Written Devotional
“You Are Very Religious”
Christ is risen! In the heady days of the Enlightenment in Europe, the elites and the educated were convinced humanity had turned a corner away from the silly superstitions of religion and towards the “mature” and “enlightened” attitudes of the materialistic world. Science would lead to a “Golden Age”...
The Message Of Jesus Disrupts
Christ is risen! The old apocryphal Chinese curse seems innocuous at first, but when you really think about it, it is truly a curse: “May you live in interesting times.” To wish for someone to live in times of turmoil and upheaval really is an ironic wish. But most...
The Rulekeepers
Christ is risen! It’s so easy to be “one-sided!” You know what I mean – “That idea is so wrong and everyone who thinks that way and acts that way is misguided.” And you may be right about that, BUT, there is also a danger on the other side...
The Spiritual Discipline of True “Dialogos”
Christ is risen! It seems we are a society of fads. To say that our modern culture is captured by the immediate and temporary seems to be a bit of an understatement! Just look around at what passes for actual conversation and see the effects of this faddish and...
I See You! Sunday’s Homily
On this Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, we are confronted with the message that we must never neglect the marginalized in society AND the confrontation that all of us must be changed. Both parts of the Message of the Gospel MUST be our work and our calling. The purpose...
The Truth Is Rarely Popular
Christ is risen! I have some acquaintances that are academic lay theologians and they never cease to amaze me with their regular “insights” that “Well, we know this has been believed a long time, but did you know about these exceptions that really mean that what we’ve always believed...
The Corruption of The Straight Way
Christ is risen! Let’s face it, ideas matter. Words matter. The current fad of “lived experience” as a way to insist that truth is relative is a linguistic trap filled with all kinds of dangers to our society. But it has always been the desire of the evil one...
A New Definition of “Normal”
Christ is risen! American author and humorist Patsy Clairmont famously said “Normal is just a setting on your dryer.” She was hoping to communicate that many times our idea of what is “normal” is unreachable and a source of shame in our lives. This insight is very much correct....
Everyone Is Welcome
Christ is risen! The New York Times recently had an article talking about the statement of the US Surgeon General concerning the very real societal epidemic of loneliness in our country (See “We Have Become a Lonely Nation” NYT 30 April 2023) In the article the Surgeon General rightly...
God Doesn’t Show Partiality
Christ is risen! I grew up in the volatile 1960s when the Civil Rights movement was really getting traction. I watched as a boy as marches and riots occurred around the country and our nation struggled with throwing off the scourge of racism. By the way, how is it...