“Life is not tried, it is merely survived
If you’re standing outside the fire.” Garth Brooks “To set people’s hearts on fire, to do what the Son of God did.” St. Vincent de Paul
Month: April 2021
Can You Put Yourself In This Picture?
I am not an Ethiopian at the beginning of a thousand-mile journey. Actually, I am on a lifelong journey of trying to “put on the mind of Christ”, to see things as Jesus, the stranger in my life, sees them.
Forgotten Truths About Women
Gender and religion Some highlights from a recent study of gender gap in world religions… Standard lists of history’s most influential religious leaders tend to be predominantly, if not exclusively, male. Yet it often appears that the ranks of the faithful are...
Building the Church From Scratch
What was it like to build the church from the ground up? What were the challenges faced by those who first built the Church?
Jesus left no rule book or handbook of best practices let alone an organizational flow chart.
Were There Culture Wars In the Early Church?
Were there “culture wars” In the early church? When people from various groups began to follow Jesus they brought with them.deep-seated cultural biases.
Why Do You Celebrate Anniversaries?
Whatever the anniversary, it gives us a chance to look back over the years since the event we’re marking, and reflect on how it has shaped us.
Learning Some Theology From My Mother
“Don’t make me come down and show” offers a profound insight into the reason for the Word becoming flesh.
This Couple Influenced the Early Church
“In the letter to the Romans Paul states that all the Gentile communities are indebted to this married couple (Rom 16:4). It is hard to find higher praise than that.” Robert Maloney CM
“Pay it Forward” Sunday
Jesus teaches and models “pay it forward” mercy
The Courage To Accept a New Way of Thinking
What is it like to look at the facts from the perspective of a Jewish believer, or even a Gentile who believed in many deities? From this perspective, I see how much courage it took to accept a new way of thinking.
Direction matters
The Acts of the Apostles show the community struggling to understand and make sense of their experiences.
Acts of the Apostles – Prequel for Today’s Polarization?
Exploring lessons from clashing mindsets in the early church.
Easter – Missing the Point?
Easter … comfort or challenge? We get the facts right… but so we miss the point.
Rom 16, 13 reads: "Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; and greet his mother—a mother to me also." If this…
Have a blessed Holy Week!
I have never thought about the people that were named in the Gospels. I would agree that they may be…
Generally, I love the laconic nature of Mark's Gospel. The Passion narrative is very compelling in its starkness, with one…
Father John, Blessings to you as you step cautiously down that new path. Grace and Peace be with you!