Genesis 15: 1-6; 21: 1-3 (links validated on 12/14/23)

New Resources

  • Holy Families: Not Perfect, Faithful

    by Jim Chern
    A few years ago, I was at a Mass where a priest-friend of mine was being installed as the new pastor of a parish. Before we began, a middle-aged woman came into the sacristy and asked the bishop who was officiating that ceremony if he would be able to offer a blessing for her parents, who were celebrating their anniversary that night. He very generously offered, “How would they like to renew their vows?” Which they were very excited to do. So, after communion, the bishop invited the couple to come up. These two older people started walking slowly, carefully up the aisle. The entire way up the aisle, they never stopped holding each other’s hands, and as they passed pew upon pew of people, you could see how their eyes were filling with tears. When they arrived at the foot of the altar, the bishop asked them how many years they had been married – the wife responded, “60 years ago today.” The bishop then followed up, asking, “Where did you get married?” and the wife proudly responded, “Right here,” as she pointed her finger to the floor, marking the very spot in front of the altar where they had stood all those decades earlier. The bishop was surprised as he said, “You’ve been here in this parish for 60 years?” and they simply nodded their heads as the wife said, “We’ve been here together every week since we were married.” What was even more moving was that as they began to renew their wedding vows, no one could take their eyes off this couple as they lovingly held each other’s hands but could barely look at each other as they tried holding back tears as they said once again “I take you to be my wife… my husband… I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health… I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.” Listening to them, you couldn’t help but wonder what was going through their minds – what had they lived through?...
  • Exegesis (Genesis 15:1-6)

    by Richard Donovan
  • Trusting in What Is Not Seen

    by Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson
    Rose and Barry had been married for ten years. They had always wanted children, but eventually exhausted all the possibilities the medical community had to offer. Emotionally, physically and financially exhausted, they had finally decided to apply for adoption. Jennifer, four days old when they had received a call to bring her home, had blessed their lives for three years now and their names were again at the top of the prospective parent list as they waited to adopt a second child. But the call Rose had just received from her doctor might change all that. She was pregnant! It wasn’t possible! Even her doctor agreed it was extremely improbable. But he’d run the tests twice, just to be sure before letting her know. Rose reached for the phone to call Barry, then dialed her neighbour instead. “Mary, you said you’d watch Jennifer when we got the call about our next child. I know it’s short notice, but could you stay with her for a couple of hours while I go down to Barry’s office?” “Oh! Yes, of course,” Mary agreed. “So, it’s here?” “Well, not exactly,” Rose answered. “I’ll explain later; I need to go down to Barry’s office right away.” “I’ll be right over,” Mary said. “Boy, oh boy, is she in for a surprise,” Rose chuckled. And as for Barry...

Illustrated Resources from the Archives

  • Illustrations on Faith

    from the Archives
  • Illustrations on Trust

    from the Archives
  • Carrying the Weight of God

    by Rian Adams
    If you Google “shield” the first shield you find, in search and images, is the shield of Captain America. I find it interesting to note: The most popular shield on the internet belongs to a superhero. Captain America is the archetypal hero. He is the pillar of justice, good, and morality. Google shows us that a hero is the first picture of shield our soicity sees. That mythical shield comes from the most durable metal on earth. If you’re a comic geek you know that Captain America’s shield was an accident. The shield’s creator worked with Wakandan Vibranium… but it gets better. The metallurgist worked long hours and fell asleep before the final metal blend was complete. He took no notes, so the shield’s contents are a mystery. The image creatively suggests that the God who shields us will always be a mystery...
  • The Lenten Struggle Is Real

    by Jim Chern
    Working with college students, it’s not only rewarding spiritually on a personal level – but it’s also incredibly hysterical. And Lent opens itself to a wide variety of examples to prove that point. There was a year when one guy who was a missionary and working at our Newman Center had decided to give up eating meat for the entire season of Lent. I don’t think he realized at the time that there was a “Men’s Night” scheduled that – the non-religious aspect of the night was a 5-course meal that featured bacon (the men’s night was called “Bacon Night” – real original). When I out of compassion purchased a box of tofu bacon (I think it was made out of tofu…) So he could still feel included, as he took a bite of this fake bacon, he looked at me like he was going to cry and said something about how this just had made everything worse. Or – one of my first years working with these characters, one student couldn’t wait to tell me how seriously he was taking Lent. That this being his first year he could legally drink alcohol that he was giving it up for Lent. Which, suffice it to say, I can attest was a tremendous sacrifice for him. Knowing his Irish heritage and how in previous years he had gone into NYC with his fraternity brothers I said “wow, that’s impressive, your first legal St. Patrick’s Day and you’re going to be sober.” The eyebrows went up as did both hands “Oh, St. Patrick’s Day doesn’t count” – “Really?” I asked – by my calendar March 17th falls during Lent. “Yeah, but that’s one of those you know days you get a free-bee” he pronounced – “you mean you’re dispensed from it?” “Yeah that’s it… dispensed” – well who told you that??? This literally went on for a good 5 minutes, where I threw in a few bombs like “heaven’s not for everybody” “I must’ve missed that part of the passion narrative when Jesus said he was tired of being on the cross, so he was going to climb down…” Who says Catholic guilt doesn’t work anymore – he was completely dry that St. Patrick’s Day...
  • Great Rewards But Slow in Coming!

