Words of the Mouth and Meditations of the Heart

Sermon for Easter II, 2026, delivered at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Louisville, KY Text: John 20:19-31 Many years ago, the hospital lab I was working in had its three-year inspection, including a review of the operations manual for each section of the lab. One of the inspectors wanted to know where our procedure for writing procedures was. There was some eye-rolling because we had a self-explanatory template for writing procedures, so a procedure for writing procedures was not needed. That moment of defining a definition recalled conversations I have had with hard-core rationalists who claim that the only things that are true are what we can quantify. So, for example, I can measure out a pound of ground beef to make chili. How do I know it’s a pound? The scale I use tells me so. How do I know the scale is accurate? I use a standard weight to calibrate it. Who made that standard? How did they ensure that it was exactly one pound? You see where this is going, that we can go crazy t...

Stations of the Cross reflection, 2026, delivered at St. Francis of Assisi, Louisville, KY Station 14: Jesus is laid in the tomb      We adore you, oh Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.      When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of      Jesus. He went o Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered to be given to him. Then           J oseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb which he         had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door tomb. Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus when it was taken down from the cross. He did this to preserve Jesus’ dignity and his holiness in the face of an unjust death. Joseph of Arimathea’s example continues today as the volunteers of the St. Joseph of Arimath...

Good Friday, 2026 homily, delivered at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Louisville, KY One of my diaconal ordination charges is to "make Christ and his redemptive love known” to the world, and one way I do that is to volunteer with the St. Joseph of Arimathea Society. I attend funerals every Thursday, and I can confidently say that I have been to more funerals of people I didn’t know than of people I have known. More than half of our funerals have no one in attendance other than the volunteers, with the remaining funerals having family and/or friends present. Beyond addressing the loss and grief of those present, there is a recognition that a relationship has ended at death. And even when no one is present, there is awareness that relationships ended some time ago, whether through estrangement or being the last of the family to die. I experience brief sadness when I think of those relationships that have ended, things said that shouldn’t have been said, and things that needed to b...