Sermons

With each swing of his hammer, a blacksmith hits precisely where he wants. It is an art nearly as old as history and profound for being so rudimentary. A smith begins with a lump of raw, black iron. With fire and the strength of the arm, he pounds that iron into something beautiful. One day, as he was going about his routine, blacksmithing came to the mind of St. Anthony. He was a hermit who lived in the desert. Some pilgrims were with him and asked for advice about the spiri

“’What do you want with us, Son of God?’ they shouted. ‘Have you come here to torture us?’” (Matthew 8:28). They pulled up on the shore to an ugly scene. They were on the outskirts of a town in Gergesenes. Looming ahead were the tombs. An air hung over the whole land, thick and gloomy, that seemed to say: “Do Not Disturb.” Our gospel on the fourth Sunday after Epiphany brings us to a problem. It’s about our tendency, as men and women, to go about life wearing “Do Not Disturb”