A Positively Poetic Priest

Easter Sunday Sermon Stone Three years ago this May, I spent three weeks traveling and studying in the Holy Land. Every day was packed full with visiting places throughout Israel, my classmates and I had adventures to the tune of singing Christmas carols in the caves where Jesus may have been born in Bethlehem, drinking from Jacob’s well where Jesus talked with the Syrophoenician woman, swimming in the Sea of Galilee, renewing our baptismal vows in the Jordan River, taking time to walk across the barren hills of the Judean wilderness, and walking the stations of the Via Dolorosa, the way through Jerusalem Jesus is believed to have walked on the way to his crucifixion. On one of our action packed days we experienced an unplanned stop at the border wall separating the Israelis and the Palestinians. The guards went through our tour bus, checking all of our passports, asking a few of the group to get out and check through personal items. We waited there for a while, with the ...

I recently wrote an article for the Pilgrim, a newsletter for friends of St. George's College in Jerusalem for those in Australia, New Zealand, and the other Oceanic Islands. It is a reflection on my experience of the land of Israel, having grown up learning about it, wanting to visit and then getting to see it for the first time in my life. If you're interested, the article is here .

You are sitting on the dark rocky shoreline of the Galilee, some of you standing in the edge of the water, not really watching the little children playing in the water, but definitely watching the small, rocking, wooden fishing boat, pulling the hair from your faces as the wind carries Jesus' voice to you as he teaches about the kingdom of heaven. Interestingly, no one asked Jesus what the kingdom of heaven is like. Jesus has a burning desire to talk about it though, because talk about it he does. At length. The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are phrases used more than ninety times in the New Testament. We have a number of parables which talk about the kingdom of heaven, but we do not have record of anyone asking the question. But because Jesus tells us without anyone having asked, I assume its important. Why do we need to know about the kingdom of heaven? It seems that God cares about us, and in doing so, wants to share with us what home is rea...