Thirty years ago I spent some time volunteering at Covenant House, a child welfare organization in New York. As you can imagine, the concept of the covenant was a big thing there. “One thing you gotta know about covenants,” our spiritual director used to say. “They’re bloody. They cost something.”
Forever is a long time. Ask the couple who promises fidelity for only one lifetime! Or the celibate who takes vows for the long haul. Or the parents of a child who will occupy their concerns for the next 18 years and counting.
If the riveting movie Doubt taught us nothing else, it’s that there’s always room for being dead wrong. We don’t like to entertain that notion even in the privacy of our midnight thoughts.
The narratives about Jesus by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John fit nicely into a classic American genre: the road story.
Religious claims are a dime a dozen. You think Hindus and Mormons believe some outrageous things? Try Catholics. Virgin Birth, heaven and hell, the resurrection of the dead—none of that has a shred of “evidence” to back it up.
It’s always instructive to see what the world does with reformed criminals. Saul of Tarsus, formerly waging a zealot’s war against Christianity, seeks to join the ranks of the enemy in whole-souled conversion to Christ. They won’t have him!
With every election, citizens will face an important question together: Who should lead? It has a related, shadow question that gets asked more rarely: Who will follow?
Last week in John’s gospel Thomas took the rap for demanding tangible signs of the Resurrection of Jesus. This week in Luke’s account Jesus spontaneously offers concrete evidence of his presence to quell his disciples’ unuttered questions.
Where do we look for signs of love? And how do we prove our love to others? We all know the customary rituals: kisses, words, cards, and flowers. Over time the gifts become more expensive as greater investments of resources are made.
"Come, let us build the ship of the future.” With these remarkable words an Irish ballad invites us to participate in the world we are making with each new decision and every new day. Where do you want to be tomorrow, or a year from now?