I just presided Monday but I signed up to preside again today….because I am bored out of my mind. But you know what isn’t boring? The Acts of the Apostles. Just a chapter ago in this book, and just yesterday in the liturgy, we heard about the beginnings of the Gentile Church at Antioch. Through … More A Church that is Missionary by Nature
One of my favorite podcasts is called Radiolab. It discusses a lot of scientific topics but presents them in a way that non-scientists can understand. As a non-scientist, that’s important to me. The most recent episode told a story about Richard Feynman. In the early 1960s, Cal Tech University was having difficulties with its physics … More John 3:16
Historically speaking, Peter’s Pentecost sermon, reported in today’s first reading, took place over a month after the Resurrection. In liturgical time, however, it takes place just a few days after the events of the passion. Accordingly, we see in high relief the sharp contrast between the actions of Peter here, as a witness to Christ, … More The Good News of Peter
There is a woman from my home parish. She is the great matriarch of a multigenerational clan in my neighborhood. I know her, or, I should say, I know her the way one knows the mother of one’s friends, for I was in school with the three youngest of her children. She was a member … More Faith in a Time of Fear: Homily for 3/24/20
Psychologist sometimes make a distinction between professed beliefs and operative beliefs. Professed beliefs are the values we say we live by, things like “family is important.” “God is important.” “I am a Christian.” “I am a monk.” Operative beliefs are the values we actually live by and they can differ from our professed beliefs. For … More Jon Foreman and the Epistle of St. James
When you hear the word “law,” what images come into your mind? What feelings? Is it a positive thing? Is it a negative thing? This question is more than a personality test. The answer has deep implications for our life in Christ. We know that for many Christians the law is generally a negative thing. … More The Law
I’ve been doing the lector training for first theologians this week and one of the points I have made to them is that pronouns should rarely get the emphasis in public reading. Yet today I am struck in the gospel reading by the word “they,” as in “they came bringing to him a paralytic, carried … More Who is this “they”?
Of the books I read in 2019, here are some that stuck out to me and have stuck with me. They are categorized but not ranked. Spiritual Memoirs David Bennet – A War of Loves: The Unexpected Story of a Gay Activist Discovering Jesus Since I teach marriage I get lots of questions from … More Favorite Reads of 2019
A couple years ago, a psychology professor at Yale University, Dr. Lorrie Santos, was troubled by statistics she had read as well as stories she had personally witnessed indicating that anxiety, depression, and suicide were on a rapid rise among today’s college students. In response, Santos developed a class on the psychology of happiness, a … More Independence Day and Thanksgiving Day
I first started listening to the Beatles in junior high and it was about the time I was making my way, for the first time, awkwardly and insecurely, to school dances. The Beatles gave me a kind of language for the emotional world I was stepping into and the roles it was possible to play … More John Lennon and the Jealous Wrath of God
