 16C) Is 58:9b-14 & Lk 13:10-17 Holy is the Rest We Have Together When I was serving at St. Luke’s, there was this woman named Margaret who I looked up to quite a bit. She was in her eighties, frail and bent over, she walked…
Rev. Jonathan R Thomas August 7, 2016 (Proper 14C) Heb.11:1-3, 8-16 & Lk 12:32-40 Holding on to Faith The letter to the Hebrews is one of the latest books written to make it into the New Testament. That’s important for understanding it. In the letters written by the Apostle Paul earlier in the…
The Rev. Jonathan R Thomas July 24, 2016 (Proper 12C) Luke 11:1-13 Shameless Prayer Prayer was a central part of Jesus’ life, even right up until the moment of his death. So much so that everyone seemed to notice it. All the gospel writers mention moments when Jesus went off to pray. It’s interesting…
The Rev. Jonathan R Thomas June 26, 2016 (Proper 8C) Gal 5:1,13-25 & Lk 9:51-62 The Freedom to Become I must admit, in all the times I have read the gospels, I don’t remember ever noticing this story before: The Samaritans did not listen to Jesus so the disciples asked, “Lord, do you…
Last Sunday, when the alarm clock on my phone went off, I went into my normal morning routine of checking my email, followed by opening the New York Times. Once again, in all caps at the top were the words we are almost getting used to: mass shooting. This time in Orlando, with 20 believed…
The Rev. Jonathan R Thomas June 12, 2016 (Proper 6C) Gal. 2:15-21 & Lk 7:36-8:3 The Voice of Shame and the Voice of Jesus A version of this story appears in all four gospels. That’s unusual so it must have been quite noteworthy. As a matter of fact, we even read it, in the…
At my last parish, I had the opportunity to travel to El Salvador twice. As most people will tell you, visiting a developing country for the first time can be incredibly overwhelming. The poverty is on a level we just do not see in our country. We were welcomed into lean-to shacks, from the side…
The Rev. Jonathan R. Thomas May 29, 2016 (Proper 4C) Luke 7:1-11 An Example of Faithfulness I am sure many of you know that we don’t get to choose the readings every week. They are assigned on a three year rotating lectionary, with each year focused on a different gospel. Year A is Matthew,…
