As we return to Mark for Palm/Passion Sunday, it is striking that even Mark has slowed down the action a bit, filling in details about Jesus’ instructions to the disciples and the response of the bystanders who questioned them when they went to find the colt for Jesus to ride.
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At this stage of our Lenten journey, we encounter the fruit and the charge that comes with losing our life to find it in God—service. We cannot follow Jesus without serving our neighbors. Losing our lives to God does not mean we burn ourselves out to save the world all
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This week, we continue our mid-Lent excursion into the Gospel of John. If God didn’t send Jesus to condemn the world, then we aren’t called to condemn the world either. Ouch! Seems like another opportunity for confession. But also, perhaps it is an opportunity to introduce a spiritual discipline. If
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If you think that this week’s text feels a bit misplaced, you’re not wrong. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus flips tables in the Temple courtyard just after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. But in John, we get this narrative much earlier, following directly on the heels of Jesus performing
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If Ash Wednesday and the First Sunday in Lent set us off on our Lenten journey, this week we find out just what this journey will require of us. Peter asked: “What kind of Messiah are you?” Jesus’ answer comes as a surprise, but a surprise that we are ready
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This week, in the space of seven verses, we go from hearing God’s voice at Jesus’ baptism to the wilderness where Jesus is tempted by Satan to Jesus beginning his earthly ministry. What do we focus on? Perhaps the best path forward is to lean into the roller coaster. Instead
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We end this series by focusing on a feature of our life with God that is critical to sustaining us along the way: paying attention. Now, this is not just about us paying attention to God. It is also about cultivating the trust that God pays attention to us. Though
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Let’s take a moment to look back on our journey through this series. We returned to the baptismal waters where we encountered Jesus, who entered the waters to show us the way to God’s abundant life. We listened for the voice of God alongside Samuel, Philip, and Nathanael. With Jonah,
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This is a week of call-and-response. Jesus calls the disciples, and they follow. God calls Jonah—again—and Jonah finally concedes. There is persistence to the call, but in that, there is also persistence in the need to respond. We cannot become the people of God without responding to God’s call on
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As we enter fully into Ordinary Time this week, the calendar reminds us that there is nothing ordinary about becoming the people of God. On the Sunday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, today we observe Human Relations Day. Human Relations Day offers opportunities to listen to God’s call to
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