Sermons On-the-Sound

On Christmas Eve, The Rev. Michael Singer invites us to step into the quiet wonder of Christ’s birth. In the intimacy of a stable, amid the ordinary sights and sounds of life, God enters the world as a newborn child. Father Michael reflects on the joy that new life brings — a joy filled with peace, hope, and possibility — and reminds us that in Jesus, God comes close to us in human flesh. Emmanuel, God with us, is born into our worries and our weariness, offering calm, love, and joy. Christmas Eve becomes a sacred moment to receive again the good news that God is not distant, but present, and that the world is forever changed by this holy night.

On the Fourth Sunday of Advent, The Rev. Susan Cushinotto reflects on Mary and Joseph as ordinary people living ordinary lives when God suddenly interrupts with a life-changing invitation. Both are told, “Do not be afraid,” and both are given a choice: remain within the safety of what they know, or say yes to God’s call and step into an unknown future. Rev. Sue invites us to see ourselves in their story. In the quiet stirrings of compassion, discomfort, and longing we feel when faced with the world’s brokenness, God continues to call us. Advent becomes a season of discernment, asking whether we will remain comfortable or risk saying yes to God’s transforming work through our own ordinary lives.

This week, The Rev. Michael Singer offers a sermon from our Blue Christmas (Longest Night) service, created for those who find Christmas difficult or heavy. Speaking with honesty and compassion, Father Michael acknowledges grief, loss, illness, and longing, and reminds us that Christmas is not about returning to the past or forcing joy. Instead, Christmas is about God’s promise being fulfilled in the present moment. Christ is born in us now, gently meeting us in our pain, holding us with patience, and slowly opening our hearts to hope, light, and life.

This week, The Rev. Michael Singer reflects on the Third Sunday of Advent and John the Baptist’s haunting question from prison: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we wait for someone else?” In a season filled with expectation, Father Michael acknowledges the realities of disappointment, grief, unanswered prayers, and weary hope. He reminds us that Jesus does not promise an easy escape from suffering, but offers something deeper: mercy, healing, and life that endures beyond loss and death. Advent becomes the invitation to ask, again and again, whether we trust this Jesus to be the One who meets us in our brokenness and carries us through.

This week, The Rev. Michael Singer brings us face-to-face with John the Baptist—the wild, untidy prophet who rarely appears on Christmas cards but stands at the heart of Advent. John offers a provocative message: prepare the way, turn around, choose the path that leads to life. Rev. Singer contrasts John’s urgent call to repentance with Isaiah’s hopeful vision of a world restored to peace, inviting us to see Advent as a season of holy choice. Will we recognize God in our midst? Will we clear space in our lives to follow Christ, the One who comes to bring peace, justice, and transformation?

This week, The Rev. Susan Cushinotto welcomes us into a new Church year with the First Sunday of Advent. She reminds us that Advent is not only about preparing for Christ’s birth or Christ’s return but also about noticing Christ’s quiet arrival in our ordinary, everyday lives. Like tending an emergency kit, our spiritual lives require regular care—prayer, worship, Scripture, silence, companionship—so that when darkness feels heavy, the light of Christ can still break through the cracks and steady our hearts. Rev. Sue invites us to stay awake with expectation, watching for God in the “ordinary miracles” that surround us each day.

This week, The Rev. Michael Singer reflects on the Feast of Christ the King and the close of the Church year. He contrasts earthly kings who rule by power with Jesus, the King who refuses domination and chooses servanthood. In Luke’s Gospel, Christ reigns from a cross, standing with the poor, the wounded, and the forgotten, and offering mercy even in his final breath. This is the kingdom we are invited to live into, a reign of justice, compassion, and love.

This week, The Rev. Michael Singer offers a children’s homily on the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost, reminding us that even when we worry, God holds all things in love. Drawing on the wisdom of Julian of Norwich, Father Michael teaches that “all shall be well, and all manner of life shall be well” — an invitation to trust that God’s peace is greater than our fears.

Following All Saints and All Souls, The Rev. John W. Sosnowski reflects on faith that is alive and present — a faith that finds God’s power at work in everyday life, even in loss and hope. At the Eucharist, we’re reminded that our God is not of the dead, but of the living.

This week, The Rev. Michael Singer reflects on All Saints’ Sunday, reminding us that sainthood isn’t about perfection or fame—it’s about extravagant love for God. From ancient martyrs to everyday saints like laundry worker Oseola McCarty, Father Michael invites us to see the communion of saints as our great family of faith—ordinary people shining with the light of Christ’s love in the world.