“Contemporary Encounters of Growing in Hope” New Life & Hope (based on Mary/Martha/Lazarus)
Experience the Joy of God's Love for You!
Sermons (Page 8)
Baptism is sometimes called enlightenment. The gospel for this Sunday is the story of the man born blind healed by Christ. “I was blind, now I see,” declares the man. In baptism God opens our eyes to see the truth of who we are: God’s beloved children. As David was anointed king of Israel, in…
“Contemporary Encounters of Growing in Hope” Belonging (based on Woman at the Well)
In today’s gospel the Samaritan woman asks Jesus for water, an image of our thirst for God. Jesus offers living water, a sign of God’s grace flowing from the waters of baptism. The early church used this gospel and those of the next two Sundays to deepen baptismal reflection during the final days of preparation…
“Contemporary Encounters of Growing in Hope” Spiritual Yearning (based on Nicodemus)
During Lent we journey with all those around the world who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil. In today’s gospel Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born of water and Spirit. At the font we are a given a new birth as children of God. As God made a covenant with Abraham, in…
“Contemporary Encounters of Growing in Hope” Temptation in the Wilderness
Today’s gospel tells of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. His forty-day fast becomes the basis of our Lenten pilgrimage. In the early church Lent was a time of intense preparation for those to be baptized at the Easter Vigil. This catechetical focus on the meaning of faith is at the heart of our Lenten journey…
On Ash Wednesday we begin our forty-day journey toward Easter with a day of fasting and repentance. Marking our foreheads with dust, we acknowledge that we die and return to the earth. At the same time, the dust traces the life-giving cross indelibly marked on our foreheads at baptism. While we journey through Lent to…
We pray that you have felt God’s presence and love in your life this week, in every way you have needed that reassurance and strength! We continue to hold in our prayers all affected by the Turkey-Syrian earthquake, the war in Ukraine, & ongoing acts of violence in so many communities… This weekend is the…