One other picture that will always be a part of my memory of that week is the way people all across the land crowded into their places of worship. ...My fear is that we are beginning to think and act like we are on our own again and we can do it alone. ...We need God...
The disciples have now experienced Christ in word (interpreting the Scriptures) and sacrament (the breaking of bread). There is no doubt that Luke is writing not only the story of Jesus but also that of the church which knows him in these ways. The importance of...
The most important hour is always the present. The most significant person is precisely the one sitting across from you right now. The most necessary work is always love.
Sometimes the course of one’s entire life is determined by a solitary incident—some kind of defining moment that changes everything. Mary’s decision to anoint Jesus’ body for burial on the third day after his death was just such a moment. When she arrived, she found...
It is a help to think of the life and death of Jesus as sacrifice, but the word needs to be used with care. In the world of religion a sacrifice is either an offering to the ultimately holy or the giving up of something in devotion to the holy. The two ideas can blend...
If the church is to flourish, we cannot build our religious lives around a gospel of fear, or a gospel of reward for our meanness. The Christian faith is not about being afraid of God. Fear may get us to submit but fear always leads to anger and resentment and...
My life is not about me. It is about God. It is about a willing participation in a larger mystery. At this time, we do this by not rejecting or running from what is happening but by accepting our current situation and asking God to be with us in it. Paul of Tarsus...
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.
One of the greatest obstacles to your growing is the fear of making a fool of yourself. Any real step forward implies the risk of failure. And the really important steps imply the risk of complete failure. Yet we must make them, trusting in Christ. If I take this...