This evening, we came into a dark church, a reminder that for a while Jesus Christ was absent from the world after dying on the cross. Soon after Deacon Larry entered holding aloft the Easter candle, that darkness was dispelled. The solitary flame of his candle quickly spread throughout the church. For me, few moments in the year are as moving as this sign of the risen Christ touching the lives of so many through the help of others.

This is the night many people throughout the world have been waiting for. They were drawn to our faith because Christ touched them in some way, perhaps because someone had shared the joy of the gospel with them. So much has happened in their lives yet I can only say that far from finishing the task that brings them to this night, “We have only just begun.”

…

Easter VigilRead More »

“It is finished.” As he took his last breath and bowed his head, what was finished was the earthly life of Jesus of Nazareth. The public ministry that included miracles, the feeding of the multitudes, the many parables.

What is finished? For one thing, he no longer had to endure any more of the brutal suffering he had been subjected to since his arrest in the garden. With his dying breath, one could say that, but I suspect Jesus had something else inmind as he breathed his last.

Moments beforehand, he said, “I thirst.” So they offered him a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop. He took the wine, something only John mentions. Recall several verses earlier in his gospel when Jesus said, “Shall I not drink from the cup which my Father gave me?” The last line he said after his arrest. Having taken the wine, he had finished the commitment he made at the start of the Passion Narrative.

…

Good FridayRead More »

Recharging certain items is a daily necessary routine for many of us.  Smart phones, laptops, hearing aids, and electric toothbrushes, for example, would not function for long if we did not recharge them regularly. The same could be said for plants; if we don’t water them often enough, they would die. Likewise, we need to eat if we are to survive.  Our health and well-being depends on eating well.  Otherwise, we could either starve or suffer from malnutrition. 

What can be said for our physical well-being can also be said for our spiritual well-being. That may very well be why Jesus did what he did at the last supper, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” To the outsider what Jesus said may seem like very strange language, perhaps even a bit cannibalistic. 

…

Holy ThursdayRead More »

Today, each of us received a palm to take home to remind usof the drama we just heard joining countless others in praising Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ when he entered Jerusalem, then just days later they scorned him. Why?

A young boy, named Drew, discovered that people could be easily persuaded by the influence of others. Serving as part of the crowd in a stage production of the Passion, he was instructed by the director to repeat whatever the men in red turbans shouted. “When you get on stage, watch the men in red turbans carefully! Shout everything they shout!” he said.

…

Palm SundayRead More »

“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” That question hit home for me. Unbeknownst to my parents or the doctors involved, I had a stroke at birth, which caused my hearing loss. To think that either was the consequence of their sins or mine never entered our minds when I was a child. Instead of seeing my condition as a divine punishment, my mom’s explanation resonated with what Jesus said to the disciples. “It is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.”

…

4th Sunday of LentRead More »