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St. Paul’s - Ash Wednesday - 2/18/2026 Years ago I heard a story about a priest who went to a new parish. I don’t know if it really happened; it probably didn’t, but I think there’s some truth in the story.  Anyway, the priest was meeting and getting to know the people and would ask about their relationship with God. Most responded with the usual and expected answers, the kind of things you and I might say. But there was this one parishioner who was so enthusiastic and positi

St. Paul's - Transfiguration Sunday - 2/15/2026 It's Transfiguration Sunday — the apex of the liturgical season we call Epiphany.  After weeks of hints and intimations — a star, a dove, a baptizer’s voice in the wilderness  — today we emerge into full sunlight, blinded as God parts the veil and shows us Christ’s majesty. All of the Synoptic Gospels tell the story of the Transfiguration, underscoring its importance to the early church, and over the centuries, the event has acc

St. Paul’s - Epiphany 5 - February 8, 2026 You are the salt of the earth …. You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others.  Jesus’ words here insist to us that public witness is central to our baptismal identity. We have been made into light, and light exists to reveal!  Public witness is not just a nice addition to the work of the gospel. Living authentically as light-bearers is at the core of who God created us to be. Revealing evil by confronting it an

Bishop’s Committee Meeting/WEB Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025 Tricia Seifert Joni Marginot via phone Fr. Michael Wallens Also present: Bob Fast, Treasurer; Bob Rice (Past President) The meeting commenced at 12:33 p.m. with opening prayer. 1. The minutes from the November 16, 2025 meeting were circulated via email. Joni moved to approve, seconded by Fr Mike. All approved. 2. Treasurer’s Reports: a. Bob F. circulated the reports in advance of the meeting. i. Diocesan quarterly treasurer

St. Paul’s - Epiphany 1 - January 11 2026 When my older son josh was in kindergarten, I would pick him up at noon and we would get lunch and hangout where some water flowed in Dallas. One afternoon he told me it had been a difficult morning.. Something had happened. Things had not gone like he wanted. I don’t remember what happened but whatever it was, it messed up his day I listened as he told me all about it. And when he finished I asked what he did. Oh , he said, I just de

I think today’s gospel should have come with a spoiler alert. So here it is. Are you ready?  Spoiler Alert:  Christmas happens in the real world; not in the candlelight of a silent night, and not away in a manger.  Here’s why I say that: The little Lord Jesus [can’t risk being] asleep on the hay.   Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.  Get up , the angel warns Joseph in a dream, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt.   The little Lord Jesus [will

St. Paul’s - Christmas 1 - December 28 2025 I’m going to begin today’s sermon with a grammar question. Merry Christmas.  But first, a little review. You remember what a noun is, right? It’s a word used to describe a person, place, or thing. And how about a verb? That’s a word used to describe an action, occurrence, or state of being.  So here’s my question: Is Christmas a noun or a verb?  For most of us (and multiple sources on Google) Christmas is a noun. It’s the commemorat

St. Paul’s - Advent 3 - December 14, 2025 Mary, Mary, Mary. Gentle virgin, meek and mild. For centuries, the church has tried to portray Mary as submissive, and thus paradigmatic for female lives on earth. The church has suggested, not subtly, that just as Mary turned over her will to God, so should women turn over their wills to God’s representatives on Earth: that is, to serving the church and its officials.             This archetype of Mary glosses motherhood––the fierces

St. Paul’s - Advent 2 - 12/7/2025 It’s the second Sunday of Advent, which means it’s time to brace ourselves for John the Baptist.  Dressed in camel’s hair and fueled by locusts, the curmudgeonly prophet raises his voice and lets us have it: You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruits worthy of repentance. If you’re looking for a soft, pillowy entry into the season before Christmas, John isn’t going to provide it.  There’s nothing gentle o

St. Pauls - Christ the King - November 23, 2025 What to do as nationalism, secularism and strong-man dictators rise up across the world? In 1925 Pope Pius XI instituted Christ the King Sunday because he felt, that with the rising nationalism, secularism, and strong man dictators that eventually became World War II, a Sunday was necessary to refocus us on why we are here – to be icons of God’s love in this world. Originally set as the last Sunday of October, in 1969, another e

St. Pauls - Proper 28— November 16, 2025 Even amid a difficult, dark time in Israel’s history, the prophet Isaiah testifies to God’s promise one day, some day to bring a new heaven and new earth. That is what our OT reading is about. No wonder that we often read those stirring words at funerals. New heaven and a new earth ,  the wolf and lamb will grace together,  … no weeping or crying ever again. It’s almost too good to believe. That’s what many have said since Isaiah prono

St. Pauls - Proper 27- November 9, 2025 The skeptic confronted the priest. He said, If you really believe what you preach, then I make you a challenge. Drink this poison here and if you don’t die, I’ll believe.  The priest retorted, I have a better plan. You drink the poison and I’ll raise you up. We’re going to talk about the resurrection, something we hope is considerably down the road. Concerning the resurrection, there are two major points to make. First, when we recite t

St. Pauls - All Saints Sunday — November 2, 2025 TODAY the church celebrates All Saints Day. I wonder what your definition of a saint is…..Let’s see…. so admirable that if you died you’d want them to take care of your puppy  but with whom you wouldn’t want to go to an R rated movie. c. Every Christian, including you, and many other persons whom you wouldn’t want to hang out with. d. And you certainly wouldn’t want to be one! I saw a T-shit a little kid was wearing once that s

St. Pauls - Proper 24 - October 19, 2025 We know today’s gospel as the parable of the unjust judge. One implication of that title is that the widow is just. Maybe she is. But I’m not convinced. That makes the story too clean and easy. So I struggle with this story. I think it is a difficult and challenging story because it so easily lends itself to a simple and superficial reading. Here’s what I mean by that.  We could follow Luke’s lead and say that this is simply a story ab

St. Pauls - Proper 23— October 12, 2025 We find ourselves living in a world that seems increasingly scary and unfamiliar. As every day we pump more and more fossil fuel pollution into the Earth’s atmosphere, the climate responds with more violent weather, all threatening lives of creatures on land, in the air, and in the sea. And not only are we polluting our atmosphere, we are polluting our souls with hate speech, lack of taking time to listen and understand, as well as atta

St. Pauls - Proper 20 - September 21, 2025 I think I can safely say that no parable of Jesus’s baffles me as thoroughly as the parable of...

St. Pauls - Proper 18 - September , 2025 So who wants to be a disciple of Jesus? He certainly doesn’t pull any punches about what it...

St. Pauls - Proper 17— August 31, 2025 “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.” So we’re told in today’s Letter to the  Hebrews...

St. Pauls - Proper 16 - August 24, 2025 I don’t know her name. I don’t know where she comes from. I don’t know why she appears in the...

St. Pauls - Proper 15— August 17, 2025 The Gospel of Luke begins with the proclamation that Jesus will guide our feet into the way of...