If only
Rabbi Akiva said: “Had the Torah not been given, the Song of Songs would have sufficed to guide the world” (quoted in Gillian Rose, Paradiso, 15). The Song of Songs…
Preacher: Isaac Villegas
Precious and lovely
What is this life for? What’s your life for? [personal story about a friend diagnosed with cancer] So I’ve been thinking about what life is for, this precious life: so…
Love, in crumbs and fragments
There’s a passage in a novel that I think about when I preach these days. It’s from Marilynne Robinson’s book, Lila. The main character says to the preacher, she says:…
That we may see and believe
In our story from John’s Gospel, the people find Jesus in Capernaum, and they’re trying to figure out what this Jesus is all about—what it would mean to believe in…
Teacher, do you not care?
Friday morning I saw a man, probably in his 40s, walking slowly up Morehead Avenue, just around the corner from my house. He was walking with his hands stretched out,…
Pentecost: Oscar Romero
Day of Pentecost On Pentecost we pay attention to the mystery of the Holy Spirit, the presence of God poured out from heaven: God’s spirit alive in us, alive in…
Vines, Eunuchs, and Love
Fifth Sunday of Easter Listen again to 1 John 4:16, “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” And hear again…
Touch me and see
A while ago I got a call, saying that someone in the jail downtown wanted to see me. I put on a tie, because I thought I should look like…
They were afraid
Easter “They were afraid.” Those are the last words of Mark — the earliest, the oldest, of the four Gospels. Mark ends his story of Jesus with Mary Magdalene, Mary…
The Human One
“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Mark 8:34 When I read these words from Jesus, my mind…