The Adventures of Mo. Lauren and Fr. Kenny

Hello Friends!

It is Lent, yay!  My favorite time of year for many reasons, but especially because we get to wear my favorite color, purple!

Grumpy Cat is right this time.

We always read the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness for the First Sunday in Lent.  This year it is from Mark, who only gives the 40 days one sentence.  Not much to work with….or is it?  Take a listen:

Sermon, Mark 1:9-15, Lent 1, Year B, Feb. 22, 2015

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

This past Sunday was the last Sunday after Epiphany, one of the days that we read the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration.  What is transfiguration?  Why was Peter scolded yet again?  Why do people keep trying to capture each moment instead of living them?  Well, we will explore these themes in my sermon:

Mark 9:2-9, Sermon, Last Epiphany, Year B, Feb. 15, 2015

Lent starts tomorrow, Feb. 18th.  It is my favorite season because we get to wear PURPLE! YAY!

Thanks for stopping by,

Mo. Lauren

Hello All!

So, last week, we had a Clergy Day at the Diocesan headquarters in Garden City, NY.  This is a quarterly event when clergy from the Diocese get together for worship, study, food, and of course fun.  Sometimes the speakers are “ho-hum” but this time the speaker was really interesting, but this post is not about that.

Fr. Kenny really wanted to come to with me, and many people asked about him, but I FORGOT KENNY!  A true “Home Alone” situation.  Poor guy was very disappointed, and I felt really bad.  So I popped over to Amazon and got Fr. Kenny a new friend from one of his favorite movies:

He is Groot

Yup, it is Baby Groot from “The Guardians of the Galaxy.” Fr. Kenny wasn’t mad for long, in fact they had a dance party:

The Jackson 5 is still awesome!

I think Fr. Kenny has forgiven me, and I PROMISE that I will bring him to the next Clergy Day event, maybe even Clergy Conference….I hear there is karaoke there….

Whoa Father, calm down there, buddy.

See you next time!

Mo. Lauren

PS-Watch Baby Groot dance here:

Baby Groot=Super Cute

Hello Friends!

This week, Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law, yes Simon who became Peter had a mother-in-law, which means he was married!  But, that is a story for another day.  Today, we explore how health is more than physical health, and how illness isolates people, but hey God can help with that, of course it takes work from our side (as always).  Anyway, take a listen!

Mark 1:29-39-Sermon-5 Epiphany-Year B-Feb. 8, 2015

I am on vacation this week!  However, I don’t have Sunday off, so there will be another sermon next week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends,

Wow, it is February, I can hardly believe that the time is going by fast and that Lent starts so soon.  But, let us not rush ahead.  Today we hear about Jesus’ first act of public ministry in Mark.  This even is different in all the Gospels, and that is something interesting to consider.  Here Jesus casts out an unclean spirit, but how does that apply to today?  Well, take a listen:

Text: Mark 1:21-28, 4 Epiphany, Year B, Feb. 1, 2015

Today, Fr. Kenny and I are going to Clergy Day at the Diocese, so I will hopefully have some fun pictures soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

Welcome back.  This Sunday was 3 Epiphany, and we have another story of Jesus calling disciples to follow him.  Epiphany is a time for us to listen to God and ponder God’s calling in our lives, which is why we read call stories.  In addition to Mark today, we have the Jonah story, remember him?  Jonah’s call was hard for him to accept, while the disciples’ call was easy for them.  If you want to hear more about callings, both slow an quick, take a listen:

Sermon-Mark 1:14-21-3 Epiphany-Year B-Jan. 25, 2015

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

This week was the Second Sunday after Epiphany.  Yes, Christmas is really over and we are back to using green as the liturgical color, but that isn’t a bad thing.  Epiphany is a great, yet short season.  Here we learn a lot about ourselves, Jesus, and God.

Today’s text from John is a call story, specifically of Philip and Nathanael.  Nathanael is a bit skeptical at first, but he accepts Philip’s simple invitation of “come and see.”  This story shows us how to spread the Gospel, namely to invite people to “come and see.”  To learn more, check it out:

Sermon- John 1:43-51, 2nd Epiphany, Year B, Jan. 18, 2015

To find the prayer that I used at the end of the sermon, check out David Lose’s blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

Welcome back.  This past Sunday was the First Sunday after Epiphany aka The Baptism of Our Lord, when we read about the baptism of Jesus according to Mark (Mark 1:4-11).  This is the beginning of Mark’s Gospel, that’s right, Mark does not have a birth narrative for Jesus, rather he begins when Jesus’ earthly ministry begins, neat right?  Why is that?  Why is baptism so important? Well, take a listen:

Sermon-Epiphany 1-Year B-Jan. 11, 2015-Mark 1:4-11

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

Happy New Year!  This week’s sermon is about Matthew 2:1-12, the story of the wise men from the east coming to find Jesus.  Now, a lot of our Christmas tradition is based around this short discourse about wise men (like giving presents), but much of what we celebrate about these men is not actually in the story!  I’m not being a Grinch, but…well, just take a listen, there is a lot more behind this story than meets the eye!

Sermon, Matthew 2:1-12-Christmas 2-Year B-Jan. 4, 2014

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren