She was obviously very religious, clutching a worn Bible in one hand, nervously fingering the tiny, gold cross that hung from her neck with the other. She was also obviously afraid to fly. She’d been anxious since going through airport security, and old images of 9/11 kept creeping into her mind. She…
Some people thought Jesus was crazy. They were saying, “He’s beside himself.” You know, not playing with a full deck, elevator stopping a floor or two short. Lost his mind. Surrounded by a crowd of religious fanatics and weirdos, calling disciples, going around preaching the kingdom of God. His family…
The human heart is a religion factory busily cranking out religions one after another. Ever since Adam and Eve took a bite out of the fruit that brought good and evil into perspective, and then tried to hide behind their own self-stitched fig leaves, we’ve been suckers for religion.
I’m speaking of religion…
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
Today is Holy Trinity Sunday. On the western catholic calendar, Holy Trinity is the first Sunday after Pentecost. It’s a day to take a big, deep breath and confess the incomprehensible - God as one divine Being in…
It’s Pentecost Sunday. You can tell that from all the red. It’s the only Sunday I get to wear red, except for Reformation Day, which isn’t always on a Sunday. Red is the symbol for fire and blood: the fire of the Holy Spirit and for the blood of the martyrs…
Put yourself in the disciples’ sandals. It’s now 43 days since Easter Sunday and the startling good news: The Lord is risen. Last Thursday, Jesus disappeared into a cloud. Vanished in a cloud. For forty days you saw Him, ate with Him, touched Him, talked to Him, basked in His…
Two questions for this Thursday evening forty days after Easter: So what? Now what? “So what?” might be more in the lips of those who do not believe, or those who don’t see the point for making such a fuss for a holy day that always falls on a Thursday. Couldn’t…
Love. We toss the word around so carelessly, thoughtlessly. We talk about falling in love, being in love. We say, “I love you,” but what does that mean? Is it a feeling, a fact? We say we love God, but what exactly does that mean? The word “love” seems…
Jesus the vine; we the branches. He the source of life, we the ones who live in Him. The image takes us out to wine country, to the rolling vineyards lush with grape vines. Fruitful branches thick with grapes growing on an old, gnarled vine with roots that reach deep into the…
Jesus the vine; we the branches. He the source of life, we the ones who live in Him. The image takes us out to wine country, to the rolling vineyards lush with grape vines. Fruitful branches thick with grapes growing on an old, gnarled vine with roots that reach deep into the…