Sermon 222 November 8, 2026 Lk 8:4-15; 2Cor 12:9b-12,19-21,13:5-11; Jer 4:1-4. Mat. Olga Alaska, a noble and generous heart. Perseverance.

As Preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church

 

       Perseverance is a frequent theme in scripture and in the hymnography of the church. It is a frequent reality in life. It can manifest itself in so many ways. It isn't particularly flashy. It could be someone running a marathon, not necessarily going fast but steady to the end, reaching the goal. It could be taking on a boring task at work but sticking to it to get it done. It could be something in our world here at New Skete, such as whelping one of our German shepherd dogs, knowing that it is going to take all night but staying with Mom until the last puppy arrives. It could be striving to learn something new or to overcome an obstacle and sticking with it to the finish.

       Jesus knew that his disciples would face many trials because of him and his teachings. Today's gospel stresses perseverance, but to a particular end. This same teaching appears in all three synoptic Gospels as well as the Letter to the Hebrews. (Matthew [24:13], Mark [13:13], and Hebrews [10:36]) And St Paul's letter to the Corinthians reflects his continual persistence and perseverance to implant the gospel in their hearts and lives.

       Living out the gospel message, not just hearing it, requires perseverance but this must be preceded by the work needed to be prepared to receive the Word. That means being receptive to the Word, which is why Jesus' explanation of the "good soil" is so important. He says:

       "The rich soil, this is a people with a noble and generous heart who have heard the word and take it to themselves and yield a harvest through their perseverance." [8:15] How do we prepare that rich soil? We get a clue from the various examples Jesus gives of how the crop intended from planting seeds fails to mature.

       The seed along the side of the road represents people receiving the word but it is taken away by demons. In the monastic tradition this might be what we call the unseen warfare. This is about distractions that arise in our inner life. When my heart is cluttered with disturbing memories, unresolved anger issues, and anxieties over life issues I cannot control, little room is left for receiving the gospel message pointing in a different direction. We hear but we don't really listen.

       The rock might be like a window pane and rain the Word of God. We watch and marvel at the rain as it runs down the window and never get us wet. Likewise when we hear the Word, we are insulated from it by our rigid preconceptions. The Word may be inviting but we are happy where we are. No change needed, so it doesn't take root. 

       The thorns are the most pernicious. They are the cares of this life. What does Jeremiah tell us? "Clear the ground that lies neglected, do not sow among thorns." [4:3] Maybe in prayer or also with professional help, we can look again at those things we think are so important and begin to clear them away so that we can receive God's Word and focus on it from a new perspective.

       We are not to be blind to the cares of this world but rather to meet them with a "noble and generous heart." The disciples learned this lesson and lived it. So did many others after them.

       It is serendipitous that the feast for St Olga of Alaska should fall on this Sunday with these readings. We don't have to go far beyond her life to find an example of the good soil that received the seed sown by the Word of God and produced good fruit. She had a "noble and generous heart," as we heard described in the synaxarion last night and in the hymns we sand this morning. She was the wife of a rural priest, mother of 13, and village mid-wife who tirelessly and prayerfully supplied needy and troubled neighbors with hand-sewn clothing, home-cooked meals, and Christlike counsel, despite her own meager means. Her faith, virtue, and charity earned her the reverent nickname “Tabitha of the North.” An example for all who seek to cultivate the noble and generous heart Jesus praises in today's gospel.

 

Homily for Lk 7:11-17

Brother Christopher
Holy Wisdom Church

“When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’  Lk 7:13

 

In meditating on this passage, I can only imagine what it must have been like for the disciples to have been with Jesus during this part of his public ministry. Remember: just before this morning’s gospel reading Jesus had healed the valued slave of a Roman centurion at a distance, after marveling at the centurion’s expression of faith in Jesus’ ability to do this simply by his command. Jesus’ declaration that not even in the whole of Israel had he ever seen faith like that must have astonished the disciples and even they would have been stunned to learn that the centurion’s servant had indeed been healed. But now, Jesus performs an even greater sign – one in continuity with what the prophet Elijah did for the widow of Zárephath that we heard in the first reading, in raising her son centuries before. Jesus and his disciples come upon a funeral procession: the only son of a widow had died and they were in the process of taking him for burial. How Jesus recognized the details of the situation we don’t know; what we do learn is that he had compassion on the widow. Being a widow, Jesus knew that in losing her only son she had lost the means to survive economically. Still, he tells her not to weep and spontaneously he touches the bier and commands the dead man to arise... and he does! Imagine you being a disciple and seeing that miraculous deed. It is hardly surprising that awe overtook everyone and they recognized that a great prophet had arisen, that God had visited his people through Jesus.

