Contemplative Episcopalian: Recent Episodes
Contemplative Episcopalian
The first lecture in a Lenten series unpacking how we Episcopalians understand the Bible.
An Epiphany sermon that will make you question everything your Sunday school teacher ever taught you about Jonah.
A sermon for Christ the King Sunday, reflecting on the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.
The Cross through which you see Jesus’ suffering is the same Cross through which Jesus sees your suffering.
What would have happened if Peter’s request would have been granted on top of Mt Tabor?
The Epiphany sermon that garnered such reactions as, ‘Father, I wanted to jump out of my pew in applause,’ and, ‘No more time travel movies for you, Father TJ. My brain hurts.’
This one has it all: cheese, the toddler version of Jesus, animal sacrifice, candles, and an old guy. Most importantly, when Jesus says ‘all’ he means ‘all.’
A sermon for Epiphany season. How do we become the person deep down that we know we are destined to become? Jesus offers some words of wisdom on this today.
Meditation is the practice of having no better place to be, of simply letting your soul rest in this moment and every moment that comes after it.
The passage from Revelation for today is THE most important passage in the whole Bible. Why? Hint, take a look at Revelation 1:1.
Learning what is in your power to control, and what’s not. This is the path to true wisdom.
Should we love every person equally, or just focus on loving those around us really well? If we love everyone equally, wouldn’t this make the love we have with our closest loved ones less special?
A sermon about what it means to be made in the image of the divine and how we can reflect that image.
A sermon reflecting on Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts, the Apostle’s Creed, and the failure of modern philosophy.
In the prayers of the people, we are asking God to fill the cosmos with his healing presence.
A reflection on the creeds and their relationship to liturgical time and mystical experience.
A sermon reflecting on the new fundamentalism that is taking over our country, and what our response should be in light of Advent.
In this new series, Fr TJ is going to unpack the mystical components to the various parts of the traditional Episcopalian (and Western) liturgy.
Better is one day of sheer rage toward God than a thousand mountaintop mystical experiences. For ‘a soul untried by sorrow is good for nothing.’
Sure, you may be able to leave your bad religion behind, but it does not mean that the underlying impulse at the heart of bad religion has left you.
‘Dear Jesus, I am glad that I am not judgmental like other judgmental Christians. I am so thankful that I am not like those people who are thankful that they are not like other people. Amen.’
Another sermon during this season where the focus is on creation care. ‘The human being of the future will be a mystic or she will not exist at all.’
Confronting the dogmas that we Episcopalians have been indoctrinated into whenever it comes to creation care and the climate crises.
A sermon kicking off a season where we in the Episcopal Church are focusing on creation care. A snippet: “You cannot worship Christ on the altar if you do not pity the suffering Christ in melting glaciers, in endangered animals, in parched lands, in polluted oceans, and in forests that have been reduced to ash.”
With such epic one-liners as ‘The greater the gratefulness, the greater the joy,’ and ‘Physics? Who has time for that crap?’, and ‘It is not that Paul doesn’t want to get you drunk,’ who wouldn’t want to give this podcast a listen?
Beer, chiropractors, faith, baseball, subpar parables, the state of Missoura…this sermon has it all. Enjoy.
How do you react to interruptions, to being inconvenienced? Yeah, that pretty much will tell you how much you have let Jesus heal you.
A guy in a collar opines about a controversy in the Church of England, which leads to more opining about evangelism in general.
“The Eucharist is the most special thing in the universe precisely because it is not any more special than anything else.”
Trinity: were the Church Fathers trying to stump us with a bad math equation, or were they inviting us into the mystery of nonduality?
A weird story about tongues of fire that don’t burn people and an old man with the superpower of fiery hands.
Love. The ballet. Steve Perry. Easter Chocolate. Jesus playing a guitar solo. Apparently, this homily has it all.
Reflections on forgiveness and what might possibly be one of the most terrifying passages in the Bible.
This homily has it all: Easter pageants, Anthony Bourdain, Liberace, Sequins, the Great State of ‘Missoura’, and Jesus. He is risen!!!!
The cross through which you meditate on God’s pain is the same cross through which God meditates on yours.
A homily delivered at the DeKoven center in Racine, WI at a service commemorating James DeKoven
No, you will not receive the mark of the beast when you get the vaccine (regardless of what your fundamentalist pastor says). In fact, it is all those who submit themselves to the teaching of fundamentalist pastors who have received the mark already.
‘I just want to lie on the beach and eat hotdogs. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.’ -A Wisdom Saying of Kevin Malone from The Office.
We will never find God as long as we let ourselves believe that God is somewhere other than where we are right now.
A hymn and some reflections by Ashley Humphrey on the relevance of Mary for today’s world.
Fr Tj thinks out loud about how John the Baptist’s life and message can inform us today.
A sermon given on Advent I, 2020. Is Peter talking about the apocalypse or something else in his fiery vision?
A hymn and some reflections on how Jesus’ incarnation is understood in light of the Old Testament.
If baptism is not about the removal of something like dirt from the body, what is it about?
Jesus knew that his nation could never be ‘great again’ if it was only great for some and not for all.
Wisdom is not just an attribute, a virtue, a depiction of God’s (or anyone else’s) character to the Biblical authors. Wisdom is the female manifestation of Yahweh.
A priest reflects on his (not so great) experiences of the Church and Jesus’ words in Matthew 18 about the breaking of communion.
Who are the light of the world and the salt of the earth in our time? Tune in and find out.
