Wednesday of Holy Week invites us to explore what we mean when we speak of Satan. Ah, language! Miracle and menace all at the same time. My Palm Sunday post began my Holy Week quest to grapple with language as one of today’s most significant impediments to religious faith. The next day I wrote my Monday of Holy Week post in which I proposed understanding “humanity” and “divinity” as two modes of the same experience rather than binary opposites. Then yesterday, I used the... Read more
Tuesday of Holy Week takes us deeper into the drama of Jesus’ fate. It also allows us to explore the limitations of religious language further. My Palm Sunday post suggested that one of the biggest impediments to religious faith today is one of language. Then in yesterday’s Monday of Holy Week post, I proposed understanding “humanity” and “divinity” as two modes of the same experience rather than binary opposites. The gospel reading for Tuesday of Holy Week blows the human vs. divine issue out... Read more
Yesterday, I wrote that on one level, the lengthy gospel reading for Palm Sunday is a story about the confusing mix of humanity and divinity in the person of Jesus. On another level, though, all the gospel readings during Holy Week invite us to grapple with the limitations of language. This is certainly true of the Monday of Holy Week. My husband and I are visiting my sister and her husband in North Carolina this week. Today Vicki and I... Read more
Palm Sunday invites us to follow Jesus on his journey to the cross and beyond during Holy Week. As we prayerfully undertake this pilgrimage inside our hearts, let’s also journey together toward an understanding of the Christian faith in a language that makes sense in the modern world. Human language is nothing short of miraculous. The fact that I can use this tool to download my own thoughts and feelings and upload them to you is mind-blowing. For a person... Read more
The Gospel of Jesus and the Gospel of Ted Lasso share a common theme: judge not lest ye be judged. I’m in love with Ted Lasso. Sure, the hit show streaming on Apple TV is excellent, but I’m talking about the guy. His “gospel” is based on eternal optimism. Ironically a contributing factor in his divorce, it would not be a problem for me. His big heart, boundless energy, and good-natured humor make my heart skip a beat. In an... Read more
The gospel reading on the Fourth Sunday of Lent is all about what it means to see . . . and how what we see makes us who we are. In this week’s lengthy passage from John, Jesus heals a man blind from birth. He spits on the ground and rubs the resulting paste on the man’s eyes. He then instructs him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam. Three defining features in this story provide three guideposts that... Read more
We’ve examined Pope Francis’ conference, AP ranking, tournament performance, and stats. Now it’s time to see what kind of seed, or preliminary ranking, he’ll be taking into the “NCAA Tournament” of his papacy. The NCAA selection committee decides who the top seeds are in the tournament. This is the fifth predictor of tournament success. Only one winning team since 1998 entered the tournament lower than a three-seed. While these rankings aren’t always rock solid, they can’t be ignored either. Sizing... Read more
The Gospel readings for the third Sunday of Lent challenge us to rethink what it means to be “holy.” In what country are people regularly patted down and searched, often multiple times? Where citizens spend hours waiting in long lines to get their basic needs met? Where they risk being separated from items they legitimately own at any time? Where the crowds in the city centers pit neighbor against neighbor in competition for limited resources? Where the majority are left... Read more
Since 2003, every NCAA tournament winner scored above identified benchmarks in field goal percentage, points per game, and total rebounds. It only makes sense that a team who is strong on the fundamentals of scoring will end up with the trophy. What do Pope Francis’ stats during his first decade say about what is yet to come? Pope Francis’ By the Numbers Francis’ Firsts First pope from the Americas First, people from the Southern hemisphere First pope ordained after Vatican... Read more
A third predictor of NCAA tournament success is prior success in the conference tournament leading up to it. Let’s think of Pope Francis’ “conference tournament” as the highlight reel of what he wrote, what he said, and where he went during his first decade. What Pope Francis Wrote Encyclicals are letters the pope writes to the whole Church on matters of theology. Apostolical Exhortations are less authoritative and urge the Church to consider an issue seriously. Pope Francis’ writings say... Read more
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