We live in between that first morning of new creation when Mary encountered the risen Christ and the realization of our hope when one day all things will be made new. We await that day when all tears will be wiped away and all sorrow turned to joy. May we be reminded that with every new morning we awake to the presence of the one who is able to turn to our sorrow to joy. When we ask, “Where is Jesus?” We can be confident, whether we recognize him or not, he is with us.
The Jesus Prayer
October 22, 2023 • Derek Vreeland
Prayer is to our soul what breathing is to our body. But we don’t need to learn how to breathe; our bodies do that automatically. We do need to learn how to pray. One prayer we can quickly learn is the Jesus Prayer—Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. It has the potential to open us up more fully to the mercy of God. Prayer is about carving out time and space to attend to the presence of God which is often found in stillness and silence. The Jesus Prayer helps us get there.
A Feast For All
October 15, 2023 • Jacob Taylor
"On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food..." With these words Isaiah begins to paint a vivid picture of a salvation feast prepared for all. The early church would come to embrace and enact this vision of the kingdom of God. Their weekly feasts marked by radical hospitality and informed by the table practice and teachings of Jesus. In a world suffering from grief and division, it is this weekly meal, a feast of salvation that we need most.
The Lamb at the Center
October 8, 2023 • Derek Vreeland
What we need right now in this cultural moment is a fresh imagination of Jesus as the Lamb of God at the center of all we do as followers of Jesus. The image of Jesus as the Lamb at the center comes to us from Revelation 7:17, "For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." As we meditate on the Lamb at the center, we can hear Jesus offering us the invitation to worship him, imitate him, and bear witness to him.
Paths of Unseen Existences
October 1, 2023 • Brian Zahnd
Ours is an age of acute empirical perception that affords spectacular scientific and technological developments, but our age is also an epoch of dire spiritual dullness leading to a deep poverty of the soul. This lack of spiritual perceptivity engenders a profound sense of emptiness and meaninglessness. To recover meaning we need to rediscover the paths of unseen existences.
Re-Enchanting the Christian Soul
September 24, 2023 • Brian Zahnd
Being so heavenly minded that we're no earthly good is not our problem. The problem of the disenchanted Christian soul is a result of the exact—we're so enthralled by the material world that we have ceased to believe in any other. The soul is re-enchanted as we set our mind on things above.
All Shall Be Well: The Life and Revelations of Julian of Norwich
September 17, 2023 • Brian Zahnd
"I had often wondered why God in his wisdom could not have prevented the origin of sin. For if he had, I thought, then all would have been well. But Jesus answered me with these words: 'Sin is necessary [inevitable], but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well. It is true that sin is the cause of all this pain, but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.'" -Julian of Norwich
Beautiful (In Time)
September 10, 2023 • Jacob Taylor
Ordinary Time 2023: A Welcoming People
July 2, 2023 • Derek Vreeland
Jesus taught and lived in a way to create a welcoming people who practice radical hospitality. Jesus told his disciples that if we welcome his apostles we are welcoming him. If we welcome a prophet, then we can expect to receive a prophet's reward. A welcoming community looks like a church that practices Christian hospitality where we make room for new people. Jesus stretched out his arms of love in order to welcome us. As we walk in his ways we welcome others as well, inviting them to belong, believe, and become more like Jesus.
Ordinary Time 2023: Falling Sparrows, Numbered Hairs, and the Dread of Gehenna
June 25, 2023 • Brian Zahnd
Jesus says that we should not fear those who revile us or even those who can only kill the body. Jesus says that the Father's care for us is so deep that we need not fear. But Jesus also says we should fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna. What does this mean and who is Jesus talking about?
Ordinary Time 2023: Agents of Healing
June 18, 2023 • Brian Zahnd
We live in angry and mean-spirited age—a volatile age that perpetuates rage. The heroes of this inflammatory age are often those most skilled in rhetorical evisceration. Our angry age applauds those who can most viciously put down their opponents. This is the current zeitgeist, the spirit of the age—but it’s not the Holy Spirit. Jesus sends us out to be healers not crusaders.
Ordinary Time 2023: The Medicine of Mercy
June 11, 2023 • Brian Zahnd
When he was criticized by the Pharisees for eating with sinners, Jesus in effect said, "I hang out with sinners because they're sick and I’m a doctor. If you're not sick, you don't need a doctor, so I guess you're free to ignore me. But these people are sick, and they know it; they've done well to come to a doctor." Jesus is the physician who treats sinners with the medicine of mercy.
