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St Augustine's Episcopal Church, 290 Henry Street, New York, NY (2026)

05/31/2026

The First Sunday after Pentecost: Trinity Sunday

05/24/2026

The Day of Pentecost.

05/17/2026

The Seventh Sunday of Easter

05/10/2026

The Sixth Sunday of Easter: Mother's Day

04/14/2024

He is not a Ghost
by The Rev. Dr. Nathanael Saint-Pierre
(Luke 24: 36b – 48)

I have studied, but I need your strength. I have prepared, but I need your power,
I’m willing, and I want to, but only you can make me able
Silently now I wait for thee, ready my God thy will to see
Open mine eyes and illumine me. Spirit divine

Opening: Have you ever been in a room and heard people talk about you as if you weren’t? Have you ever been in a space filled with presences that you perceive and ask yourself if you’re crazy or not? Have you ever been at a funeral, watching the lifeless body in the casket and hoping that your loved one would just come back to life? What would you do if that were to happen?

Situation: Jesus died a few days ago, according to the Gospel of Luke. With him, the hope of those who thought he was the Messiah. His closest allies were in disarray, afraid to stand by him during his agony. Their entire dream that they would be honorable members of his court was shattered. No more kingdom for the one who, on the cross, said it is finished. The disciples thought it was. They accepted it. He was buried, locked in a tomb with no escape. The tomb was hewn in a rock. A big stone was rolled and installed at the entrance of the tomb. Jesus was boxed. All was accomplished. In normal circumstances, that should have been the end. But nothing about Jesus is standard. The tomb was found opened. The big stone at the entrance had been moved. Jesus’ body was missing. The box was cracked open. While this was enough to require an investigation, the rumor started to spread that some people had seen him. Not his dead body, lifeless, carried by zealous fanatics. A lady not quite ladylike (she was a pr******te) affirmed that he had spoken to her. The disciples met behind closed doors to discuss the situation and maybe find some clarity.

Complication: What did the disciples in the room think was happening? What do we understand about Jesus’ resurrection? What was Jesus’ message to the disciples? What is Jesus’ message to us?

Resolution: When the disciples locked the doors of the upper room, they thought they were in security. They believed they were protected from the spite and wretchedness of the people who killed Jesus and who might want to eradicate the movement that he started. But life and death can access humans no matter how much we think we are protected. They can walk past closed doors to affect our lives positively or negatively.

Managing life and death with fear is a bad choice. The disciples didn’t know that. They were controlled by their human emotions, locked in by their human limitations. In that room, they were about to realize that love cannot be boxed, that nothing is impossible to God, and that their failure cannot change God’s nature.

Although we have received four versions and many testimonies (in the Bible) about Jesus’ resurrection, we still have difficulty believing it. We are from a scientific generation for which facts are facts and what cannot be proven is just tales or fiction. Religion has been so often used as a tool for manipulation that to believe Jesus exists is, for many, naïve. To believe he was crucified, died, was buried, and even resurrected is, for some, just stupid.

Many are afraid of a Jesus who invites humans to forgive. Many are afraid of a movement that calls them to love their enemies and to pray for their oppressors. Who can achieve that? This is paranormal, extraterrestrial, and inhuman. What we believe is natural is transactional salvation, an eye for an eye, and evil for evil. One does good for reward or bad for curse. We prefer to die in hatred than to forgive the aggressor. We demand for him to repent, and when he does, we question the sincerity of his repentance.

But Jesus did not exit the tomb to make Peter pay for his denial. He passed the locked doors to bring peace to the hearts of people he loved who were troubled because of their own fear. No matter their reason for loving Jesus, he did not want to be loved for a reason. He was not a ghost there to amplify the fear. He walked into the room to teach that the way the disciples could respond to fear was a choice. They could hide behind closed doors or face their fear to accomplish their mission in the world.

We also have a choice in how we respond to the fears of modern-day life. We can respond with entitlement. Feeling so much closer to God than others, we can try to kill whatever number of enemies multiplied by ten for every soldier we lose. But Jesus is alive in the forgiveness and love we extend to others. He was not a ghost, nor is he a fiction today. He is alive in the sacrifice of a mother to give birth and the duty of the father to provide for his progeniture. Jesus is alive when no other protection is efficient in keeping us safe.

