It’s time for your questions dear readers! Can you stump the ordained chump?! East Vail Doctor writes, “Dear Chump, Can you explain the Gospel of John’s term ‘glorification?’” Dear Doc, The word Glory or its derivations appear some 300 times in the Bible, over 22 references in John’s Gospel alone.
Continue reading
The evangelist Luke tells us in Acts chapter 1 that following Jesus’ Ascension His (sorry cannot help it) followers took care of some housekeeping details, something akin to spring cleaning. Read Acts 1:15-26 to see how they did it. With Judas Iscariot dead by his own hand, the Eleven were
Continue reading
Today seems like the proper moment to look back before we look forward. The 10 days between the Feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost frequently feel like that liminal space, a long exhale from the (liturgical at least) rigors of the salvific march we began way back in late November
Continue reading
A popular Saturday Night Live skit from the late 1980’s spoofed the body-building movement headed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. For a brief refresher see here. Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon’s memorable Hans and Franz are a perfect introduction to today’s Reflection because God is here…to PUMP…us up! Waaay up as it
Continue reading
Well now Paul had his peaks and his troughs didn’t he? Yesterday, a trough. Today, a peak! His intense experience of resurrection living gave Paul the clarity to pen this beloved scripture, again from Romans: Who will separate us from the love of God?!…No, in all these things we are
Continue reading
Sorry. There is no other suitable title for this unsuitable subject. Ask a military veteran for translation, or perhaps not. Yes, Paul knew this encoded message of astonished confusion very well even though he used slightly (but not much) differing language. So we have died and now have been resurrected
Continue reading
Ascension Happens! Breaking Reflection News!! Has anyone been tracking 40 days beginning Easter Day, April 12th?! Just as Luke narrates it, Happy Ascension Day dear readers! Geeky Episcopalians call today one of the Red Letter Feasts, because in the earliest English Prayer Books they printed the primary festivals of the
Continue reading
Στον Χριστό En Christo. Literally, In or into Christ. Paul wasn’t picky with his prepositions ending with Christo! With Christ, through Christ, by Christ…just about any motional preposition will do! While yesterday we explored the oddly comforting yet rarely stated Christian axiom that through baptism we are imprinted with the
Continue reading
Yesterday we reflected upon the profound nature of God revealed in gospel resurrection, namely the eucatastrophic nature of God’s love, as the former great Episcopal Bishop of Colorado Bill Frey summarized with his pithy quote, “God’s never late but rarely early!” As Easter Christians we expect eucatastrophe always! And today,
Continue reading
As you may well know, one of my enduring spiritual directors is the 20th century English Oxford Don, World War I veteran, faithful Roman Catholic, poet laureate and Godfather of Fantasy Fiction, Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Tolkien’s pioneering literary recovery of Beowulf, academic prowess in philology (a little known
Continue reading