Loosed Canon

Sermon for the Second Sunday in Lent Yr A March 8, 2020 St. Michael’s Episcopal Church The Reverend Canon Michael J. Horvath Gospel: John 3:1-17 Take a moment to think about a situation that you wished you had a second chance to change, correct, or avoid.  We all have them, don’t we?  The times when we wish we hadn’t said those words that finally broke down a relationship.  Those times when we wished we had told someone who is no longer with us just how much we loved them, how much they meant to us. How about those times when we met someone visiting our church and only later realize that we didn’t ask what their name was?  Or the times we denied ourselves the opportunity to do something interesting or different because we were scared of change?  How many of those situations fill your heart?  Our lists are likely to be long if we sit and really think about it.  I think about it in my personal life and as your rector.  And I find myself so...

First Sunday in Lent Yr A March 1, 2020 St. Michael’s Episcopal Church The Reverend Canon Michael J. Horvath Gospel: Matthew 4: 1-11 On this first Sunday in Lent, we follow Jesus into the wilderness, and watch Jesus face the fullness of his humanity.  He is "famished" after forty days of fasting. Physically, he's at the end of his strength, and fasting for any length of time can literally break you.  Socially, he's alone and friendless.  Spiritually, he is struggling to hang onto his identity as the brightness of his baptism recedes into a hazy, pre-wilderness past.  And it’s in this state of vulnerability that the tempter comes, ready to pull Jesus away from his belovedness, and his vocation. A “wilderness experience” is usually thought of as a tough time in which we endure discomfort and trials. The pleasant things of life are unable to be enjoyed, or they may be absent altogether, and one feels a lack of encouragement. A “wilderness experience” is often...