Celebration: On CBS TV, there is a weekly series called “Ghosts.” It is the story of Samantha, a cheerful freelance journalist, and Jay, an up-and-coming chef from the city, who throw both caution and money to the wind when they decide to convert a huge run-down country estate they inherited into a bed and breakfast -- only to find it's inhabited by the many spirits of deceased residents. The departed Souls are a close-knit, eclectic group that includes a saucy Prohibition-era lounge singer, a pompous 1700s Militiaman, a '60s hippie fond of hallucinogens, and an overly upbeat '80s boy scout troop leader. If the spirits were anxious about the commotion a renovation and B&B would create in their home, it would be nothing compared to when they realize Samantha is the first living person to see and hear them.

While in fear, humans are also fascinated by the afterlife. We all hope that, somehow, we will reconnect with the people we love and join them when the time is right. But Jesus is more concrete than ghosts. He ate with the disciples. He is at our churches as the hungry, the stranger, the migrant, the person we choose to exclude or “other” because he is different. Jesus passes through locked doors every time we invite someone in. Not only are we opening our hearts, but we are also transforming the structures of exclusion that are so popular in oppressive systems.

This might be my last sermon to St Augustine’s. I want to thank all of those who have not let their fear prevent them from welcoming me and supporting my ministry during the past twelve years. I am forever grateful and can tell you that your sacrifice has not gone unnoticed. In you, I have met Jesus, the resurrected Jesus, and the living and life-giving Jesus. The Jesus who wants you to remember: He is with you when all others are against you. The Jesus who gives you rest. The Jesus who will always bless you. The Jesus who will never fail you. The Jesus who will strengthen you. The Jesus who will answer your prayers. The Jesus who is for you and will provide for you. The Jesus who will guide you because he loves you. Amen.

04/01/2024

Nothing better than to welcome a new member of the family on Resurrection Sunday. What people thought was the end is a new beginning. What people thought was death is in fact life renewed. If you agree say “Amen.”

03/31/2024

While It Was Still Dark
by The Rev. Dr. Nathanael Saint-Pierre
(John 20: 1 – 18)

I have studied, but I need your strength. I have prepared, but I need your power,
I’m willing, and I want to, but only you can make me able
Silently now I wait for thee, ready my God thy will to see
Open mine eyes and illumine me. Spirit divine

How many of you feel we are navigating dark times? What kind of darkness are we facing? Are you an early voter without a clue who you should vote for? Do you feel forced to pick the lesser of two evils? Are you a migrant who thought you came to the United States of Paradise, where lights are always bright, and found yourself in a deep blackout, killed on a bridge by a boat without power? How many of you are disappointed to find yourself in Hell? How many of you hope there is light at the end of the tunnel? How many of you keep faith that Jesus is no longer dead but is well alive?

The Gospel of John we read today starts like that: “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.” Although it is easier to understand that John was speaking of the early morning obscurity, we can also assume that for Mary Magdalene, there was another darkness, the darkness of death, a mental darkness of feeling let down. His teacher, the one who saved her from being stoned, died brutally three days earlier. It was dark. She came to the tomb to care for Jesus' body, but the tomb was empty. It was dark. Her friends, who usually walked with the teacher and might shed some light on what was happening, fled. It was dark. She was at the cross with only one of the disciples and a few women, among them Jesus’ mother, who could not comprehend why her son had been killed. It was dark. Even the sun disappeared in the third hour that day.

Complication: Was Jesus’ resurrection evident for Mary Magdalene? Is it obvious to us modern-day Christians? How did Jesus reveal his resurrection to Mary Magdalene? How is Jesus manifesting his living among us today?

Although they witnessed Lazarus’ resurrection, Jesus’ contemporaries did not capture his message loud and clear enough to accept that he would die and, after three days, resurrect. Not just Mary Magdalene but the whole community surrounding Jesus was in despair. It isn't easy to keep believing when so severely tested. Jesus was the hope of a multitude of followers. People trusted he was gifted. Mary Magdalene was able to see his abilities firsthand. The public tribunal condemned her. Her clients were ready to stone her. Her accusers were the beneficiaries of her services. And Jesus, faithful to his mission, saved her from her chastisement. Her presence at the tomb the day after the sabbath expressed her gratitude. But she was swallowed by darkness when she found the tomb empty. It was as if the death of Jesus was not painful enough. The trauma of looking at him breathing his last was not damaging enough. Now, his body was missing. Who could have removed it? What was going on? This was not just an eclipse where the sun was temporarily obstructed by (God) the Son. It was total chaos, confusion, and loss.

In recent years, the world seems to be engulfed in a commitment to darkness, a darkness that we cannot walk away from without the light of Jesus. Four years ago, it was Covid. We have seen how greed and power grabbing have caused millions to die. Added to that, for almost a year now, the powers of this world have been at war. Russia, feeling geopolitically threatened by the Western world, invaded Ukraine to protect itself. Thousands are dying. Israel, attacked by Hamas, is at war with Palestine. Thousands are dying. In many countries, particularly Haiti, street gangs are taking over control. People are killed every day, women are r***d, people are kidnapped. We know where the weapons are made, but we don’t understand why they are used against an unarmed population. Who is sending them? Who orders and pays for them? The darkness is still thick, and we see no light. The smoke is so dense that we must close our eyes. Some would think we must have learned that the evil one needs the darkness to do his work. In eight days from today, certain regions of the earth will experience a solar eclipse. There will be physical darkness all around. Some prophets of bad omens are already predicting the worst. We are uncertain about the future. We are like the disciples when Jesus died. A people without a shepherd. A world without a bright star.

But Mary ran and went to Peter and told him about her findings. The tomb was empty. How could this be? Peter may not have been brave enough to confront the darkness. He himself has lost many fights against the darkness. The other disciple, the one that Jesus loved, returned to the tomb with him and Mary. There, they saw the empty tomb. The other disciple saw and believed. Peter and Mary did not yet see the light. Peter, discouraged, returned home, but Mary lingered behind. She saw two angels inside the empty tomb, and one of them asked her: “Woman, why are you weeping?” “They have taken away my Lord,” Mary said, “and I do not know where they have laid him.” And Jesus stood there in her presence. But the human eye, when for too long in darkness, can’t see light. Mary could not see that it was Jesus. Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!”

Jesus, while Mary could not identify him, knew Mary by name and could –like the time she was accused, condemned, and held for ex*****on – pull her out of this darkness, this sadness, and this madness. The brutality of the empire could not eclipse the spiritual sun of her life that Jesus represented. Jesus was killed, but God raised him. Beloveds, it was a day like today, a Sunday!

Therefore, the announced eclipse is not a reason to let fear traumatize us. Jesus is well alive and still revealing himself to many. The tomb is empty, but the body has not been stolen. It is empty because Jesus is well alive. That is what I believe. I believe that every time love triumphs over hatred, Jesus is alive. Every time that we remember that someone somewhere has a need that we can address with empathy, Jesus is alive. A cup of water to the thirsty, a piece of bread to the hungry, an act of kindness to the stranger, a temporary shelter for the homeless, we have the power to let Jesus manifest himself in the lives we touch. While it is still dark, keep hope. Jesus on the cross was the hope of the crooked (marginalized, dehumanized, disabled). While it’s still dark, reflect the love of Jesus. He gave us the power to shine. And this little light of ours must shine to change the nightmares of this darkness-friendly world to the dreams God intended.

When it is still dark, it is never the time to panic. The shadow of evil might be at work, creating an illusion with fake evidence appearing real. But God’s light can be unfolding. Things out of our control are enlightening our path. God is seeking and finding us to call us by name. We must die to resurrect. Nothing human is eternal. Even God, becoming human, had to die so that, resurrected, Jesus could triumph over every evil and make us worthy to stand before God. Resurrection must be the reality to accept. Even in death, sadness, and madness, our voices should join in a melody of love. Love, even killed, cannot be destroyed. Jesus is the incarnation of God’s love, unconditional love, and eternal love.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Jesus is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen!

03/24/2024

The Cross of Love
by The Rev. Dr. Nathanael Saint-Pierre
(Marc 15: 1 – 47)

I have studied, but I need your strength. I have prepared, but I need your power,
I’m willing, and I want to, but only you can make me able
Silently now I wait for thee, ready my God thy will to see
Open mine eyes and illumine me. Spirit divine

Have you ever thought of Jesus crucified on the cross? What are your thoughts when you think of him? Did he get what he deserved? Or was his crucifixion a travesty of justice? What did the king people welcomed with alleluias and hosannas then, eight days later, crucified, do to deserve death and death upon a cross of hatred?

