Reflections

It’s hard to believe. Only a short while ago the disciples were locking themselves away because they were scared out of their minds that they were going to be the next ones executed. Before that they’d run away, and Peter, always so sure of himself, had denied that he even knew Jesus. Now that same Peter is standing up in front of the same people that had terrified him and telling them they were responsible for killing the descendent of King David (Acts 2:14, 22-33). Speaking for all those pathetic, feeble, disciples…

Continue Reading Third Sunday of Easter

When did the Resurrection happen?  That’s not too hard – on Easter Sunday! But if I wanted to be irritatingly pedantic and ask: “Yes, but exactly when, please be more precise?” – then there isn’t a clear answer. We don’t know. But we also can recognize that it doesn’t really matter. The reality of the Resurrection isn’t tied to exactly when it happened. Its significance doesn’t lie in us being able to say exactly when, or even how, it happened.  Today’s story about Thomas takes us further into the mystery of the…

Continue Reading Second Sunday of Easter

Living things are very focused on staying alive, whether they are bacteria or mammals. Humans are no different. People survive under extraordinary circumstances. Occasionally living beings will put themselves in danger for a greater good, notably protecting offspring, and perhaps when a pack defends its territory. Humans behave the same way. Jesus chose to die, he accepted death, to demonstrate the power and the glory of God. That power and glory shows there is a reality beyond the struggle to stay alive followed by the inevitability of death. When we say “Christ conquered…

Continue Reading Easter Sunday

There are occasions when things just stop. A relationship breaks up, a diagnosis you weren’t expecting, you don’t get the job you were hoping for, an accident that comes out of nowhere. We find ourselves facing a different world. But the world isn’t really different. The world carries on. What has changed is inside us, not outside. It may seem like the world stops, but only for us.  On that Friday the world stopped for the disciples. They knew things weren’t going well. Jesus had even tried to warn them. They had…

Continue Reading Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion