Father Nicholas LangSep 12, 20213 minThe Sixteenth Sunday After PentecostComedian George Burns once said that the secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as...
Father Nicholas LangSep 5, 20214 minThe Fifteenth Sunday After PentecostDeafness is certainly no joke but for many people it is a natural phenomenon which is, regrettably, part of the aging process. Nowadays,...
Father Nicholas LangAug 29, 20214 minThe Fourteenth Sunday After PentecostReligious Differences. That’s what is at the core of the heated discussion in this Gospel. The conflict revolves around an occasion when...
Father Nicholas LangAug 22, 20214 minThe Thirteenth Sunday After PentecostMake good choices. That’s the theme of the lessons we hear today. The Old Testament reading describes the covenant-renewal ceremony...
Father Nicholas LangAug 15, 20214 minFeast of St. Mary the Virgin The rector was invited to attend a party in the home of one of her parishioners. Naturally, she was properly dressed and wore her priest...
Father Nicholas LangAug 8, 20214 minThe Eleventh Sunday After PentecostI don’t remember a lot of clever lines from movies I’ve seen but I do have a few favorites like “Go sell crazy somewhere else. We’re all...
Jennifer HudsonAug 1, 20214 minThe Tenth Sunday After PentecostThe 2004 French romantic film A Very Long Engagement follows twenty-year-old, polio-stricken Mathilde in her desperate search for her...
Father Nicholas LangJul 25, 20213 minThe Ninth Sunday After PentecostThe Jerusalem Gazette splashed the headline and story all over the front page: Miracle Feeding by local Rabbi Astonishes Thousands....
Father Nicholas LangJul 18, 20214 minThe Eighth Sunday After PentecostA conversation that is happening among clergy these days is how will COVID19 affect our churches in the short and long term. Will a good...
Father Nicholas LangJul 13, 20214 minThe Seventh Sunday After PentecostWell, well, well. That was a cheerful Gospel story, wasn’t it? What on earth are we supposed to learn from a grisly account of John the...
Father Nicholas LangJul 4, 20214 minThe Sixth Sunday After Pentecost“And they took offense at him.” In the movie Last Holiday, Queen Latifah plays the role of Georgia Byrd, a sales clerk at a New Orleans...
Father Nicholas LangJun 27, 20214 min5th Sunday After PentecostTwo stories. Two unrelated people. Two different circumstances. Two surprising conclusions. That is the sandwich that Mark’s Gospel...
Father Nicholas LangJun 20, 20213 minThe Fourth Sunday After PentecostStorms teach us we are not always in control of life. It sounds like this may be another active hurricane season. When warnings of an...
Father Nicholas LangJun 13, 20214 minThe Third Sunday After PentecostThe Reverend Barbara Brown Taylor tells her own version of this parable of the seeds. This is her interpretation: “At my house there is a...
Father Nicholas LangJun 6, 20213 minSecond Sunday After PentecostIn the opening verses of today’s reading, Jesus has returned home to Nazareth for a time of respite from the crowds that press upon him...
Father Nicholas LangMay 30, 20214 minFirst Sunday after Pentecost —Trinity SundayIf we are going to talk about such a deep and complicated theological belief as the doctrine of the Trinity, I think we need to start out...
Father Nicholas LangMay 23, 20215 minPentecostSeveral years ago a group of Episcopalians looking at the reasons churches grow, plateau, or decline and why that happens, met at The...
Father Nicholas LangMay 16, 20214 minAscension SundayWe never know what’s coming our way next, do we? We can plan well and plan far ahead. We can take precautions in advance of possible...
Father Nicholas LangMay 9, 20214 minThe Sixth Sunday of Easter“I have called you friends.” The dictionary definition of “friend” includes these two descriptions: A) A person whom one knows, likes,...
Father Nicholas LangMay 2, 20214 minThe Fifth Sunday of EasterA prophet once came to a city to convert its inhabitants. At first, people listened to his sermons, but gradually drifted away until no...