Mark Whittall

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain.  Does that remind you of anyone?  It’s meant to.  It’s meant to remind us of Moses.  Matthew in his gospel is presenting Jesus as a new Moses, as the one who will speak God’s words to us.  In the book of Exodus, after God has freed the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, they come to Mount Sinai and they camp there.  Moses goes up the mountain.  But the people were not allowed to go up the mountain.  The people stood at

We have an amazing story to tell. Earlier this evening, we told this story with our pop-up pageant, with shepherds and angels, with Mary and Joseph, with the birth of a child in a manger, surrounded by animals. The birth of a child is always an amazing story, a story of hope and of joy. When we tell the birth story of this child, of Jesus, it is a story that promises peace and love, and announces the good news that God is with us.   It's an amazing story, and so we reach back

There are times in our lives when we don’t know what to do. When even though we really want to do what’s right, we don’t know what’s right. Joseph is deep into one of these dilemmas in today’s gospel reading. He is a righteous man. He is a kind and gracious man. He deeply wants to do the right thing. But he doesn’t know what to do.   Life is not black and white. Life comes at us in full colour, beautiful and wonderful, yet puzzling and overwhelming sometimes. Relationships ar

Jesus is a great teacher. And like all great teachers, he has some tricks of the trade, ways of drawing us in and then surprising us with new ways of looking at life. Sometimes he does this by telling stories. Other times, he starts by saying something that we all agree with, but then he goes beyond it.   “You have heard it said”, he tells his audience, giving them something familiar, getting their heads nodding. “But I say to you,” he continues, and with this, he tells them

What if some big pharmaceutical company developed a medication that, taken daily, would enable you to sleep better and have more energy...

“Come unto me all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”   It’s a beautiful promise, a wonderful...

Have you ever noticed how so many medical associations around the world, organizations like the World Health Organization and the...

When I was growing up, back in my school days, there wasn’t a lot of emphasis on memory work. I know that in generations that preceded...

Shared meals are important. We all need to eat, we all eat to live. So when we eat together, it is often a celebration. Meals create a...

I don’t think any of us want to be invisible. No, we long to be seen. To be noticed, to be known for who we are.   I don’t think any of...

“I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze!   When I first read this gospel earlier in the week, I...

“I’m going fishing.”   What do you do when you’re at a crossroads?  When you need to think?  When you’re feeling a bit lost, or a little...

“Are you out of your freakin’ minds?”   Now that’s a better translation of what the men said to the women on that first Easter morning. ...