Pam Driedger

Hearts, flowers, chocolate, wine, jewelry, poetry, love songs, romantic movies … today is Valentines’ Day and all around us attention is focused on love. But even when our attention is on love, even when we are contemplating extravagant acts of devotion, we often neglect the expressions of love to which today’s readings call us. Perhaps that’s because they point us toward sacrificial love rather than reciprocal love. Today’s scripture readings aren’t about the kind of extravagant Valentines’ Day love that ...

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

This year, I hear these words in a new way.  They are not just words that set the stage for Jesus’ earthly mission.  They are not simply a prelude to the ...

Today’s gospel passage is one that used to really bother me.  The king sees a wedding guest who is not wearing the proper clothing and has him bound hand and foot and thrown into the outer darkness.  I understood that the wedding garments had been provided for the guests and failure to wear the wedding garment was a sign of disrespect, but I was still uncomfortable with what I thought was an emphasis on wearing the “right” clothes.  Today, I ...

“Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

I was halfway through writing this week’s reflection when I received word that my Aunt had died, and somehow the words that I had been going to write seemed irrelevant. I thought about the last time that I spoke with my aunt. She had recently been told that cancer would take her life, but it was the loneliness of her current situation that she found unbearable. Because ...

“Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these 40 years in the wilderness …” These words from today’s reading from Deuteronomy struck me in a particular way this week.  I have driven across the Sinai Peninsula; even walking in family groups, you would need to go “the long way” in order to take 40 years to make the trip!  We are told that God chose this long way in order to humble the people and test what was in their hearts. ...

I have listened to the story of Mary Magdalene’s arrival at the empty tomb every Easter Sunday for my entire life. But this year two aspects of the story are resonating in a new way.  The first is the image of Mary weeping as she looks into the tomb and sees two angels in white.  She does not pause to marvel at the angels or wonder why they are there.  Her grief and sense of powerlessness are all consuming:  “They have taken my Lord, and I do ...

He was lying in a hospital bed on the palliative care unit.  His family was worried about his discomfort, his weakness and his approaching death.  His only concern was that everyone else would understand that there was nothing to fear. Where others were seeing the shadow of death, he was seeing the light of God’s promise; and he wanted to share that light. He asked if he could tell me a story that I could then tell to other people, so they would not be so ...

“He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness, he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.”

There is an internet video clip that shows a large group of young adults lined up on a field to begin a running race. The winner of the race will be given one hundred dollars. The person who is organizing the race says that before the race begins, he gives a series ...

“Oh Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? … Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.” Whether it is news about environmental degradation, or about the undermining of the democratic process, news about migrants dying as they try to reach a place of safety or news about the violence in Yemen or Syria or Hong Kong, news about increases in gun violence in Toronto or about the recent spate of suicides ...

In today’s second reading Paul appears to celebrate suffering: “we boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character …” Working in the hospital, I come face to face with suffering on a daily basis; but I cannot recall ever meeting someone who was glad for the suffering. Occasionally, people talk about offering up the suffering; and sometimes I hear people quote today’s scripture passage and comment on the fact that they already have more than enough character. But that is as far ...