St. Thomas' is the buttress that holds me up as I live out my Christian life; a place that encourages me to experience my faith journey at my own pace.  It is a home that I can turn to in times of crisis and joy.  I also know that there are Episcopal altars elsewhere in the world that I can seek when in times of need.

Two weeks ago, I offered you three disciplines for our spiritual journey, our journey with God. They were not a map to holiness, but points on a compass for staying on the Jesus-way as I have known it - they were the disciplines of practicing gratitude, worship and friendship. This week, I offer you three more: Fasting, Justice, and Beauty. They are not promises of security. They are not spiritual or moral requirements for a badge of holiness. Rather, they are pointers along the road with Jesus, the road towards Jerusalem...

When I think about what it takes to make St. Thomas' thrive, I don't first think of money.  After all, we're not a building or a park, we are a group of people.  It's our people, our parishioners, that make us thrive. The opposite is true: that is, St. Thomas' makes its parishioners thrive.

When I initially read the passage for today, I groaned and I did what countless other homiliticians have done in the past, I looked at the other readings searching for something else on which to preach.

I groaned at this Gospel because it is one of those Biblical passages that people use as a cudgel against gay and lesbian people in our quest for equal rights and recognition that we are not second class citizens...