Season 2, Episode 1 of Messy Jesus Business, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh LISTEN HERE: IN THIS EPISODE: In Season 2, Episode 1, we explore the following question: what does building a Church of Oneness really mean? The answer is messy. “I think a lot of people think heaven is the suburbs. And I’m veryContinue reading “Father David A. Jones: The Intersection of Oneness and Rugged Individualism”
Tag Archives: ministry
“I thirst,” an invitation to transformation and presence in the midst of COVID-19
I heard the voice of God last night. It came not from my church a few blocks up the road, the historic St. Augustine where Holy Thursday’s Mass of the Last Supper was taking place, but from around the corner. It came from a man sitting on a bench in Tuba Fats Square in theContinue reading ““I thirst,” an invitation to transformation and presence in the midst of COVID-19″
Bring on the boredom: the paradox of the path
Years ago, at a family gathering with cousins and aunts and uncles rubbing shoulders and shaking hands, I uttered words for which I was shamed and even scolded. We were in the hills of Iowa at my uncle’s pig farm. He was the eldest uncle. His children were at least a decade older than me,Continue reading “Bring on the boredom: the paradox of the path”
The joy of being surpassed
Pass on what you have learned. Strength, mastery, hmm … but weakness, folly, failure also. Yes: failure, most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is. Luke, we are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters. – Yoda, to Luke Skywalker, “The Last Jedi” It is good to remind myself, everyContinue reading “The joy of being surpassed”
Strength in weakness
But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. — 2 Corinthians 12:9 Lent is a time I focus on my weaknesses. I don’tContinue reading “Strength in weakness”
Preaching the Gospel for the first time … again
I sat down in front of 15 pre-K students for our bi-weekly Bible story time, expecting more or less to follow our routine. Every Wednesday and Friday I join them for a 15-minute story session, telling toddler-friendly versions of Sunday’s scripture or the classic Bible stories that adults clean up and present to young children:Continue reading “Preaching the Gospel for the first time … again”
Whitewashed Mary and White Supremacy
What image of Mary. the mother of God, do you remember seeing as a child? When you close your eyes and imagine Mary today, who do you see? What color is her hair? Her eyes? Her skin? What type of clothes is she wearing in your imagination? As a kid growing up in a tight-knitContinue reading “Whitewashed Mary and White Supremacy”
O Come Emmanuel: Free us prisoners
Sitting next to me in another hard, plastic chair is a good-hearted man wearing brightly colored scrubs — colors that label him as guilty of a crime. We’re in a florescent lit room inside the county jail: bare white walls and glass windows, a camera overhead. There are about a dozen of us in thisContinue reading “O Come Emmanuel: Free us prisoners”
Do you know who you’re talking to?
As I walked down the hall and into our parish’s Spanish language youth group meeting after a very trying and somewhat disappointing middle school lesson on the Ten Commandments, I was fully immersed in beleaguered-teacher mode. I entered and quickly began an Advent lesson on Mary. We began reviewing the stories of the Annunciation, theContinue reading “Do you know who you’re talking to?”
Breaking down the walls because ‘tú eras mi otra yo’
I once stood near the United States-Mexico border. In the journey to this edge, I witnessed the evidence of militarization: guns, checkpoints, armored vehicles, cameras. The steel fence rose from the sandy earth like a misplaced mountain. I felt my body tense from the feeling of surveillance. I felt the unease and sorrow that seemedContinue reading “Breaking down the walls because ‘tú eras mi otra yo’”