St. Mark's Episcopal Church

Now we begin the liturgical time known at the Triduum. Specifically tonight we observe the Last Supper and we wash feet. Over the next three days we will walk the journey of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. It is the most compelling observance of our Christian faith. As we travelled through lent I tried to engage other senses in our journey. We smelled the fragrance of nard to bring us closer to Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and our path as the Body of Christ. Academics[

One of the major pieces of advice that a priest receives about the first year in a new parish is, “Don’t make too many changes.” In theory this is sound guidance. But I find myself victim of it on this particular occasion with regard to the readings for today’s liturgy of Palm Sunday: The Passion of our Lord. The Gospel readings of course are from Luke, this being Year C of the Lectionary. The Hebrew Scriptures are represented by Isaiah 50:4-9a, and the Epistle would have bee

All of the Gospels tell a story of a woman anointing Jesus. Matthew and Mark are very similar. They both identify the event taking place at a dinner at the home of Simon the Leper. Neither identifies the woman who anoints Jesus. She is only described as “a woman.” They both agree that this unidentified woman pours very expensive perfume on Jesus’ head. Nard is a class of aromatic amber-colored essential oil derived from a flowering plant that grows in the Himalayas. The oil h

This story that we know so well, that we feel we could recite from memory, is badly named. It would be better known as the parable of the loving father, or at least the parable of the two lost sons. Let’s place this story in context and see if we can decide which other title is best. To begin let us remember that First Century Palestine was steeped in a culture of honor. This story is the last of three that Jesus tells when we hear that: All the tax collectors and sinners wer