An Episcopal priest who actually preaches from the Book of Revelation!!! We are not sure if that has ever happened before!?! More seriously: the homily is a reflection on the concept of theosis in the Book of Revelation
We shouldn’t become stuck on our sentimental feelings about the Jesus of our past experience. Rather, we should seek the fullness of who Christ is in the now.
A homily preached by Meg Trimm, working through Jesus’s words on blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
A reflection of the ‘stages’ of the spiritual life. How does one become a saint? How does one discern where they are at on the journey, and where it is they need to go next?
A reflection from Deacon Gregg Schneider on the state of American politics and how the Gospel should inform our pursuit of justice in this land.
A parable which seeks to cut to the heart of the Gospel reading this the upcoming Sunday.
A mini homily (a parable) intended to open the heart and the mind not just to the Gospel reading’s meaning, but to the Kingdom of God all around you.
A homily delivered by Deacon Gregg Schneider, reflecting on Jesus’ story about the Good Shepherd, and how this story connects to ecological justice.
A homily delivered by Meg Trimm on how the story of the Road to Emmaus speaks to our pain and our experience of God today.
A homily reflecting on the road to Emmaus story, and what that story has to teach is about nondual consciousness.
A sermon delivered on March 29, 2020, diving into the dynamics of contemplative transformation.
We share with you the greatest sermon ever written: Saint John Chrysostom’s Easter Homily. Oh, and Fr TJ says a few things too.
Due to the COVID-19 virus we have decided to include morning prayer into this podcast. This way people at home can still pray with is and hear all of the readings. The homily for this morning is simply titled: The Samaritan Woman.
Fr TJ shares with you the notes from a project he took on while in seminary. He had the opportunity to ‘intern’ at New Camaldoli Hermitage for the summer in 2017. The focal point of this project was learning how to apply contemplative prayer on a parish level. In essence, he wanted to learn how the monastic way of life can influence and revitalize parish life.
A homily delivered in the second Sunday of Lent, 2020. Fr TJ shares his family’s story of their sense of call and reflects on Abraham’s sense of call.
A homily for the first Sunday of Lent, reflecting on the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. The point of the story is not that Jesus is pious in The face of temptation in a way that we are not. The point is that Jesus rules the world in a way that human history has never known before.
A homily delivered by Rev. Gregg Schneider on the 5th Sunday after Epiphany, reflecting on the church’s vocation in this world.
A homily reflecting on spiritual transformation and what role the Eucharist plays in that.
Paul’s reflections on how we project our own subconsciousness onto political and social situations. If we want to heal the division in our world, we must first heal the division within ourselves.
A homily reflecting on the foundational elements for a vibrant and healthy spiritual life.
A homily reflecting on the Gospel from Epiphany 1, and wrestling with the question of why anyone would want to go to church at all in our era. Why not just give up on Christianity?
A homily delivered on Dec. 1, 2019 (Advent 1). Two children were baptized on that day and the homily addressed the congregation’s responsibility towards those being baptized.
A conversation with Kurt McDowell about faith, fasting, exercise, weight loss, theology, and Jesus coming back as the Macho Man Randy Savage.
A homily preached on the cusp of Advent about change and how nothing lasts. But, Jesus promises to be the centering presence as we undergo seasons of change. We must find him in the NOW, though.
As we kick started our stewardship campaign Fr TJ delivered a sermon that cast a vision for St Paul’s future.
A homily for the feast of All Saints. What is the Church? What is a Saint? These are the questions addressed in this homily.
A reflection on the wisdom story that Jesus shares about the Pharisee (religious teacher) and the Tax Collector (a “sinner”). Hint, hint: ironically, you will come to discover that you are the Pharisee.
A homily reflecting on the story of Jacob wrestling with “the angel.” Who was this mysterious wrestler? God? An angel? Or, was it Jacob? Perhaps this story is not about humanity’s struggle with the Divine as much as it is about humanity’s struggle with humanity.
A sermon reflecting on the dynamics of living life together in community, and how to deal with all of the difficulties that accompany it.
A sermon delivered on Oct. 6, 2019 for the feast of St Francis. The full title is, “Through the Eyes of the Oppressed, Christ Sees You. Will you see Christ in Them?”
A sermon delivered Sept. 29, 2019 reflecting on Jesus’ wisdom story about the Rich Man and Lazarus.
A homily delivered on Sept 22, 2019 at St Paul’s. The topic: how praying for others heals us.
Met Trimm, a parishioner at St Paul’s, shared this message with us on Sept. 15, 2019. They preached at a special Evensong service where members of the church and the greater community came together to bless the Rainbow Pride Flag that had been created at our local Rock the Pride event.
This homily was delivered at St Paul’s I n Sept. 13, 2019. The occasion: Mass for the reparation for clergy abuse.
For this episode, Father TJ Humphrey interviews Reverend Shane Spellmeyer. The discussion topic? What it means to be gay and Christian in our world today.
A homiletical reflection on the spiritual discipline/posture of detachment along with a guided meditation focused on the collect prayer for 9/9/2019.
For this guided meditation we will be focusing specifically on breath work (breath as mantra), the Jesus Prayer, and my own personal mantra. The quote for the day comes from The Cloud of Unknowing.
A homily reflecting on Franciscan spirituality, contemplative prayer, the spiritual journey, the role of the Church, and inner transformation.
A homily reflecting on the Western Christian notion of the Dark Night of the Soul, teasing out what it means and how one makes their way through it.
A homily reflecting on the contemplative life, the spiritual journey, inner transformation, cultural change, and Luke 10:38-42.
A homily reflecting on how the Divine interacts with our bodies. God loves us just as we are and we would do well to accept God’s acceptance of us.