In the resurrection stories—and there’s a lot of them–the Risen Jesus is never recognized straight out. Something has to happen, and then the people finally get it that it’s the Risen Jesus in their midst. I doubt I would have fared any better than those people did back in Biblical times. Underneath candle sticks, incense, fancy vestments and ornate church buildings, what people are hungering for today is the same thing they were hungering for 2000 years ago—an experience …
by admin 
History hasn’t always been kind to Thomas even though he brought the gospel to India, was martyred for that stubborn faith of his, and became a saint. We tend to still call him “Doubting Thomas.” Other people’s reputations get rehabilitated in ways that Thomas’ didn’t. For instance, Peter, denied knowing Jesus not once, not twice, but three times, yet we don’t call him “Denying Peter.” We call him Prince of the Apostles. Likewise, Paul persecuted Christians and was present …
by admin 
As I get older, my appreciation for Mary Magdalene grows as well. She is the first to encounter the Risen Lord. I guess somebody had to be the first; somebody had to have that honour. It’s her struggle with faith and how she stays in the game that really impresses me. She is so genuine. I can relate to her on so many levels. My own faith journey, on a good day, is three steps forward and two steps …
by admin 
That last line of the gospel, describing the central event in our faith—the resurrection–seems a little anticlimactic. It read: “Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths (burial shroud) by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happed.” He just went home. It sounds like Peter shrugged his shoulders, and said to himself, “I guess he’s not here. I might as well just go home, have a beer …
by admin 
Today’s passion reading is full of contrasts. I suppose if the name Good Friday is to point us ultimately to something good, there’s going to have to be a lot of contrasts to the lies, violence, betrayal, whipping, cruelty, and even murder that dominate today’s gospel reading. I have to believe that a fundamental goodness must still live in contrast to endless shouts to “Crucify him.” I have to believe that truth, as inconvenient as it is at times, …
by admin 
This gospel story of the foot washing is like all other gospels stories—it’s full of symbolism. Once I think I’ve got its meaning, I soon realize there’s a deeper meaning that I am being called to. And if I respond to this greater calling, I usually only do it with the greatest of reluctance. Afterall, who of us, honestly, likes to be shaken out of our comfort zone? I certainly don’t. In that sense, Peter, in his reluctance to …
by admin 
Have you ever read a really good book, a second time, and got something from that second reading that you missed on the first go? Or have you ever rewatched an engaging movie and drawn out of it a gem, that slipped by you the first time? I’m sure you have. These Passion readings do that for me. Without much effort, something different speaks to me each time I engage with them. Maybe that’s what God’s Word is supposed …
by admin 
There is a drive in all three readings to leave the past in the past and to forge a new future. The reason this drive is in the readings is because it’s the fundamental drive in God, and since Jesus came to do God’s will, it’s the fundamental drive in Jesus as well—to make all things new. We cannot make all things new without God nor without letting go of the past. Holding onto past sins or living in …
by admin 
We have to celebrate
Next week, Holy Week, we will enter the holiest week of our lives. Passion (Palm) Sunday begins the journey. It is aptly named—”Passion Sunday”—and is a key to what is about to unfold. The words passion and patience originate from the same root word which means “to suffer” or “to endure.” Later on, the word passion took on the more informal connotation as a strong “desire.” Jesus enters his Passion with these …
by admin 
This gospel episode begins by telling us that Jesus was teaching the crowd. Jesus often targets a particular group with his teaching, like the Scribes or Pharisees or a particular person like a centurion or a leper or a Canaanite woman. But this is not the case here. He is teaching the crowd, which means this teaching is for every person on this earth at all times and in all places including us right here.
Some …
by admin