Supposing Him to be the Gardener

Sermons, from the Canon to the Ordinary in the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania and the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York. Why call it Supposing Him to be the Gardener? Because Mary Magdalene, on the first Easter, was so distracted by her pain that she failed to notice the Divine in her midst. So do I. All the time. This title helps me remember that the Divine is everywhere--in the midst of deep pain as well as in profound joy. And everywhere in between.

Sunday, June 24, 2018

“Job said to God, ‘Do something!’ God said to Job, ‘I did. I created you.’ It’s up to us. Here. Now.” Proper 7B St John’s Wilson, St Andrew’s, Burt June 24, 2018

›

+In our first reading this morning God is responding to the long lament of poor ol’ Job. What I find interesting is that nowhere in God’s F...

Sunday, June 10, 2018

Proper 5B Trinity Hamburg, 2018 Who Goes There? A Child of God

›

+Thomas Wolfe wrote, “You Can’t Go Home Again.” Of course, you can, but it won’t be the same. I grew up in a small village outside of Chica...

Sunday, June 3, 2018

Love Makes a Church. Or a Temple. Or a Mosque…. Proper 4B June 3, 2018 Trinity Fredonia. Baptism

›

+I have a friend who is a priest in Chicago. One day I was at his church as he was preparing for a big parish event…as he was running around...

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Funeral Homily Jane Wiesner May 26, 2018

›

+The prophet Isaiah says: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines,...

The Dynamic Trio: No separate, but part of Trinity Sunday at Trinity, Hamburg May 27, 2018

›

+Part of my preparation for celebrating the Eucharist occurs when the server brings this bowl and towel over to me, pouring water over my f...

Sunday, May 20, 2018

She’s Here, Make Room! The Day of Pentecost, 2018 Chapel of the Good Shepherd at Brookside and Christ Church, Albion

›

+ The Feast of the Pentecost is the day the church was born so today’s our birthday! It’s a day when we remember that this bringing the king...

Saturday, May 19, 2018

Beverly Mileham Funeral Homily May 19, 2018

›

+This is how I remember Beverly Mileham: Sitting at her table in the food pantry, smiling that fabulous smile of hers, looking at me with a...

‹

›

Home

View web version

About Me

The Rev'd Canon Cathy Dempesy-Sims: I am an Episcopal Priest who serves the Diocese of Western New York as the Canon for Connections (Canon to the Ordinary). I was widowed in November 2017. My wife and I had been married two months shy of 5 years. For years "Pete" had horses and then she added donkeys and then she added goats. And always, always there were dogs. IN the late summer of 2018 I am working toward inventing a new life for myself. One thing will not change: my love for preaching, my love for helping people makes sense of what is by hearing what was in a new way. Especially at this time in my life, I welcome your prayers for me, for my son Patrick and for my dogs (who are my faithful companions) Louie and Purnie (short for Calpurnia) . Supposing Him to be the Gardener is a shout out to Mary Magdalene, my hero.

View my complete profile