Tuesday, March 3, 2020 | Reflections
Mateus is not his real name. His real name translates as “Meat.’” Others had names like “Happymore,” “Joy,” “Loved,” or names like João, José, Antonio—baptismal names to fit into the Portuguese colonial culture. Mateus’s entire life ….(View this reading and more...
Monday, March 2, 2020 | Reflections
The gospel sounds foolish to our worldly ears because it turns us toward the upside-down kingdom. The key is in our reading from Mark today: John baptizes with water for repentance and is followed by the more powerful One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit—identified...
Sunday, March 1, 2020 | Reflections
After forty days and nights of fasting, Jesus stands up to the devil’s temptations of materialism and worldly power. Standing squarely in the long history of the people of God as heard in scripture, Jesus’ experience turns the wilderness into a place of preparation,...
Saturday, February 29, 2020 | Reflections
John’s Gospel does a masterful job illustrating deep moments of shared knowledge between Jesus and God. Because there is such grace in knowing God, our hearts long to share our knowledge and the love of God with others. Jesus feels this deeply—he is so profoundly tied...
Friday, February 28, 2020 | Reflections
Our emotions and intellect can sometimes swing us around by the tail. Praying for the peace of God is a wonderful way to keep our hearts and minds quiet enough to hear God’s voice and receive the courage to move forward in love. Take a piece of paper and...
Thursday, February 27, 2020 | Reflections
From The Archives: September 23, 1959One of the victims of the Nazi tyranny was a Christian pastor who was jailed and deprived of all books. He lived to tell his story, and he recalls how grateful he was that he had memorized so much of the Bible and so many hymns....
Wednesday, February 26, 2020 | Reflections
Many of us will receive the mark of the ashes today. The ashes remind us of two vitally important facts. One: We are mortal. Two: Jesus is our savior. We live differently when we accept our mortality and shortcomings. By accepting these things about...
Tuesday, February 25, 2020 | Reflections
Though Jesus comes to us in community, we each make an individual response to Jesus. Ignatius of Loyola believed that after we answer the question about who Jesus is, we have three other major questions to answer. Ignatius called upon the members of his order to ask...
Monday, February 24, 2020 | Reflections
The beauty of Jesus’ final discourse in the Gospel of John is indisputable. Jesus encourages his disciples to abide in him and to allow him to abide in them. As he tells them about his desire to be with them always, he calls them friends. To be called a...
Sunday, February 23, 2020 | Reflections
Matthew places the transfiguration right after Jesus preaches about the cross and self-denial. Going up the mountain, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John with him as representatives of the Christian community. Just like them, we have been created to behold the glory of...
Saturday, February 22, 2020 | Reflections
My friend has the words righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness tattooed on her arm. She still complains about how painful the process was. I ask her if it’s a pain to live the words. She jokes that it’s not too painful if she lives one word a...
Friday, February 21, 2020 | Reflections
Just before our story for today picks up, Jesus has been talking to anyone who will listen about the good shepherd, his beloved flock, and the One who sent him. And the naysayers don’t like this one bit. Love is at its purest during challenging times, and here we see...
Thursday, February 20, 2020 | Reflections
From The Archives: August 14, 1945There can hardly be a better description of what the sight of God would be like to human eyes than this thrice Holy of Isaiah’s, because Isaiah really does not describe God at all. He describes the surroun….(View this reading...
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 | Reflections
Whenever Jesus tells those who oppose him the truth about their inner thoughts and actions, they become uncomfortable and angry. The truth of their deceit does not lead to their conversion but rather a hardening of their hearts. Scripture presents this phenomenon as a...
Tuesday, February 18, 2020 | Reflections
We have a challenging time answering God’s call to pay attention to and emulate the holiness of Jesus. The author of 1 John provides us good encouragement, reminding us that Jesus walks in love and light, compassion and peace, in all of his relationships. Jesus lives...
