A King Rides to His Coronation

20 04 2011

by Sylvia Keesmaat

All the evidence suggests that he knew what was coming. As their steps took them closer and closer to Jerusalem he began to speak of it more and more urgently: he was going to Jerusalem to face torture and death. He was going to lose his life. He was going to walk the path of suffering.

All the evidence suggests that the disciples didn’t understand what on earth he was talking about. Right up until the last moment they were asking him if they could share in his rule, share in his glory and power. Right up until the last moment they thought that he would be the one to deal with the problem of the Romans, he would be the one to do battle with their hated oppressors, he would be the one to rid the land of the gentiles who where oppressing and killing the people. Read the rest of this entry »


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A Pastoral Letter for Holy Week 2011

17 04 2011

Every year Brian writes a pastoral letter to the Wine Before Breakfast community at the University of Toronto. As we do each and every year, we’re sharing that letter with the broader Empire Remixed community.

Pastoral Letter 2010 | Pastoral Letter 2009

by Brian Walsh

Dear friends:

More than half a lifetime ago I co-wrote my first book, The Transforming Vision. And there was one response to that book that continues to ring through the years to me. No, actually, there were two responses, and they are deeply connected to each other.

The first response was from my friend and co-author, Richard Middleton. Upon completing the manuscript and offering up prayers dedicating this work to the furthering of the Kingdom of God, Richard looked at me and said, “You know that there is something missing in this book.” I thought that was an odd thing to say at this particular moment, and I couldn’t guess what he was talking about. Then he said, “This book says nothing about suffering, even though suffering is so central to the biblical story.” And then Richard added, “But that’s okay, we don’t know anything about suffering.” Read the rest of this entry »


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Gethsemane

1 04 2010

by Ann Andree

A sermon based on Mark 14:32-52

My dear brothers and sisters, in reading this passage, we have just entered into a sacred space and joined Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is my prayer that we are able to journey deeper together into the dark groves of Gethsemane. It is my prayer that we come to understand together, the abandonment Christ experienced in the garden alone.

There are few people in our broken world who are better able to connect with Christ in his moment of complete abandonment that our friends experiencing homelessness on the streets. Few people know better then these folks what it is like to die, desolately abandoned by everyone who has ever been important to you.

For those of you who don’t know, Dion, Jake and I have the privilege of walking alongside these folks experiencing homelessness at The Gateway – an 108 bed shelter, which too often is considered home to men who have been cut off from every other segment of society, many of whom have long since been abandoned by friends and family. Read the rest of this entry »


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A Pastoral Letter for Holy Week 2010

28 03 2010

Every year Brian writes a pastoral letter to the Wine Before Breakfast community at the University of Toronto. In his letter he calls the community to a holy observance of Passion Week. This year the WBB community read Mark’s telling of Holy Week throughout the 40 days of Lent. We’re sharing that letter with the broader Empire Remixed community.

by Brian Walsh

My beloved sisters and brothers in Christ.

For the forty days of Lent we have dwelt with Jesus during Holy Week. For five weeks we have allowed Mark’s gospel to lead us deeply into one week. The week of weeks. The week that is at the heart of our faith. Passion Week.

That week is now upon us. Our Lenten journey has prepared us for this week. It has been an intense Lent for us, but now it gets even more intense.

It is all about bearing witness. Can we bear witness to these horrific events that are at the same time our very salvation? Can we “bear” to bear witness? Have we got that kind of courage, that kind of faithfulness? Read the rest of this entry »


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A Pastoral Letter for Holy Week

5 04 2009

by Brian Walsh

Brothers and Sisters:

On one level it is all so tragically probable. Both then and now. There is nothing improbable about a story of a revolutionary leader, perceived to be a threat to the ruling powers, ‘arrested’ at night, taken before a phony tribunal, tortured and executed within twenty-four hours. As far as I can see, there is nothing strange about this in 1st century or 21st century Palestine. This is business as usual in all imperial regimes. This is the shock and awe of empire. This is the way that empire keeps the peace.

Nothing strange about this. Read the rest of this entry »


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Memory and Rebuilding in the Ruins of America

19 03 2008

by Brian Walsh

Five Years in Iraq and Holy Week. These two come together today. We are in the middle of Holy Week, walking that path of the cross with Jesus. And today marks five years of war in Iraq.

So I thought that I would share with you some words that I wrote for a chapel talk at Messiah College in Pennsylvania a couple weeks ago. I had been speaking about Isaiah 58 and how the prophet not only dismisses any pious fasting that is devoid of justice in the attempt to rebuild life in the midst of the ruins of post-exile Jerusalem, but also how he offers the community deeper and more liberating memories for their reconstruction efforts.

You see, the fasting that was instituted after the exile was a fasting in mournful memory of the loss of the Temple and the Monarchy. Isaiah doesn’t think that these are memories worth keeping.

Look closely at Isaiah 58 and you will see that the prophet offers better and deeper memories to this community … memories of exodus, jubilee, creation and sabbath. In that context, I then said the following to the students of Messiah College:
Read the rest of this entry »


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