Matthew’s Jesus journeys to built-up areas as well as the villages we hear about in Mark. Matthew’s Gospel is for those who live in towns as well as farmers and those who fish. In other words, Matthew’s Gospel is for the well-to-do pillars of society as well as for those who are on the wrong…
Being a Christian involves believing that certain things are true – especially, and most importantly, that God was incarnate in Jesus Christ, and that God raised him from the dead for us. But faith is something quite different from belief – it is not just a matter of “believing that…” or holding that certain things…
Today is Trinity Sunday, one of the few celebrations of the Christian Year that commemorates a reality and doctrine rather than an event – for example, the birth of Jesus Christ or the descending of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples – or person – like Saint Michael, Saint Paul, or even Johann Sebastian Bach….
“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Boy, it’s so easy to carry a grudge. It’s so easy to be upset about that little thing that someone did to you 4 years ago and never apologized for, but still gets to…
Death is never an easy reality to face. It is often unexpected, but some of the most challenging situations arise when a group knows that a beloved member of their community will die. Such a dynamic is depicted in Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, in which the family goes to great lengths to hide a terminal…
Old Turtle and the Broken Truth is written by Douglas Wood and illustrated by Jon J Muth. Permission was given by Scholastic to read the book in its entirety and to livestream the reading.
Good old Doubting Thomas returns today – as I predicted he would. And today Jesus challenges the disciples in a new way. He says, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves” (Jn 14:11). To believe…
Today is traditionally called Good Shepherd Sunday. We’ve got a slew of shepherd, sheep, and gate metaphors in our readings today. And I think most of them are lost on the majority of us, as we tend to value innovation, technology, and industry more than sheep. We don’t learn much about sheep or shepherding in…
“My Lord and my God!” I’ve always loved this story about Thomas – particularly because truth be told, I think I’d be the one right with Thomas asking to see proof. Having started my post-high school education with a degree in electrical engineering, my brain is wired to want to see the proof, the results,…
We’re here in this uncertain time and place, searching for signs of hope, as people of hope, together. Alleluia! Easter isn’t just a day. It is a whole season. It is 50 days of practicing hope. But often our lives and communities and world don’t reflect the same Easter joy. We can relate more to…
This week’s theme from the Lenten Study is “Blessed are those who mourn” and next week’s for Holy Week is “Blessed are those who are rejected.” Holy Week is a slow and steady march toward the cross. Because we know the end of the story (Easter! Resurrection! Hope! New Life!), it can be tempting to…
This week’s theme from the Lenten Study is “Blessed are those who feel alone.” As Jesus teaches us in Matthew 5:4, “blessed are those who mourn.” Yet who would choose that kind of blessing? There are so many ways that we might mourn. Dreams that may never become a reality. Children we will never have….
