Pentecost
Pentecost: From Spectators to Participants Today we celebrate a very special feast—Pentecost. And like last week, we hear what is almost like two Gospel voices speaking to us: Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, and John in his Gospel. To understand Pentecost, we have to understand what it meant long before it became a […]
The Ascension
The Ascension: Not Up and Away, But Into God’s Realm The Feast of the Ascension is one of the most important celebrations in our faith, even if we sometimes misunderstand it. For many of us, we grew up picturing Jesus rising into the sky like a rocket, disappearing somewhere “out there.” But that image misses […]
If You Love Me, It Will Show
If You Love Me, It Will Show Today’s Gospel comes from the Gospel of John, and it helps to remember where John’s community was when these words were written. John is the last Gospel to be written, probably around the year 100. The temple has been destroyed. The Ascension has already happened. Jesus is no […]
God Has Many Dwelling Places
Many Dwelling Places: Jesus’ Promise of Belonging Today’s Gospel is rather interesting, isn’t it? We’re mindful that it’s John’s Gospel, and John’s Gospel is the last of the four to be written. It’s also very different. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are what we call the synoptic Gospels—they look alike, sound alike, they tell the story […]
Hearing The Shepherd’s Voice
Hearing the Shepherd’s Voice In every age, God’s people have had to decide which voices they will follow. We live in a world that shouts at us—voices of fear, drama, division, and just plain crazy swirl around us every day. Into that noise, today’s Gospel from Saint John speaks a simple but life‑changing truth: the […]
Recognizing Christ
“On the Road Again: Recognizing Christ Who Journeys With Us” The Gospel of Luke loves the road. It is a Gospel on the move, and today’s passage from the road to Emmaus is no exception. On that first day of the week—the very same day Mary Magdalene found the empty tomb and thought the body […]
You Can’t Keep A Good Secret
You Can’t Keep a Good Secret: What Happens When We Encounter the Risen Christ “These signs are written that you may believe, and that through belief you may have life in the Lord.” That line captures the heart of John’s Gospel, and really the heart of our faith. From beginning to end, John is not […]
The Cross Is Not What God Demands
The Cross Is Not What God Demands—It’s What God Gives We have just heard the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and if we’re not careful, we can walk away with the wrong idea. We can walk away thinking that somehow God needed this—that God demanded suffering, that the cross was a kind of transaction […]
UNTIE HIM AND LET HIM GO
Untie Him and Let Him Go When life closes in and the air feels thick with grief, anxiety, or injustice, we can start to believe that nothing will ever change. We see “tombs” in our own community—flooded homes never repaired, families without housing, neighbors with mental illness sitting in jail instead of in treatment—and our […]
The Man Born Blind
Revealing Our Own Blindness: A Gospel Journey with the Man Born Blind Last Sunday, we read from the Gospel of John and met the woman at the well — the one who found living water in Jesus. This week, John brings us another powerful encounter: the healing of the man born blind (John 9). And […]