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Bearing Fruit
Read more: Bearing FruitIn John 15:1-17, Jesus talks about “bearing fruit” and “friendship.” This is a reflection on the meaning of “bearing fruit” in Scripture, the ways in which John innovates a relationship between fruit, friendship, and death in this passage, and an argument about the counter-intuitive places I think we should look for friendship in Scripture. Bearing…
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Mark 1-14 is about the Eucharist: Part III of III
Read more: Mark 1-14 is about the Eucharist: Part III of IIIIn the Gospel According to St. Mark, Jesus introduces and institutes the Eucharist Feast in very few words: And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take, this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks…
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Mark 1-14 is about the Eucharist: Part II of III
Read more: Mark 1-14 is about the Eucharist: Part II of IIIIn the Gospel According to St. Mark, Jesus introduces and institutes the Eucharist Feast in very few words: And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take, this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks…
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Mark 1-14 is about the Eucharist: Part I of III
Read more: Mark 1-14 is about the Eucharist: Part I of IIIIn the Gospel According to St. Mark, Jesus introduces and institutes the Eucharist Feast in very few words: And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take, this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks…
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How I learned to honor my father and mother
Read more: How I learned to honor my father and motherTo honor one’s father and mother both is one of the Ten Commandments and also squares with the universal moral sense that C.S. Lewis called “the Tao” in his Abolition of Man lectures. It is a tenet of Christian morality that many people obey before they explicitly learn it. Listening to my mother eulogize her adopted father…
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Jesus Prays in the Garden of Gethsemane
Read more: Jesus Prays in the Garden of GethsemaneThey went to a place called Gethsemane; and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” And going a little farther,…
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Fruit of Lips
Read more: Fruit of LipsEugen Rosenstock-Huessy’s Fruit of Lips is biblical theology done in the mode of T.S. Eliot. The Four Quartets is the only thing like it that I have read. The title comes from the promise in Isaiah 57.19, “I create the fruit of lips,” and its fulfillment in ecclesial life in Hebrews 13.15, “Through Jesus, let us continually…
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Protestant Love of Mary
Read more: Protestant Love of MaryRoman Catholics and Protestants disagree about Mary. From among Protestants, I have seen both (a) condemnation of Roman Catholics for idolatry or syncretism and (b) genuine and healthy curiosity and desire to understand “Our Lady,” the great and holy woman who bore Jesus Christ. Why some Protestants love Mary My “Type B” friends have several great…
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Dickens, Death, and the Christian Christmas
Read more: Dickens, Death, and the Christian ChristmasThis week, a woman at my church faces the harrowing decision between two Christmases. On the one hand, she could join a few friends and the son from which she has been estranged, risking the possibility of running into the guy who things “didn’t work out with.” It would be too uncomfortable for her to ask…
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Do you do well to be angry?
Read more: Do you do well to be angry?This week’s lectionary readings began with Jonah; to be specific, the end of his story. Taken all together, the four readings weave a portrait of the encounter of an angry man with a generous God. This fall, God has been generous, and I have been angry. So this was a helpful week. Here’s what I’ve learned,…