              However, what strikes me this morning is less the fact that Jesus performed an astonishing, powerful miracle (which quite plainly he did), as the fact that he was moved with compassion for the widow. That’s what so notable here, and what motivated the miracle. I think it’s fair to say that often we feel that people in power and who command great authority often fail to communicate any sort of empathy and compassion for what the majority of people are going through. There is an implicit disconnect. We can even be tempted to think this about God, the creator of the universe. How could God really understand my suffering and pain? This is what is so unique about the Christian revelation, about the mystery of the incarnation, of God taking flesh and sharing fully in the human experience. Jesus shared in it all – fully God, fully human – and it is that fact which makes us able to believe that Jesus’ compassion extends beyond simply this gospel story, into the very depths of our own struggles. Jesus Christ risen and now universally present to all creation, bids us to rise – not from physical mortality necessarily, but from the ‘lesser’ deaths we must all undergo along the path to holiness and wholeness. When we open ourselves to God as we are, without pretense or veneers, humbly asking for help, we mysteriously feel the compassion of God extending towards us, giving us hope and courage to face whatever challenge life might offer.

October 4, 2026: Feast of St Francis

 
As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church

Tobit 4:5-11,16-21; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Matthew 11:25-30

Last week Br Luke challenged us to realize we are also commissioned by Christ to continue the work He was given by his Father. How do we proclaim this new life Jesus taught to all who believe?

Jane Goodall, who died last year on October 1, 2025, after spending her life first studying and then protecting Chimpanzees, has been quoted as having said, “We will have to evolve, all of us, from ordinary human beings into saints… or at least mini-saints.” St Francis, whose feast we celebrate today, reminded his followers that we are to be extensions and partners of the Source of goodness. We serve as conduits, channels through which the love of God is given to all with whom we come into contact. Created in God’s image, our fulfillment comes about when we allow the likeness of God to develop in us.

How do we do that?

The word of God is not revealed to us in a flash. Answers to our questions leave us wondering and wanting more.  God’s word is an invitation to go deeper.  Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens… learn from me; for I am gentle and humble of heart… for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” This morning’s Gospel reading
Part of wisdom is recognizing the limitations of our knowledge and understanding in dealing with the ultimate meaning of life. Wisdom manifests itself through humility.

Humility teaches us that we are not masters of our own destiny, nor can we control what happens around us. In accepting all of ourselves and our experiences, including suffering and failure, we learn to truly trust God. We can take each day and each moment as it comes, and seek to find our own life-giving path.

How do we allow the likeness of God to develop within us?

We can reflect that it is a gift from God to realize that God is Love. How many other gifts do we recognize as God’s gift to us? Our own ability to love others is a gift.  It is a gift to know that we are part of all humanity. When we pray, we are praying for all other humans who exist—for what we consider the bad as well as the good within everyone.  All humans are my brothers and sisters. Allowing ourselves to show anger or impatience towards another is hardly a way of being that conduit of love to which we are commanded. Those who scheme, hoard, withhold, and store up excess for themselves alone, who attempt to collect and keep everything for themselves, are motivated by fear, selfishness, and a disbelief in the providence and love of God.  Seeing ourselves as we really are, rather than what we wish to be, is a suffering. It can make us bitter or blame another, or it can help us be humble and turn to God for help. Besides noticing all the things we consider good in humanity and in creation itself, we may come to realize that even our sufferings are gifts. 

Let us give thanks to God for our many gifts and keep looking for ways to be the conduit of God’s love!

Christ is in our midst!

Sermon 221 September 27, 2026 Lk 4:16-24; 1Cor 15:1-11; Is 61:1-9. Fulfilled - Stages

 As Preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church

       Almost every western movie or TV show had some kind of travel going on in vehicles known as stage coaches. Travel was very wearying and dangerous in those days. In some ways it still is. Those vehicles were called stage coaches because they traveled in a succession of stages. Travelers where happy to make it from one stage to the next.

       Life is a journey, a procession. When we look back over our lives we more clearly see the various stages or milestones that marked our journey. As one stage concludes another begins.

       The scene described in today's Gospel from St Luke follows  Christ's baptism in the Jordan and the temptations in the wilderness.  Jesus goes to Galilee, to his hometown in Nazareth, to launch his ministry. On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as usual where he is handed the scroll of the prophecy of Isaiah. He reads a portion of that text which in today's world one might call his mission statement. Then he tells the congregation this prophecy is being fulfilled on their hearing. When things are fulfilled, are we done?

       He is just embarking on his mission, so, what has been  fulfilled? The first verse of the quotation tells us what is fulfilled: "the Spirit of the Lord is on me." And yet, his mission lies ahead. The waiting for the Messiah is over, he has come and it is Jesus. But the journey is not over. The next stage is just beginning. The rest of the quoted prophecy is about what Jesus will do to carry out his "anointed" mission.

