One of the fascinating things about how the first Christians understood what had happened in the world in and through Jesus is just how topsy-turvy, unexpected, and ironic it all was. As they read their Scriptures, they suddenly saw Jesus everywhere in them, even if this caused them to read those Scriptures from a different … Continue reading Palms and Crosses: A Reflection for Palm Sunday 2023
As we saw in yesterday’s post, when her visions were over, Julian of Norwich was left wondering two things: how she was supposed to respond to it, and what it all meant. We looked at the first of these questions yesterday, and saw that the message was just like that of the Scriptures’ summaries of … Continue reading Love is the Meaning of it All
The most basic religious question of all is what it is God wants from us. The Scriptures’ answers to this question were the major focus of the Sunday readings during the season of Epiphany this year, inspiring reflections here on receiving the summons, on the various summaries of the Law from Deuteronomy, Micah, Ecclesiastes and … Continue reading The Light of Love, or How to Please God
One major area of difference among Christians over the past few centuries has been the question of authority. Some have claimed that the Bible is the sole authority for Christian faith, others have insisted that authority lies in the Church and its Holy Tradition. The Deists of the Enlightenment claimed that reason was to be … Continue reading On Authority
Back in 2021, I wrote a series based on the idea that we need to normalize sin without minimizing it. My premise is that so many people have a knee-jerk reaction against talk about sin because it’s been blown out of proportion: When we hear someone say, “I’m a sinner,” we hear “I’m a wretch … Continue reading For Mirth and Mourning
