Author name: Essjay Peatoo

During these weeks after Easter, we have journeyed with the early Church, first through its tenuous beginnings in Jerusalem, then spreading to the Jewish communities throughout the Mediterranean. We have witnessed the conversion of Saul, his being renamed as Paul, and how Paul took the Good News to the non-Jew gentiles, even to the fringes […]

If you live on this earth, you can be sure of one thing: you will witness evil. We should expect it and be prepared to react. How then should we respond to evil? Hate it:   Romans 12:9 tells us “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” This may

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). I do not talk much, in these Daily Reflections, about evil in the world.   Perhaps that is because I do not like to face that reality.  The presence of evil in

It seems that ethnic, racial, and religious violence is undergoing a revival. The past decade has witnessed a sharp increase in violent sectarian or religious tensions. These range from Islamic extremists waging global jihad, power struggles between Sunni and Shia Muslims in the Middle East, persecution of Rohingya in Myanmar and outbreaks of violence between

Today’s first reading (Acts 14:5-18), about Paul and Barnabas in Lystra, is worth lingering over. The Lectionary text ends with a cliff-hanger, making us want to continue reading to see how the story ends.   Halfway through the first mission trip, Paul and Barnabas cause such an uproar in Iconium that a crowd of Jews

During this season of Easter, we are treated to two sets of readings. Both are taken from the New Testament, and both have decidedly different approaches to telling us the Good News.  Luke’s Acts of the Apostles is volume two (the first being his Gospel) of his account of Jesus and his earliest followers, after

In yesterday’s first reading (Acts 13:26-33) Paul continued his discourse begun on Thursday on salvation history and on how Jesus was handed over by the leaders of his people into the hands of the Romans for execution.  He addressed his words both to the Jews in his audience (“descendants of Abraham’s family”) and the gentile

Uncertainties and the unknown are a messy part of our everyday lives: Will my children find jobs in their new locations?  Will I be able to handle my aging parent’s debilitating disease?  Should I accept a new position?  What major should I declare in college? What will the medical tests reveal?  I want to trust

In yesterday’s first reading (Acts 12:24-13:5) we read how Saul and Barnabas were “set apart” by the Holy Spirit and sent from Antioch on their first missionary journey.   Today, we continue reading (Acts 13:13-25).  Paul stands up in the Temple and begins to remind the congregation of their shared history.  He reminds them of

I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. (John 12: 46) Light and darkness, sight and blindness, these are powerful images. In Jesus’ time, other than fire light, candles, or oil lamps, the only other source of light was natural light. The day’s activities