The passion narrative starts in a garden, where Judas betrays Jesus, and it ends in a garden, where our Lord is laid to rest: sin in the first garden, and death in the second; betrayal in the one, and burial in the other. John's Gospel clearly wants to remind us of the garden that begins the story of human sin…
These events are unfolding half a world away, and yet their images sear into us. If we are willing to stay with them and to ponder them a while, they have the power to break our hearts. A man kneels in the snow, grieving in front of the wreckage where his mother was buried alive. An old woman covers her…
As I pondered today's Gospel, I got to thinking: what would happen if the wise men walked out of those crèches and into our lives? What would happen if these figures -- so easy to trivialize as nothing more than decorative props for a mid-winter festival that we pack away when the festival is done -- what if the wise…
I want to tell an Advent story that took place five years ago. In the fall of 2005, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita - strengthened by the unusually warm waters of the Gulf - plowed into Louisiana and Mississippi. Millions of Americans were evacuated. Within a matter of hours, most of an American city lay in ruins.
Soon afterwards,…
Why do I love that line? Because it orients me toward the future with an attitude of expectation and hope. Because it tells me where to focus my attention, so that I keep watch for the in-breaking realm of God. What do we look for? “We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to…
If a selfish, indifferent judge will relent and grant justice in the face of such persistence, how much more, says Jesus, will “God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to [God] day and night” (Luke 18:7)! God is nothing like that unjust judge -- God is generous, abounding in mercy, and eager to bring justice. So Jesus gives…
As I imagined holding this very leaf before you, I asked, “OK, Leaf, what do you have to say to these good people?” And the leaf gave me three messages.
The first one: Here is the world in all its beauty. This leaf is unlike every other leaf. If you spent just five minutes examining its stem and v
How do you answer a question like that? Perhaps the safest reply is simply to parry the question with one of your own. “Why do you ask?” you might say to your child, or, “Do you need a little loving right now?” I remember that his question left me stammering, groping for words, as if suddenly faced with an existential…
I never met Julie, so I can't speak about her from direct experience. But from what I have read, and from the stories that some of you have told me, I know that she was a woman who loved animals -- dogs and cats, her cat, Isabel, and the strays and unwanted pets that she cared for at the Dakin…
Standing by the sea, I felt what we all feel when we find ourselves on the edge of mystery: I wanted to praise. I wanted to give thanks. To be precise, I wanted to plant my two feet on that ancient rock, raise my hands, and say, “The Lord be with you. Lift up your hearts.”
This morning our…