    by Richard Donovan
    I am reminded of a story of an old missionary couple who had served Christ for decades on the mission field in Africa. When age and health finally forced them to retire, they boarded a ship to return to America. By coincidence, President Teddy Roosevelt was aboard the same ship, returning from a big-game hunting expedition. When the ship came into the New York harbor, the missionary couple watched the fanfare that attended Roosevelt's return. The mayor and other dignitaries had come to meet the President. A brass band played as Roosevelt walked down the gangplank. A limousine and driver waited to take him in luxury to his hotel. It was a splendid scene. The missionary couple watched until the President and dignitaries had left. Then the husband turned to his wife and said, "It doesn't seem fair. We have served in Africa on the mission field for thirty years, and nobody even met the ship to welcome us home. This man spends a few weeks in Africa on a hunting trip, and is met by the mayor and a brass band. It just isn't fair!"...
  • Sermon Starters (Lent 2C)(2022)

    by Scott Hoezee
    A few years ago the cover story of National Geographic magazine was about Abraham. The article’s author re-traces the steps of Abraham’s journeys through the Ancient Near East by taking a modern trip along that same path. He notes along the way the varying ways by which the Abraham story has been used and interpreted by Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. As is always true of National Geographic, the article was accompanied by some impressive photography. The pictures alone remind us of the historical distance between Father Abraham and us...
  • Lent 2C (2010)

    by Scott Hoezee
    ("A few years ago the cover story of National Geographic magazine was about Abraham. The article's author re-traces the steps of Abraham's journeys through the Ancient Near East by taking a modern trip along that same path. He notes along the way the varying ways by which the Abraham story has been used and interpreted by Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike....")
  • Starry, Starry Darkness

    by Dawn Hutchings
    Not many people know it, but Van Gogh didn’t start out as an artist. Like his father and his grandfather before him, Van Gogh was a preacher. He was ordained in the Wesleyan tradition and began his ministry in England. But Van Gogh was an intense young man and he had a difficult time as a preacher because he asked so many difficult questions. Van Gogh tried to follow the scriptures to the letter so he sold all that he had and went to be a missionary among the miners of Belgium, but the peasants found his intensity a little too hard to bear and Van Gogh was forced to leave the ministry. Van Gogh found it increasingly more difficult to follow the strict teachings of the church.
  • Deep and Terrifying Darkness

    by Anne Le Bas
    ("There was a lot of fuss a few years ago about a film called The Last Temptation of Christ. I never quite understood why, as it was asking a question and making a point that was very powerful. It asked what would have happened if Jesus had chosen to reject his calling, to opt for safety instead of the cross...")
  • Sermon Starters (Lent 2C)(2019)

    by Stan Mast
    Covenant ceremonies involving the shedding of blood were well known among the Native Americans in the olden days. I’ll never forget a scene from the movie, “The Outlaw Josey Wales.” Wales, played by Clint Eastwood, is being pursued all over the west by a gang of renegade soldiers. His life is further complicated by the threat of attack by band of Indians. But Eastwood rides directly into the Native camp and with steely coolness challenges the chief to make peace with him. The chief is impressed with Eastwood’s bravery and agrees to peace. They seal the deal by taking out their knives, slicing across their palms, and clasping hands, thus mingling their blood and making the peace sure. Their blood was central to the covenant of peace between them.
  • Can We Really Trust God?

    by Jim McCrea
    Steve Souther tells an interesting story of what happened when he took his stepmother to a medical clinic in Charleston, South Carolina for a cancer treatment. While his stepmother was having her procedure done, Steve was in the waiting room, trying to entertain his 7-month old niece. At one point, the baby became fascinated with a beautiful butterfly ring on the finger of the lady seated next to them. The little girl grabbed onto the ring, which caused Steve and that ring owner to start talking. She had recently been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing treatments of her own. She had happened to wear the butterfly ring to one of her appointments and the doctor noticed it. He said that it reminded him of something that had happened the month before. He liked to decompress from the stress of practicing medicine by going fishing. On this particular trip, he brought up a net full of shrimp. Then, while he was examining his catch, he saw something unusual — a butterfly was in the net with the shrimp. The doctor assumed that the butterfly became caught in the net when it was being lowered into the water and somehow survived the ordeal. As the doctor watched, the butterfly’s wings began to dry, then it took off on a slight breeze and flew away. After saying that, the doctor looked into the woman’s eyes and said, “You are that butterfly.” Steve adds that the woman felt the story was a gift from her doctor — a sign of hope that she clung to during the hard parts of her treatment. ..
  • Promises, Hope and Vultures (Genesis)

