Author Archives: edithmhumphrey

2 Cor 9:6-11; Psalm 111/112; 1 Kings 17 As I contemplate our Epistle reading for this coming Sunday, I sit surrounded by reminders of God’s goodness to our family.  As ex-patriot Canadians, we celebrate Thanksgiving early, and I enjoyed spending time with my grandchildren this week, singing (to the Godspell tune) “All Good Gifts AroundContinue reading “Scattering Abroad and Thankful Generosity”

(2 Cor 6:1-11; Psalm 68/69; Isaiah 52:13-53:12) Our faith is full of mysteries, and requires us to hold together ideas that may seem, on the surface, irreconcilable.  After all, we worship the God-Man, glimpse a God who is utterly beyond us while unthinkably close by the ever-present Spirit, and understand ourselves to be creatures givenContinue reading “Pastors and Paradox: Sixteenth after Pentecost, First Sunday of Luke”

1 Cor 1:18-25; Gal 6:11-18, Col 1:19-20; Numbers 21:4-9, Exodus 15:22-26; Proverbs 3:11-18 And so we come to one of the oldest feasts in our church year, all but forgotten by most Protestants today.  No doubt this is because it focusses upon a holy object, the elevated Holy Cross, and the Reformation cast doubt onContinue reading “Exalting and Exulting in the Cross”

1 Cor 15:1-11; Daniel 12; Genesis 49; Exodus 1; Ezekiel 47-48. This week I had a spirited interchange with a former student and dear friend who reposted a meme that declared, “Religious tradition produces bondage; the Holy Spirit produces liberty.”  At one of my not-so-tactful moments, I responded that this was “Balderdash!”  Good thing thatContinue reading “Traditions of First Importance: Twelfth Sunday of Matthew/after Pentecost”

1 Corinthians 4:6-19; Job; Deuteronomy 8:7-9; Phil. 2:5-11. Sixteen-year-old Bram Bowman stands in formation along with other inmates in the courtyard of a dystopian labor camp. Dirty, damaged, and near despair, he, with the others, is being inspected by the pampered governor and his wife. The governor comments unempathetically, “Well, this is depressing!” But weContinue reading “An Unseemly Spectacle?: Tenth Sunday after Pentecost”

1 Cor 1:10-18; 2 Chronicles 30, Colossians 1 We are surrounded on all sides by a culture that values diversity, novelty, and variety.  Even the dog owners on my FB page talk about the importance of not “boring” your pup with the same food every day!  I remember when we first moved to Pittsburgh 18Continue reading “Speaking the Same Thing! The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost”

Titus 3:8-15; Romans 12:6-14; Numbers 12:3; Isaiah 66:2; Proverbs 25:27 “You first!” “No, you first!” “No, I insist, you first” “No, indeed, you!”  A crash ensues, as each obeys the other. We’ve seen this scenario in jokes, books, and comedies. And, like most humor, it has a foundation in reality.  Both can’t go first.  Similarly,Continue reading ““You First!”: The Sunday of the Ecumenical Council(s)”

Romans 6:18-23, Galatians 5:22-26; 6:1-2; Genesis 22; Leviticus 26:12-18. We come to a place in the Church year in which Orthodox jurisdictions following the same calendar diverge in their epistle readings, though not the gospel readings.  In the gospel for this Sunday, the fourth after Pentecost, we are heartened by Jesus’ encounter with a GentileContinue reading “On Slaves, Fruit and Freedom: The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost”

Heb 11:33-12:2; Job 1 and 42; Ex 20:12; Deut 6:3; Ps 119:50; Lk 1: 7 and 24:49 The end of the passage in Hebrews concerning the cloud of witnesses is so important that we read it liturgically several times a year—we hear it both as we begin Lent, and as we cap Pascha and PentecostContinue reading “A Promise is a Promise?: The Sunday of All Saints”

Acts 20:16-36, Genesis 15, Genesis 28 Where do we usually go to hear the words of Jesus?  Why, of course, to the gospels!  But this Sunday, as we prepare for Pentecost (just as St. Paul was in our reading from Acts), we find an otherwise unattested word of Jesus in an unusual place:  in theContinue reading ““It Is More Blessed To Give Than To Receive:” Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council”