Pentecost 2

This is the part of the liturgical year where the lectionary can be confusing to those to whom it is new. Because the date of Easter moves (I have strong opinions about that and believe we should be on the orthodox calendar), we have varying numbers of weeks from Easter to Advent. Their readings are...... Read More

Trinity Sunday

Sovereign, Savior and Shelter; Author, Word, and Translator; Parent, Partner, and Friend; Majesty, Mercy, and Mystery; Creator, Christ, and Compassion; Potter, Vessel, and Holy Fire; Life, Liberation, and Love. A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church... Read More

Pentecost

This year I heard the readings differently: …there were dwelling in Jerusalem devout Jews from every nation under heaven… The reason the Church started as a multinational multiethnic beloved community is because we were born from a rich and diverse multinational multiethnic Judaism.  This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because...... Read More

Ascension

I fell off the reflection writing wagon. Initially, due to my travel and writing schedule. I’m trying to find the rhythm of writing now that the semester is over. Then, like many of my readers, I sat appalled with my hand over my mouth like Job, consumed with grief and rage at the slaughter of...... Read More

An Enslaved Enslaving Church

Enslaved to sin. That we might no longer be enslaved to sin. This we know, that our old self was crucified with Christ so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. The catechism of enslavement includes rape, forced procreation and forced impregnation and also, forced...... Read More

Easter 6

Sin was supposed to mean “missing the mark of God’s expectation for us.” And yes, some of those expectations can be found on lists configured as rules and laws but they are only the framework of a tapestry in which our love for God is interwoven with her love for us producing the gorgeous colors...... Read More

Easter 5

Eastertide is a season of miracles. The resurrection of Jesus is followed by stories of miraculous healing at the hands of Peter and Paul and their shadows and handkerchiefs. Easter doesn’t look like that anymore. What are we to do with these stories? They are stories of power. They tell a story of possibility. They...... Read More

Easter 4

Where are the women? The long-standing practice of the Church is to read through Acts during Eastertide to follow the development of the people of the Way into what will become of the Church. Given that the Gospel of Luke and Acts are presented as having been written by the same hand, it is striking...... Read More

Easter 3

It seems like the resurrection generated more questions than it answers. Now what? The old questions are still on the table, will Jesus use his power to restore Israel to a self-governing monarchy? The good news exists in the crucible of Roman occupation. The resurrection has not dispensed with the Romans and their brutality and...... Read More

Easter 2

During the 50 days of Easter, the story would’ve spread like wildfire. And not everyone would’ve told it the same way. Someone would have told a story of one formerly outcast woman going to the tomb by herself, determined to complete the burial rites and then if necessary, to carry his body away all by...... Read More