This is how it ends. The joy of the incarnation, the surprising revelations at Jesus' baptism, the years of miraculous healings and heavenly teaching, of standing up to the authorities. The backlash, the intrigue, the betrayal, the conspiracy, the kangaroo court. This is how it ends. Jesus, dead, hanging on a cross. The world stands … Continue reading This Is How It Ends: A Reflection for Good Friday 2021
If you knew your time was up and you had one last opportunity to leave a lasting legacy for your friends and family, what would you do? What would you say? It's an interesting question to be sure, and one that is probably worth some contemplation. Whatever it is you would choose to say, you'd … Continue reading Famous Last Words: A Reflection for Maundy Thursday
One of my Lenten disciplines this year was to re-read The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, a work — at times beautiful, at times stultifyingly dull, but always challenging — that records the traditions of the desert monasticism that flourished from the fourth through seventh centuries in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine. These were people who … Continue reading Watch Your Heart: A Reflection for Wednesday of Holy Week 2021
Today, the Gospel returns to the second half of John 12. Much of this passage was our Sunday Gospel just a couple of weeks ago. But today's reading adds on some interesting words, which are well worth pondering today. You may remember that the passage begins with Jesus talking about the wheat that bears its … Continue reading While It Is Still Light: A Reflection for Tuesday of Holy Week 2021
In yesterday's reflection for Palm Sunday, I wrote about how the crowd's false expectations about Jesus blinded them to what he was telling them about who he was. Today, on Monday of Holy Week, I'd like to pick up on a similar thread from today's Gospel: If the crowds could not see Jesus as he … Continue reading The Lazarus Problem: A Reflection for Monday of Holy Week 2021
Matthew Root 