       Revealed at the Jordan, tested in the wilderness and now announced openly. He begins to proclaim the Good News outlined by Isaiah. The Lord's favor is being bestowed on those who have been marginalized by society: the poor, prisoners, the blind, the oppressed; now these are the favored ones. He says this to everyone because it is a call to a revolutionary change in the way society treats its members. Through teaching, healing, consoling, and uplifting he does the work of his Father. He was commissioned by the Holy Spirit at each stage of his life for this ministry. The voice at his baptism, the Spirit leading him into the desert and now the announcement through the prophet Isaiah.

       Then comes his passion and death. And while dying on the cross he says again that it is fulfilled. What is fulfilled? The work of his Father that was to be done by his son in person on earth, including his death on the cross. That is fulfilled. But that is not the end. What comes next is the resurrection and the commissioning of his disciples and followers, that includes us, to continue this work in the next stage. What remains to be fulfilled is to be fulfilled by each succeeding generation, commissioned by the Spirit, sent by the Father, as Christ says to his disciples.  Christ's resurrection is the culmination of his work, but it is the inauguration of our work.  It is the proclamation of new life to all who believe.

Exaltation of the Cross - September 14, 2026

Homily — September 14, 2026

Exaltation of the Holy Cross
by Sr. Rebecca
Holy Wisdom church

This morning we are celebrating the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

During this feast as well as on Good Friday, the liturgical chant is most moving and soul-penetrating. How does the meaning of this feast penetrate our lives?

One of the prayers during this feast expresses this: “Oh God, as we reflect on this mystery of the Exaltation of the precious cross, impress on our feeble minds how much we need to embrace the cross, in whose rough surface we see ourselves as we really are.”

The cross we are celebrating today is surrounded with beautiful, colorful flowers.

Over these past years the rough surface of the cross, not without the flowers, reflects the unspeakable tragedies, suffering, familiar to all of us. But this is only one side of the mirror of the cross; the flip side is what is mirrored within ourselves, our small selves. No one is spared feelings of powerlessness to change the situations that we are facing, each one of us personally and globally.

One of Richard Rohr’s readings addresses this reality: “The well-prepared mind forgets the suffering inflicted from without to the guidance to what has been contemplated within.” I’d like to unpack this phrase: the first part – ‘suffering inflicted from without’: if our minds are stayed on the surface we will be inclined to indulge in anxiety, worry, blaming, accusing, explaining, trying to make logical sense of our personal and global plights. We tend perhaps to go to our heads, to try to figure things out.

However, when we allow ourselves to go deeper—the reading continues: “looking at suffering from what has been contemplated within”, we will see with clarity how our ego-small selves are trying to control what is not in our control. On a very personal level, what is going on in my mind when I come into contact with what upsets my planning, what bruises me, what challenges me in my daily life? These are examples of a multitude of situations where we are not in control of our lives. Our ego impulsive reactions are mirrored to us when we cannot do what we want or need to do in any given situation. I personally find that paying attention to the small gritty sides of life makes me aware of willfulness rather than willingness to face life’s ‘crosses’ consciously, intentionally in the light of Christ’s presence which never leaves us. When we find ourselves succumbing to irritation, anger or any other negative reaction, it is not God who is absent, it is our mind that is absent, the “unprepared mind” as the saying above expresses. Unprepared mind: it is staying on the rough surface of my attention and especially when glued into my ego-mind.

The crosses are most often not ones we choose but ones that are thrust on us through life’s circumstances. When we look beneath the veneer of our attitudes, our impulsive reactions, we quickly see a kind of self-centeredness that persistently puts our personal needs and agendas before the well-being of others.

These attitudes are perhaps one of the biggest obstacles to the manner of perceiving and hearing the ‘word of God’ within us. To really listen to our soul consciousness. Practicing soul consciousness allows us to see blessedness around us; the illuminous beauty of the cross enables us to experience what is most precious in life: Love, to notice the subtle sensitivity around us, to feel connected with ourselves and in our relationships with others and creation. Paradox of paradoxes: what is felt as death-dealing is in fact life-giving. Isn’t this why we surround the cross with flowers during this feast? The cross perceived in this light is blessedness in the deepest sense of the word. Bliss! It is transformative into the Risen Christ: within and without.

Christ is in our midst!

August 9, 2026: Sunday after Transfiguration

 As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church

Malachi 2:5-7, 3:20-24, Acts 13:25-41, Mark 9:2-13

We have heard so many inspiring words this past week. What will we take with us on our own journey through life?  

In the first reading from Malachi this morning the warnings are quite dire. Yet it all ends with Israel leaping with joy like a calf being released from its stall. As Malachi preached for the ones who revere the name of God and keep God’s law are the truly happy ones. What Jesus came to teach is the law of love.

How do we acquire the wisdom to live this law of love? Some people think that Jesus wasn’t really sure that the suffering he saw coming was really what God willed for Him. That is why he went up the mountain to pray. Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus during his Transfiguration, and, we think, assured him he was correct in his understanding. Then the three apostles were told to listen to Jesus, and surely, having seen Moses and Elijah and the Transfigured Christ, they were more open to Jesus’ teaching than before. Their previous understanding of the Messiah was not what Jesus had been teaching them. We see by the length of time the apostles took to really accept Jesus’ teaching of what their Messiah is, how difficult to change our thinking as well. It was not until Pentecost they were convinced of this law of love.

The law of love entails work on our part. In today’s world, the effect of whatever work each of us does—intellectual, artistic, social, communal, or individual—must be good for the globe: that is, for all creation, as well as for our particular area, ourselves included.

 A spirituality of work has many components. Work is our gift to the world. It can build the human community, which needs to be based on mutual service, respect, gentleness, and equality.  It can and does lead to self-fulfillment. It can save one from total self-centeredness. It gives a reason to exist that is larger than oneself. It enables the Creator to go on creating.

A spirituality of work is that by which we come to know that our work is God’s work, unfinished because God intends it to be finished by us. As a society, we depend greatly on the support of those around us and when this is lacking, faithfulness to our deepest beliefs becomes more difficult. Some seasonal variations in one’s inner life by having to exist in an environment that does not nourish our deepest aspirations can shrivel up one’s spirit and self-esteem. To the extent that we live in such a situation, we need to strengthen our faith by a constant remembrance of God’s word as we interact with an ever-changing world.

Some of the words spoken by Dr. Popa yesterday can help steer us in a helpful direction.  The law of love entails being mindful of God’s presence in our life. Our creating God continuously lures us toward being all that we can be: images of Christ in union with God. In our enthusiasm to carry out this law of love, remember to take care of ourselves as well.

Jesus’ mission to his followers was to preach that the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. How to do it was to do what Jesus did: to respond to human needs. Work sanctifies by calling us to save the globe for others and to save others for the sake of the globe.

Christ is in our midst!

Sermon 220 August 8, 2026

 As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Churc

Lk 9:28-36; 2Cor 3:5b-8, 12-18; Wi 7:25-8:1 Pilgrimage. Seeing in a new light.  

 

       When I was a kid in school learning vocabulary, one common exercise was to give students a new word, or words, to be used in a sentence. This was to help us understand, and maybe even remember, the new word. That word for us today is Transfiguration. I suspect, outside of this feast, we don't use that word very often, if at all. It is specific to the event the apostles Peter, James and John experienced with Jesus on the mountain not long before his passion. Maybe we can bring the wonder of this into our ordinary life experiences. We might think of it as seeing something in a new light.

        The apostles had been living with Jesus during his entire ministry. They could see him in daily life as an ordinary person, the son of man, spoken of in scripture. A teacher of remarkable wisdom. But they were constantly struggling with the reality beyond worldly reality, of Jesus as divine, as the perfect reflection of God, the creator of all things. Whether it was about the calming of the stormy sea, healing all kinds of diseases, turning water into wine, multiplying the loves of bread or driving out demons, they remained mystified, openly wondering who is this man?

       So Peter, James and John were given an insight not shared with the other apostles, a vision of Jesus beyond earthly boundaries. They saw him in a new light, literally. They experienced something so astonishing, they were thrown to the ground. They got a glimpse of God's cosmic reality. But even that was too much for them to fathom. And maybe for us as well.

       It is not unusual to hear of Jesus referred to as the Cosmic Christ. For me, this is simply another way to understand that God is the author, the creator, of all things. It is hard to conceive cosmic more broadly than that. What Christ was opening up to Peter, James and John on that mountain was a vision of the connection between this created world and the creator of this world. Christ was revealed in this new light as the fulfillment of the law and the prophets as represented by Moses and Elijah who appeared with him. And yet, it all vanished in a cloud in an instant.

       But it is not gone. Our eyes can really see that connection in all that we experience in our seemingly ordinary lives if we let God transfigure our hearts. Our interior disposition has to be open to this possibility. We at New Skete are fortunate. Here on this mountain we are graced with the natural wonders of creation.  We are embraced by God's creation when we walk around these grounds or hike our trails and allow our senses to be open to penetrate the divine reality beyond the immediate visual and sensory experience. And by breeding German Shepherd dogs, we participate in the birth and early growth of their puppies, living beings. Seeing creation's constant wonder unfold, literally, in our hands. This is soon to happen again as one of our brood bitches is carrying 10 puppies and is due to give birth any day now.

       Our speaker today, Ioana Popa, will take us on a journey into the realm of scientific inquiry grounded in faith. A journey to help us better appreciate that scientific research and discoveries do not deny God but help us understand a little better the enormity of God's creation. We humans will never be able to wrap our minds totally around the wonder that is God, but every scientific breakthrough takes us another step further along that path.