Br. Luke Ditewig James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a Mark 9:30-37 What were you arguing about? Jesus asked. Perhaps best scout for new outreach and lodging sites. Expert at crowd control. Food and goods purveyor. Scripture knowledge. Who is Jesus’ favorite. The greatest disciple. Playful jostling can turn to comparing power and privilege, background, connection, …

Br. Luke Ditewig James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a Mark 9:30-37 What were you arguing about? Jesus asked. Perhaps best scout for new outreach and lodging sites. Expert at crowd control. Food and goods purveyor. Scripture knowledge. Who is Jesus’ favorite. The greatest disciple. Playful jostling can turn to comparing power and privilege, background, connection, …

Commemorating Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961) Br. Curtis Almquist Micah 6:6-8 “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? … He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” We commemorate today Dag Hammarskjöld, the…

Commemorating Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961) Br. Curtis Almquist Micah 6:6-8 “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? … He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” We commemorate today Dag Hammarskjöld, the…

Br. Luke Ditewig Psalm 139 Today is our monthly requiem in which we remember the dead, the dying, and our mortality. Psalm 139 says: “Lord, you have searched me out and known me.” Jesus knows everything about us, both what we don’t mind sharing and what we try to hide. Jesus knows our sitting down and rising up, our thoughts, our ways. Jesus knows …

Br. Luke Ditewig Psalm 139 Today is our monthly requiem in which we remember the dead, the dying, and our mortality. Psalm 139 says: “Lord, you have searched me out and known me.” Jesus knows everything about us, both what we don’t mind sharing and what we try to hide. Jesus knows our sitting down and rising up, our thoughts, our ways. Jesus knows …

Br. David Vryhof Micah 5:2-5a Rom. 8:28-30 Matt. 1:18-25 As some of you know, I was raised in the Reformed tradition of the Church. Reformed churches are among those that emerged out of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. Central to our particular denomination was a statement of faith written in 1563 called the Heidelberg Catechism. It …

Br. David Vryhof Micah 5:2-5a Rom. 8:28-30 Matt. 1:18-25 As some of you know, I was raised in the Reformed tradition of the Church. Reformed churches are among those that emerged out of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. Central to our particular denomination was a statement of faith written in 1563 called the Heidelberg Catechism. It …

Mark 7:24-37 Ephphatha. Jesus looked up, breathed out, and said: Be opened. And the man was opened: brought back from a closed-off place where no words could get in and no meaning could get out. Let through to a wide-open place of many possibilities, where moments before there had been few, and life was merely survival. How wide can one human heart…

Mark 7:24-37 Ephphatha. Jesus looked up, breathed out, and said: Be opened. And the man was opened: brought back from a closed-off place where no words could get in and no meaning could get out. Let through to a wide-open place of many possibilities, where moments before there had been few, and life was merely survival. How wide can one human heart…

Br. Curtis Almquist Psalm 37:1-12 In the portion of Psalm 37 appointed for today’s liturgy, one verb appears several times: “fret.” “Do not fret yourself.” Fretting, which is jealous, angry teeth grinding when we see evil doers, the unscrupulous, the insidiously clever people getting ahead. In just a few verses, the psalmist repeats this mantra thr…

Br. Curtis Almquist Psalm 37:1-12 In the portion of Psalm 37 appointed for today’s liturgy, one verb appears several times: “fret.” “Do not fret yourself.” Fretting, which is jealous, angry teeth grinding when we see evil doers, the unscrupulous, the insidiously clever people getting ahead. In just a few verses, the psalmist repeats this mantra thr…

Br. James Koester, Superior Proper 17 B There is a lot going on today. It’s the Sunday of the Labour Day weekend, a holiday marking the social, economic and political achievements of the labour movement. (As an aside, in the Nineteenth Century, our own Father Field was a great proponent of the move to implement a 5 ½ day work week for child laboure…

Br. James Koester, Superior Proper 17 B There is a lot going on today. It’s the Sunday of the Labour Day weekend, a holiday marking the social, economic and political achievements of the labour movement. (As an aside, in the Nineteenth Century, our own Father Field was a great proponent of the move to implement a 5 ½ day work week for child laboure…

Br. Luke Ditewig Aidan of Lindisfarne 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 In the seventh century, Aidan, a monk on Iona in Scotland, was sent to establish a monastery on Lindisfarne in northern England. Like Columba who led much missionary work out from Iona, Aidan led great evangelism from Lindisfarne. Aiden sent monks out, two by two, into the neighboring vill…

Br. Luke Ditewig Aidan of Lindisfarne 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 In the seventh century, Aidan, a monk on Iona in Scotland, was sent to establish a monastery on Lindisfarne in northern England. Like Columba who led much missionary work out from Iona, Aidan led great evangelism from Lindisfarne. Aiden sent monks out, two by two, into the neighboring vill…

The Beheading of John the Baptist Mark 6:17-29 If you were to stand in the south gallery of what used to be the Church of Holy Wisdom, or Hagia Sophia, in Istanbul, you would be standing in the footsteps of emperors and empresses. And in the footsteps of these powerful rulers, you would also be able to see the Deesis mosaic, a monumental icon of th…

Br. James Koester, Superior Wisdom 9: 1-6 I’ll begin this morning, not so much by putting you out of your misery, but rather to satisfy your curiosity. I’ll begin by saying there is nothing, yet, to announce. The Chapter will meet later this morning to elect a new Superior to succeed me and that of course will initiate a host of things. We anticipa…