    Art and Faith by Lynn Miller
    The story of this photo and the photographer who took it is not straightforward. The photo raised questions from the moment it was published. Why would the photographer sit and wait for a photo rather than helping the child and/or shooing away the vulture? What happened to the child? How could God allow something like the famine and poverty in Sudan? Some of the questions have been answered. But the questions raised in light of scripture and image together may be especially pertinent during Lent. There are any number of questions brought about by the juxtaposition. These are some.
  • Connect the Dots (SS)

    by Frank Ramirez
    One group of stars that invites us to do some more realistic counting, one that most of us can see, even with light pollution, is the Pleiades, sometimes referred to as “the seven sisters.” This cluster of stars, located high in the sky near Taurus the Bull, was so called because it was believed they were the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione: Alcyone, Electra, Atlas, Merope, Maia, Taygete, Pleione, Celeno, and Asterope. Their father Atlas, being forced to carry the world on his shoulders (literally) was unable to protect his daughters from Orion the Hunter, and so Zeus transformed them into stars, or doves, and placed them in the sky, or they flew there themselves. Oddly enough, there are Australian and African cultures that tell a similar story about these seven sisters, leading some experts to refer to this as the world’s oldest story...
  • The Magnificence of God

    by Keith Wagner
    Consider the famous masterpiece City Lights by Charlie Chaplain in 1931 which was produced during the Great Depression. Chaplin played the tramp, the outcaste of society, the vagabond with "nowhere to lay his head." He becomes the strange vehicle of salvation for a poor blind girl, and for a rich man bent on drowning himself. The reward for his "heroism" is that he is befriended by the rich man. Finally the little tramp is accused of the theft of money which the rich man in his drunken generosity had given him. Fleeing the police, he manages to get the money to the blind girl for an operation to restore her sight, but is then apprehended and imprisoned. After serving his sentence he emerges from prison, shabbier and lonelier than ever. And the girl, who all along had imagined the little tramp to be a handsome young man of means, does not even recognize him. As he happens to trudge forlornly by the window of her new floral shop, he is ridiculed by the very one whose sight the "stolen" money had restored, and for whom he had gone to prison. Only in the final scene does she discover that this pitiful, disheveled tramp was her benefactor, when she touches his arm and face once again, as in her blindness, and in that moment of revelation whispers, "You!" she says, and he nods, asking, "You can see now?" She replies, sobbing, "Yes, I can see now." Then the Tramp smiles shyly at the girl as the film ends...
  • Building a Faithful Journey

    by Anne Watkins
    ("In 1998, Peter Barton was 47 years old. By his own admission, he was not a religious man. He did not describe himself as a particularly spiritual man either....")
  • Abraham's Faith and Ours

    by Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson
    ("Who was this Pontius Pilate anyways? What kind of a person was he? Let’s take a closer look. Pontius Pilate, according to an inscription verified by archaeologists in 1961, in Caesarea Maritima, was Roman Prefect of Judea. He held this office for ten years, from A.D. 26-36...")
  • Are You Ready in Faith?

    by Tim Zingale
    ("A certain lord kept a fool or jester, in his house as a great men did in olden times for their amusement. This lord gave a staff to his fool and told him to keep it until he met a greater fool than himself, and if he met such a person, a greater fool, he should give him the staff. Not many years after, the lord fell sick..." and other illustrations)
  • Images of Abraham

    Compiled by Jenee Woodard
  • Movies/Scenes Representing Abraham

    Compiled by Jenee Woodard
    (see especially Eye of God)
  • Movies/Scenes Representing Aging

    Compiled by Jenee Woodard
  • Movies/Scenes Representing Covenant

    Compiled by Jenee Woodard
  • Movies/Scenes Representing Promises

    Compiled by Jenee Woodard

Other Resources from 2022

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Other Resources from 2019 to 2021

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Other Resources from 2016 to 2018

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Other Resources from 2013 to 2015

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Other Resources from 2010 to 2012

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Other Resources from 2007 to 2009

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Other Resources from the Archives

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Children's Sermons and Dramas

Currently Unavailable

  • The Covenant and Response

    by Adrian Dieleman
  • We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight

    by Klaus Adam
    In 1981 a Jesuit priest in Jamaica faced a decision that would change his life forever. Fr. Richard Ho Lung was a famous professor at the University of the West Indies. His career was a success. His life was comfortable and secure. Then God asked him for a new level of faith. The abject poverty in Kingston, Jamaica, kept haunting him, and he knew that God was asking him to do something to help the poorest of the poor. On May 20th, 1980, a fire destroyed Eventide, a squalid residence for Kingston’s abandoned poor. 150 people died in the fire and Fr. Richard realized that the time to act had come. God was asking him to build centers in Kingston to care for the abandoned poor, and to create communities where they could finally experience love. However, this would mean leaving everything he had accomplished as a professor. It would mean leaving his security behind. It meant that, like Abram, God was asking him to look up and count stars that he could not see. “I was in torture,” Fr. Richard said, “I wept and prayed about this… It meant giving up my two Masters and my Doctorate…” Nevertheless, he trusted in God and began a group called the Missionaries of the Poor to care for the destitute...
  • Abram's Faith

    by Bill Long
  • Abram's Need

    by Bill Long