Mark 10:17-31
I love this Gospel reading. It’s oftentimes referred to as “The Story of the Rich Man.” I have a different title for it though. I call it “The Story of the Second from Last.” What does that mean? Did you ever notice that when we talk to each other, usually the thing you want to talk about is like the second from the last thing you talk about?….
In celebration of the 60th anniversary of St. Paul’s, the Rev. Waite Maclin shares a few stories from the early days of St. Paul’s, and the Rev. George Adamik reflects on how the story of Abraham and Sarah reveals our own calling as a community. Visit our homepage or YouTube channel to view the video commemorating the history of St. Paul’s.
The Rev. George Adamik reflects on Mark 8:27-38: “Jesus asks his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ Is there any more human question that any of us wonder in our lives? … And then Jesus asks them one of the most significant questions in scripture: ‘And you, who do you say that I am?'”
The Rev. George Adamik discusses John 6:56-69: “How can we satisfy our deep hunger? It begins by realizing sometimes we’re trying to fill that hunger with ‘junk food,’ with stuff that’s not going to nourish us or lead us to wholeness… Jesus came as bread, as food, and whoever is hungry can be fed.”
For reference, here are the passages by St. Augustine and Richard Rohr discussed in today’s homily:
“Christ is the bread, awaiting hunger.” (St. Augustine)
“The Eucharist is telling us that God is the food and all we have to do is provide the hunger. Somehow we have to make sure that each day we are hungry, that there’s room inside of us for another presence. If you are filled with your own opinions, ideas, righteousness, superiority, or sufficiency, you are a world unto yourself and there is no room for ‘another.’ Despite all our attempts to define who is worthy and who is not worthy to receive communion, our only ticket or prerequisite for coming to Eucharist is hunger. And most often sinners are much more hungry than the ‘saints.'” (Richard Rohr)
The Rev. George Adamik reflects on John 6:24-35 and growing up during the turbulent 1960s: “We can live into God’s dream and God’s hope, and, as Bishop Curry so often says, step out of the nightmare that we have created into the dream God has for creation. When we look at the world today and our country, we can’t just say ‘it’s the way it is.’ No, it’s not; it can be something different.”
Dr. Martin Luther King once said, “Church is not the place you come to, it’s the place you you go from.” … As we go from here today, what is it that we bring – to a world surrounding us right now that seems to be filled with violence, hatred, conflict, bullying, racism, condescending of other people, personal attacks on people – it’s the world that we go out into….
The Rev. George Adamik considers today’s Gospel reading (Mark 2:23-3:6) and the message of Pentecost: “We all speak different languages when it comes to this experience of faith. How do we continue to be a Pentecost, how do we continue to be reborn anew as we reach beyond our world, not to speak our language but to speak the languages of those who perhaps can understand us in new ways? We can only do that by coming to know this world beyond us.”
The Rev. George Adamik reflects on a trip to the Jersey Shore, our relationships with one another, and the community of the early church (Acts 10:44-48, John 15:9-17).
The Rev. George Adamik reflects on John 20:19-31, doubting Thomas, and a distressing moment from his daughter’s orchestra class.
On Easter, the Rev. George Adamik reflects on John 20:1-18: “The message of the Resurrection is Christ revealing to us the life that we’re called to live, the life we’re called to share, and he models for us the need to reach out to the suffering and the oppressed to bring about wholeness and healing in a broken world.”