A reflection on Philippians 2:1-13, the epistle lesson for Proper 21a, according to the Revised Common Lectionary, which examines Paul's mystical theology of God being within us.
A reflection on Romans 8:26-39, the epistle lesson for Proper 12a according to the Revised Common Lectionary. “Would someone like to offer the prayer?” Before you can count 1–2–3, every eye in the place is either looking at me, or doing everything they can to not make eye-contact with the person who asked that question. No one told me that’s what would come with my clerical collar: that when-in-public, I’m the go-to prayer guy, no […]
Zombies. Hungry with an insatiable appetite for living flesh, they roam alone and in hordes, looking and listening for prey. They have no regard for their own safety. No regard for life. No compassion. No relationships, not even with each other. They just want to feed. They want to consume. They are all hunger. As such, they are a grotesque statement on humanity. On culture: mindless consumming.
The following is a reflection on Luke 7:1-10 and Galatians 1:1-12, the gospel and epistle lessons properly appointed for Proper 4C, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. The epistle and gospel lessons this week deal with two very different and very similar forms of faith, and approaches to worthiness.
The following is a reflection on Revelation 7:9-17, the New Testament lesson appointed for Easter 5C, and All Saint’s Day, Year A according to the New Revised Common Lectionary. The Book of Leviticus tells of the major festival of Tabernacles. All Israel was to gather together, and construct temporary shelters, called tabernacles, to remind themselves of their ancestors dwelling in temporary shelters for the forty year wilderness journey. They were also to pray, waving palm, […]
The following is a reflection on Luke 13:1-9, the Gospel lesson appointed for Lent 3C according to the Revised Common Lectionary. Those people. Those people who were slaughtered by Pilate. Those people killed in the falling tower. Were those people worse sinners than everyone else?
The following is a reflection on the thirteenth chapter of Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians. Wouldn’t you like to speak “in the tongues of mortals and of angels?” Wouldn’t it be such great fun to bowl people over with divine eloquence every time you open your mouth!?
The following is a reflection on James 5:13-20, the epistle lesson appointed for Proper 21B, according to the revised common lectionary. I think it’s helpful to read the conclusion of the Epistle of James in its full context. James was writing to a community engaged in conflict over class discrimination. It was apparently a vicious and heated inter-church argument. In the beginning of the Epistle, James urges the people in the church to be quick to […]
The following is a reflection on James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a, the epistle lesson appointed for Proper 20 B according to the Revised Common Lectionary. One day Steve Jobs was walking through the Xerox corporation, and he saw something that helped him change the world as we know it: a computer with a graphic interface. Xerox was experimenting with how people interact with their computer, what we now call “user interface,” or “UI.” Graphic interface was revolutionary. […]
The following is a reflection on James 3:1-12, the epistle lesson for proper 19B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. As we saw in the first chapter of James’s epistle, James is writing to a community in conflict. People are fighting, people are arguing, and things are not going well. As we saw in the second chapter of the epistle, the argument is over the bigotry of class distinction. What becomes clear very early on […]