A homily on the "Good Samaritan"

And a short update on my internship year

I wanted to give those of you following along a super short update on my seminary journey as well as my latest homily.

I have another month and a half left of my internship year. After that, in September, I jump right into my last year of school which will take place entirely in the (virtual) classroom (though I’ll also be preaching a time or two a month at a local church). It’s been such an incredible immersive year, but I do look forward to getting back into the classroom a bit.

Here’s a summary of what I’ve had the opportunity to do this last year…

• I’ve been able to work a couple of days a week as a chaplain at our local detention center sitting with the incarcerated (yes, law enforcement professionals inside the jail also spend much of their waking lives behind bars).

• I’ve served a small local parish as a vicar (intern pastor).

• I’ve alternated between preaching and leading worship every other week. This has resulted in a ton of experience.

• Since preaching is my main focus, I’m beyond thankful to have gotten to preach almost 30 sermons this last year (!). I know I’ll look back and see them mostly as poor and insufficient sermons, but that’s okay. Like any art form, there must be a ton of shitty work before any golden nuggets come out (and then; the shitty work never truly stops, but the good news is, a lot of nuggets show up unexpectedly in the midst of the shit). That being said, compared to a lot of my peers who’ve only gotten to preach a handful of times during their internship year, this has been such a gift.

• I’ve been able to visit the dying and infirm at their homes and bedsides. They’ve been angels to me this past year. It’s been an honor to meet them and give them the grace of Jesus before they died. But I think they’ve given me more grace than I could ever give them.

I’ll share a more comprehensive post at the end of my internship. But for now, that’s pretty much it.

Having said that, I wanted to share with you my most recent homily. It’s based on the so-called “Good Samaritan.” That label has been so redundant and familiarized in our culture that the parable has lost all meaning. When you hear “good samaritan” you likely equate it with “good neighbor” or “helpful person.” Well, as my studies and meditations revealed to me, Jesus had a far deeper and more shocking story to tell than that. I pray that I even scratched the surface in my homily below and I hope God makes some nuggets out of my dung.

Homily starts at the 23:15 mark (it should take you right there when you click)…