Reflections

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

In the past weeks, Acts has shown us the followers of Jesus beginning to take that which they have received and giving it to the entire world. First, we see Bachos, the Ethiopian eunuch, not welcomed at the Temple in Jerusalem, returning to his home where he spreads the Good News to Africa.   Following

We have arrived at a watershed moment that describes the inauguration of the mission to the Gentiles (Acts 11:1-18).  While today we cannot think of Christians other than as including Gentiles, their (our) inclusion involved a radical change in thinking for the first Christians who were all Jews, still felt like Jews, and maintained many

Today, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, called “Good Shepherd Sunday”, the subject of today’s Gospel.   It is also known as “Vocations Sunday”, a day when our Church prays for new shepherds and pastors to lead our Christian communities. In some parts of the world, especially in hotter and drier climates, sheep are a rarity.