The following is a reflection on the First Sunday of Advent, Year C. The Day of the Lord. The end. The Second Coming. The Parousia. In our day such things are wholly owned subsidiaries of Hollywood and people so far off their rockers that they are the very definition of “laughingstock.”
A reflection on Christ the King Sunday, especially for year B of the Revised Common Lectionary. Pope Pius XI inaugurated Christ the King Sunday in 1925, when the authority of the church was evidently waning in the world. Of course nearly ninety years later, the “authority” of the church—or even just the “place” of the church—in the world is almost laughable. We are all but irrelevant in the power structures of the community of nations. […]
The following is a reflection on John 11:32-44, the Gospel Lesson for All Saints B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. There is also a Litany for All Saints Day on this site here. While I don’t use the King James Version of the Bible often, I do happen to love its rendering of the raising of Lazarus. Jesus, after weeping and being emotionally moved, commands those around him to open Lazarus’ tomb. There’s instant […]
The following is a reflection on John 6:56-69, the Gospel lesson appointed for Proper 16B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. This post is from the tenth chapter of my book, “Going to Hell, Getting Saved.” Jesus told the people that his flesh was real food and that his blood was true drink—and to eat his flesh and drink his blood meant eternal life. And people stopped following him. The disciples grumbled about how hard […]
The following is a reflection on John 6:35, 41-51, the Gospel lesson for Proper 14B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. There was one brief, shining moment in the Hebrew Bible where things were pretty good. We had safety, and security, we had the Presence of God walking among us. We had a nice garden. And then we blew it. We had only been given one “thou shalt not,” and we couldn’t manage the “not” […]
The following is a reflection on John 6:24-35, the Gospel lesson appointed for Proper 13B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. So…I think to fully understand the “I am the bread of life” text, we need to go back a few chapters in John. In chapter four, Jesus is talking to the woman at the well. Jesus offers her water, she marvels at his lack of a bucket with which to draw water, and he […]
The following is a reflection on John 6:1-21, the Gospel lesson appointed for Proper 12B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. This Gospel lesson is full of bright-and-shiny things that are impressive, and which can command attention. Jesus feeds a lot of people with only a little bit of food. A few morsels of food end up becoming baskets and baskets of leftover pieces. Jesus walks on water. Cool stuff, right? Because these things are […]
The following is a reflection on Luke 24:36b-48, the Gospel lesson for Easter 3B and the Thursday in Easter Week, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. The Gospel authors (especially Luke and John) go to great lengths to show that there’s something different about the resurrected Christ. Something so different that Mary Magdalene doesn’t recognize Jesus, and in fact mistakes him for the gardener, on Easter morning. And then the disciples on the road to […]
In the history of Christian thought there have been many theories of how we are made at-one with God (atonement). One theory which we find referenced as early as the 500’s AD, called the “Ransom Theory,” or the”Classic Theory” suggests that because we are sinful that we actually belong to Satan. The Ransom theory, building itself on the verse from Paul, “you were bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20) identifies Jesus’ death with his […]
The following is a reflection on the Passion in the Gospel of Mark. For a version of the Prayers of the People based on the Christ Hymn in Philippians, suited for use on Palm Sunday, click here. The portrayal of the Passion and Crucifixion in the Synoptics differs from the Gospel of John. In the Synoptics the Crucifixion is a moment of agony. Jesus is screaming screams of abandonment while being tortured.