Words From Silence: Contemplation in a World of Action

A Sermon Preached at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark 5 th Sunday After Epiphany, Year A The Very Reverend Tyler B. Doherty, Dean & Rector I was thinking again this week of old, wizened Simeon in the temple—cradling and being cradled by the one in the cradle—the child Jesus who comes into the world as the full and final manifestation of the light of God’s love for all people without exception. In particular, I was remembering those lines from the Nunc Dimittis —“You have set your servant free to go in peace as you have promised... a light to enlighten the nations and the glory of your people Israel.” Simeon has been freed from something (what the Letter to the Hebrews calls the fear of the power of death, rigid adherence to the law), but he has also been freed for something, hasn’t he? Freedom from and freedom for . Freedom from all those things that hinder the light and life of Christ from living itself in and through us, and freedom to be salt and light for everyone ...

A Sermon Preached at the cathedral Church of St. Mark Presentation of Our Lord The Very Reverend Tyler B. Doherty, Dean & Rector Though the twelve days of Christmas ended on the Twelfth Night and Feast of Epiphany, there is a way in which this season of light coming into a dark, broken, and strife-addled world comes to its great fulfilment on February 2 nd —the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord. This is the day when we celebrate the recognition of Jesus by old Simeon and Ancient Anna. And you might have noticed that the liturgy began a little differently today. We began with prayers the bless the “lights,” the candles of the Church, not because we are fire-worshippers who spend our free time at Yankee Candle in the mall, but so that the light we see kindled there, the light of Christ’s love for all people and all of creation, might find its proper place in our hearts. In a world of darkness, in a world of turmoil, we pray that we might root and ground our lives in the l...

A Sermon Preached at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark 3 rd Sunday after Epiphany, Year A The Very Reverend Tyler B. Doherty, Dean & Rector Here we are at the start of the year, and here we are at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel with the calling of Peter and Andrew and the sons of Zebedee, James and John. Their decision to “Drop their nets” and follow Jesus is one of those paradigmatic test cases for conversion. It’s deeply ingrained in our understanding of the Christian life. We hear about people “making a decision for Christ,” in a single, all-consuming moment. Sometimes, people can even tell you the exact time, place, and date of this moment.  I’m not denying the reality of these sudden moments of conversion. They are well-attested in scripture through the likes of Peter, Paul, Isaiah, and Samuel. A dramatic experience of the in-breaking otherness of God reveals itself to the person and is followed by a radical change in the direction of the person’s life....