I’d like to take you on a journey with Jesus to Jerusalem. He is a devout Jew. People called him Rabbi. He performed miracles – his first was at a wedding in Cana, and his last, according to the Gospel of John, was to bring Lazarus back to life after four days in a tomb. These miracles were not just acts of kindness but were signs of his divine power and love, ultimately leading to his crucifixion. People needed to understand something words could not explain. God’s love is not just words and commands but redemptive actions. Jesus was about to use the tools of the oppressive system to put God’s love on full display. The betrayals, the backstabbings, the selling of souls for material gains, the jealousy of oligarchs unable to comprehend God, the many so-called experts who knew nothing outside of a transactional relationship with God, Jesus would walk to the cross carrying the weight of all. In just a few hours, from Gabbatha to Golgotha, all the weaknesses of the oppressive system will be exposed, and the unconditional love of God will be revealed.

Why was Jesus put to death by the very people he came to save? Why do we still ignore the display of God’s love on the cross? Jesus saved his contemporaries from sin. Jesus is saving us from our sins today.

During his three years of active ministry, Jesus troubled the water. He shook the status quo. He spoke truth to power. No matter if it was to the Roman Empire or the Jewish religious oligarchs, Jesus pointed his finger at the oppressive systems of his time. His miracles were not to show off; they were to repair his era's social fabric and spiritual brokenness. However, his teachings were not understood enough to get people to change their ways and develop authentic relationships with God. His legitimacy was questioned. People found him to be the problem instead of receiving his messages as solutions. Jesus became an embarrassment for the locals and an annoyance for the occupation forces. The truth of his message was an offense to the believers. They interpreted it as blasphemy and justified their decision to kill him. The oppressive system used Jesus as an object to display how disobedience to its rules would be repressed. The one who was sent to humanity to demonstrate the love of God was brutally eliminated after being backstabbed, betrayed, and misunderstood. Humankind insisted that God must be vindictive, similar to God’s creation, instead of the creation having God as a model.

Today, two thousand years after the resurrection and despite the Gospels, we, a modern society claiming to be Christian, have not bought into the grace offered by Jesus. If it is free, salvation has no worth or value. We still hold dear the transactional relationship with God and one another. We love those who love us back. We are generous towards those who give to us. Must we give someone something, we go back to compare the value of the gift we last received from him. Anyone holding us accountable is our enemy: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. With our materialistic or capitalistic structured communities, we identify ourselves according to the value of bank accounts, education, or skin color. Some have even overestimated their estate to access better loans and insurance rates. We don’t respect those we belittle. People with low incomes are invisible. The migrants are unwelcome when they don’t come from the right countries or aren’t from the right ethnic group. We carry big crosses on our necks and giant bibles in our hands, supposedly to make it clear we are Christians, but we also have guns that are used to destroy the gift of life God entrusted to us. There is not a week without one young black man killed by a peer or the police. Countries like Haiti, Palestine, and Ukraine are left to fight alone against more powerful oppressive forces, always hungry for more territory and thirsty for blood. When it is not because of racial issues, we don’t go to their rescue because we don’t have an interest in them. It’s total indifference. We side with the oppressor when they look like us or represent us. We side with the aggressors when they are our allies.

Jesus died on the cross with his arms wide open to welcome all in without conditions. The criminal on the cross did not know Jesus that well but allowed Jesus to enter his heart. Jesus assured him of salvation. Jesus died for all. He died for the tax collector as well as the pr******te. He died for his persecutors as well as those who rejected his teachings. He died because that was the only way to show how much God cared. Jesus died for his allies because some of them were not good people. He also died for the disinherited.

Until today, Jesus’ love has not been accepted, but the Jesus Movement is active through the Way of Love. Every time the church denounces injustice, Jesus risks his life to save. Jesus extends grace to all who feel unworthy. His arms remain wide open to welcome any human being who feels unloved. I’ve heard several times people who said Jesus is no longer on the cross. I dare to say that Jesus is crucified, again and again, every time we forget that love is the only path for God’s creation to survive. Jesus is on the cross every time we betray and backstab our neighbor, every time we take pleasure in hurting a sister or brother. Jesus saves us whenever our guilt makes us unworthy of God’s love. We can proclaim that it is not we but Jesus who saves. Jesus enters Jerusalem when we open our hearts to become the sacred space for his presence to manifest, but we make our hearts Golgotha when we turn away from forgiveness and love, making our hearts a tribunal for condemnation and judgment.

