Neli ML

  Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost August 27, 2023 Matthew 16,13-20 Rev. Neli Miranda   Today’s Gospel takes us to Caesarea Philippi, an ancient town situated at the foot of Mount Hermon in northern Israel. In the Old Testament it was known as a Canaanite sanctuary dedicated to the god Baal. Later, during the Hellenistic period, the cult of Baal was replaced with the worship of Greek gods, particularly the god Pan to whom sacrifices of animals and people were offered. The Roman Emperor Augustus granted this territory to Herod the Great (20 BC), and Herod’s son, Philip the Tetrarch, who inherited the northern area around this site, rebuilt the city and named it after Tiberius Caesar, the Roman Emperor. Phillip added his name to distinguish it from Caesarea Maritima and erected a marble temple on the sanctuary site in honor of the emperor Tiberius who was recognized as the “Emperor Tiberius Caesar Agustus, son of God. Matthew tells us today that in this region, controlled b

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost. August 20, 20233 Matthew 15,21-28 Rev. Neli Miranda   “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” Matthew does not tell us this woman’s name. He only says that she is a Canaanite woman, a “pagan woman”; however, Jesus praises her for her great faith. Why does Jesus praise this woman if in the preceding verses he rebuked his disciple Peter saying, “ You of little faith!” ? Peter still does not know who Jesus is, although he is one of the twelve disciples who has spent time with him. In contrast, the “pagan woman” who suffers discrimination due to her gender, ethnicity, and religion, does know who Jesus is! In today’s Gospel, we read that Jesus and his disciples have crossed the borders of Israel to the pagan territory of Canaan. They are in the district of Tyre and Sidon, two cities located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Maybe Jesus and his disciples are going to a retreat after an exhausting journey in Gennesaret

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost. August 13, 2023. August 13, 2023 Rev. Neli Miranda   For the Israelites, the sea was the embodiment of chaos, and in the Bible, it is often used as a metaphor for chaos and threat. On the other hand, the Bible also tells us of God’s powerful rule over the elements of chaos. In the story of Exodus, for instance, God’s power divided the sea for the Israelites who were escaping from the power of Pharaoh and his army. The psalmist also proclaims, “ The voice of the  Lord  is over the waters; the God of glory thunders the   Lord , over mighty waters” (29,3).   Today’s Gospel tells us of Jesus’ disciples facing a storm in the middle of the Sea of Galilee and experiencing Jesus’ power over the turbulent waters. To understand what was going on with the disciples, we must read this passage in the context of the preceding verses. First, Herod had executed John the Baptist and his disciples had taken his body and buried it; then, they went and told Jes

The Feast of the Transfiguration, August 6, 2023 Luke 9,28-36 Rev. Neli Miranda   The Feast of the Transfiguration is a major feast celebrated by various Christian traditions. It began in Eastern Christianity and was gradually introduced into the Western church and was declared a universal feast by Pope Callixtus III in 1457. Its institution was linked to an event of war: “the victory” of Christian troops against the Turks in the battle of Belgrade on August 6, 1457. And its observance was fixed as a thank offering for that “victory”. Surely, Jesus would not have wanted his glorious transfiguration to be connected to an event of war and death! In our Anglican tradition, this feast was included as a lesser feast in the English Prayer Book of 1561. However, it later was changed to a major feast in the American Book of 1892 remaining so to the present day. Why do we continue celebrating this feast today, and as Christians in the XXI century, how do we read and interpret the transf