Scripture Reflection
Here I share the fruits of my personal reflection on the Word of God, whether I’m reading along with the lectionary readings for that week or exploring a particular book of the Bible. Enjoy the posts that appear below; you’ll find them with the most recent first. If you’re looking for something in particular, try typing a topic, book of the Bible, or other keyword into the search field at the bottom of the page. Topics I write about frequently include those listed below:
I came upon this tiny columbine, flourishing in a most unlikely place. My first thought was to wonder how it got there - but the bigger question is, how did it make it? It must have been carried by the wind. How easily it might have landed in the water to be carried away or dashed against the rocks. But ...
Do you ever feel empty, and wonder why God doesn't fill you? He may want you to try giving, first. 1 Kings 17 tells of the time God sends a drought on Israel because of the wickedness of the king. When the rivers begin to run dry, he sends his prophet Elijah to Zarephath in neighboring Sidon. God says he ...
I had it engraved inside my husband's ring: "Psalm 34:3" -- O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! Twenty-seven years ago last Friday I said "I do," and that was my heart-cry to Mark Christmyer. Today, the fresh sparkling morning brings it to mind. The Lord is good! I watch the sun sift through ...
My favorite spot in the Holy Land is the Church of the Visitation at Ein Kerem, up in the hills North of Jerusalem. Here is where Mary ran when she learned she would bear the Son of God. There's a lovely, simple statue in the courtyard of her greeting Elizabeth. The two of them stand there in wonder, each of ...
"Be Not Afraid!...Swing wide the gates to Christ!" Karol Wojtyla proclaimed this from the balcony at St. Peter's Square back in 1978, the day he became Pope John Paul II. How fitting that today, as he is canonized in that same square, we read the gospel of Jesus "swinging wide the gates" of the Upper Room to banish fear and ...
As I stood in line for confession, folding and unfolding the little slip of paper I had written my sins on, asking the Lord to tell me if I had forgotten anything - the words of the Confiteor came to me: "...in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault...." ...
The final penitential psalm, Psalm 143, takes us to the foot of the cross on Good Friday. The psalmist -- perhaps David, on the run from his own son Absolom -- has reached the end of his rope. His "spirit faints," his heart is "appalled" (vs 4). He feels trapped and abandoned even by God, on the verge of death ...
They called it the MEATBALL DEATH STAR: 5 pounds of ground beef wrapped around a mixture of cheese tortellinis, sautéed sweet peppers and onions; a fluffy cloud of garlic mashed potatoes; a woven cloak of bacon, spaghetti sauce and grated cheese. Six teenagers gathered at my house and cooked the thing for a Saturday afternoon snack. The astonishing thing to ...
One of my enduring memories of 9/11 is the odd yet absolute right-ness of the packed church that night. Nobody was told to come, there was no mass, no scheduled prayer service – the people just came. We came together in our grief, our fear, our incomprehension. We huddled in silent prayer and wept. Instinctively, we knew that God was ...