A man saw a snake being burned to death and decided to take it out of the fire🔥. When he did, the snake bit him and caused excruciating pain🐍. The man dropped the snake, and the reptile fell right back into the fire. So, the man looked around and found a metal rod and used it to take the snake out of the fire and save its life🌿. Someone watching turned to the man and said, “That snake bit you. Why are you still trying to save it?” The man answered: “The snake's nature is to bite, but that doesn't change my nature, which is to help.” Beloveds, don't change your nature just because someone hurts you. 🌹 Don't lose your good heart, but learn to take precautions ♥️

The name Jesus means God saves. Even crucifixion could not change Jesus’ nature. At the cross, instead of blasting a criminal who was paying for his crime and throwing this criminal’s sins in his face, Jesus comforted him with words of positive reinforcement. “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” When tested to stone a pr******te, Jesus answered, “The one who is sinless must throw the first stone.” No one could. At the cross, he could have used his power to save himself. Instead, he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Salvation does not come because of what we do. It comes because of the power in the name of Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain. There is no Easter without Good Friday. There is no resurrection without the cross and the tomb. That tomb could not change Jesus’ nature. He remained incorruptible until God brought him back to life.

The cross of love is our challenge to follow Jesus in his temerity to do good and to love despite human ungratefulness. Jesus went and continues to go beyond human gratitude and recognition to save no matter the condition in which life is lived. He inspires us to go the extra mile to give what might appear too important to offer. Love is sacrifice indeed.

May this Palm Sunday, which begins Holy Week, become an opportunity to remain serene. God has not resigned. God is still in control. God will overcome our sins with love. The cross of love is none other than the many decisions Jesus took to introduce us to God’s eternal embrace. And, to achieve that, Jesus stretched out his arms on the cross of love. Amen.

03/09/2024

The Price of Our Redemption: The Venom of Love
by The Rev. Dr. Nathanael Saint-Pierre
(John 3: 14 – 21)

I have studied, but I need your strength. I have prepared, but I need your power,
I’m willing, and I want to, but only you can make me able
Silently now I wait for thee, ready my God thy will to see
Open mine eyes and illumine me. Spirit divine

Have you accepted Jesus as your (personal) Savior? What does that mean for you? What do you think you can do to save yourselves? Please! Share with me. Can you live without failure or sin? In order to save yourself, can you go to church more, fast, and starve yourself? Can you pray for your way in to salvation?

I hope you have read the whole chapter 3 of John and opened yourselves to the context of the pericope we use as our gospel text for today.

John presents Jesus in a conversation with Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a member of the ruling council, who did not want to be viewed as interested in Jesus in broad daylight and came to question Jesus at night. Nicodemus asked Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” It seems Jesus captured that Nicodemus was seeking his way to the kingdom. “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus replied, “You are Israel’s teacher and do not understand these things?” and Jesus went on to teach Nicodemus about the kingdom. During that teaching, Jesus invited Nicodemus to let go of what he thought he knew to understand that redemption is God’s initiative. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” this might be the most well-known verse of the bible, but it was meant to transmit a clear message.

What was Nicodemus's mindset regarding salvation? What is our mindset regarding redemption? What was Jesus' message to Nicodemus and his disciples? What is Jesus’ message to us today?

The tradition in the mindset of the Jews, including Nicodemus, was that their relationship with God was transactional. Someone who respected the law of God was rewarded. Someone who disobeyed the law of God was punished. Death was a punishment, the consequence of breaking the law of God. The Messiah was coming to teach them how to seal the deal with God. The notion of being born again was a new and strange concept for Nicodemus and his contemporaries. They were so much living in the physicality of things that Nicodemus naively asked Jesus if he must go back into his mother’s womb and reenter the world. For someone with such a literal understanding, that was the only possibility. That’s why Jesus had to use a different concept, known by the Jews, to bring Nicodemus to understanding. The image of the snake was familiar in Jewish folklore. Although the law said that no image must be made of things on earth, in heaven, or underground and worshiped, it is reported in the Book of Numbers that during the wilderness crossing, the people, impatient, complained against God and Moses. In retribution, God sent terrible serpents to bite the people and kill them. God instructed Moses to make a serpent of bronze so that when the people repented, anyone bitten by a snake could look at the serpent on the pole and be healed. Maybe that’s where the symbol of pharmacology came from. God is always leading God’s people.

