Legacy Sunday: Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost 9/26/21

Help us Lord to be masters of ourselves, that we may joyfully and consciously respond to and participate in your creation. Take our minds and think through them, our lips and speak through them, and take our hearts and set them on fire. My name is Tom Gossen and I...

Asking God for Wisdom: Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost 9/19/21

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord our Strength and Our Redeemer. Amen. In today’s scripture readings, wisdom and a life of service become two threads or themes that come through clearly. So, I will focus...

What Does It Mean?: Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost 9/12/21

One of the things which makes me feel old – and if not really old, then certainly not young – is talking to people, usually younger, who have a vocabulary full of pop culture allusions. For example, just recently Curate Dillon was in my office and we were talking...

Being Made Like Jesus: Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost 8/15/21

Just a few days ago, one of my best friends, Will, texted me out of the blue and asked “Of all the popular saints, which one is your favorite?” I pretty quickly thought of St. Francis. He was born to a wealthy family and led a pretty indulgent life. Without giving you...

The Impulse to Love: Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost 8/8/21

Recently I read a book about several boys who ran away from a Native American boarding school during The Great Depression. The boys, on the run, found themselves in one of the many Hoovervilles – settlements of homeless people often called “hobos” who lived along...