It must be different for us living after Jesus’ resurrection and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We should have received the memo of why Jesus died on the cross, but we still adhere to tradition. We still believe, -- and some of us preach -- that we can do something to be awarded redemption. We do good; we are saved. If we do badly, we are doomed. The trouble with that understanding is, then, what about grace? We have been programmed to believe that God can only love us under certain conditions and if we meet God’s requirements. We still hold to the truth that God is a vindictive being, holding everyone accountable for our bad moves. God has a tally sheet with every single failure, and when comes the day of judgment, Jesus will publicly embarrass and humiliate the sinners.

Particular churches play on the fear of judgment, the fear of embarrassment, and the fear of hell to prey on the believers. It is not that we must be such a liberal church that we should promote a life of debauchery without a moral compass. But we must not use people’s guilt to make them pious. The church’s role is not to fix people. Only God can. The church’s role is to proclaim the good news (gospel) that Jesus came and paid our redemption with the cross.

Indeed, Jesus paid for the redemption of humankind. Jesus taught Nicodemus that to be born again is the action of the Holy Spirit in God that reclaimed ownership of every human life. The bronze serpent had no power but the power of God to give back life and immortality to those bitten by the evil snakes of dissatisfaction and complaint. Jesus compared his persona to the snake on the pole. “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” The Son of Man is also the Son of God, the gift of a loving God to a world bitten by evil snakes and infected with the venom of hatred. The invasion of Rome and subjugation of Israel was the venom of hatred in action. Reducing people to the status of slaves was the venom of hatred in action. Caesar proclaiming himself a god and imposing a tax on people was the infection of the venom of hatred and ambition. Jesus came as the antidote, making himself a snake, a snake inoculating the venom of love.

Jesus remains in our modern world, the snake inoculating the venom of love. We are experiencing a pandemic of hatred in our communities, country, and world. Envy, jealousy, and a desire for power and control are the symptoms of this pandemic. Sometimes, too focused on our ego, we don’t seek to serve God in every human being. We seek to be served. The voice of Jesus is not using the power of the powerful. Overpowered by so many noises, we can’t hear Jesus in the silence of the weak and the powerless. But Jesus is there, dying on the cross for all and being the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is not the judge or the prosecutor. He is the defense attorney. Jesus is still inviting us to be born anew and become children of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus paid the price, so we don’t have to question every action without the assurance of God’s love. When we are assured of God’s love, we duplicate that love. If our father is love, we are love, like father, like child.

See, I knew a boy who grew up without a father. He always thought he was doing something wrong. Seeing his mother working hard to juggle with the many curve balls life thrown at her was painful. He did not feel his father’s love and thought he could never love. Every time he started relationships that were becoming serious, he fled and ran away… Love was too serious a business for him to invest in. Instead of seeking love, he ran away from it. Instead of enjoying love, he made it a nightmare for those who loved him. The absence of a father created insecurity so much that he considered himself damaged goods.

Jesus is speaking to this boy and all of us today. Jesus says, “Forgive yourself and love others because you are loved. God so loved you that God sent me to your rescue. You're mistaken if you think you can do something to save yourself. I save. That’s my name. I am not the snake that fooled Eve and Adam. I am the snake who died on the cross to heal you. Stop feeling guilty. Start feeling worthy because you are. I would not have paid the price for your redemption if you were not. No more sacrifice is needed. You don’t need a lamb. You don’t need a goat. Hey, priest, you definitely don’t need to offer a bull! All you need is to surrender all to me. Surrender your weaknesses (yes, I know you have more than one); surrender your impossibilities, failures, and fakeness. Be yourself. I know you from the inside out. I know your imperfections. I made you. You are not a mistake. Your father left, but I was always by your side. I am the one with the power to cure you. Let me infect you with the venom of love, and you’ll be immune. You will become highly contagious to propagate my message of love everywhere to kings and vagabonds. Do not sit! Stand and go tell your story! Go tell everyone the price of your redemption.” Amen!

St Augustine's Episcopal Church

05/31/2026

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