“You’re the man!” According to the Urban Dictionary, that’s a cool way of saying “you rock!” You’re comparing the person to someone everyone knows is awesome, like Jesus (or Allah, or Buddha, or even Chuck Norris, according to that source!) Somehow I don’t think that’s what the prophet Nathan meant in 2 Samuel 12 when […]
RECEIVING THE WORD: A Lesson from Football
Used to be, a wide receiver wanted nothing to come between his fingertips and the football. But it’s a fair bet that when the Eagles and Chiefs file onto the field this weekend, anyone who anticipates touching the ball will be wearing high-tech, sticky gloves. And if AJ Brown makes a three-fingered catch the fans […]
COME INTO THE WORD: A Healing Encounter With Jesus (Mark 5:22-43)
The mural fills an entire wall of the Encounter Chapel, which is built on the first-century stone floor of the marketplace at Magdala by the Sea of Galilee. In it, sandals crowd the floor and linen robes brush against the legs and ankles of the men who throng around Jesus. He is a man on […]
TAKE THE BIBLE TO THE BEACH THIS SUMMER: Ideas for your reading list
What are your plans for the summer? My calendar’s filling fast with weekend trips and garden strolls and sitting (in the shade!) by the water. But work is lighter, and so are the days—leaving time for walks and books and doing nothing, if I want. Just seeing “Memorial Day” coming up next week makes my […]
GOD WANTS TO SPEAK TO YOU: How to Hear Him
Sometimes I think my cell phone is possessed. Little burps and chirps and whistles come from it at the oddest times, for no apparent reason. There’s no new text, no new email. Someone is trying to reach me, I think. But who? If only I was better at figuring out technology. The Bible is like […]
READ THE BIBLE LIKE A DISCIPLE
This weekend at the National Catholic Bible Conference in Houston, I spoke on “The Word of God in the Life of the Disciple.” Scripture plays an important role in helping us ENCOUNTER Jesus and grow in RELATIONSHIP with him, and it fosters the TRANSFORMATION that is the hallmark of true disciples. As Catholics, we have […]
GOD ANSWERS PRAYER & TEACHES US TO ASK
“Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, had recourse to the Lord.” (Esther C:12*) Have you ever felt like that? “Seized with mortal anguish”? I’ve never faced genocide the way Queen Esther did, but I have felt the “mortal anguish” of despair when we faced deep financial trouble … when our baby’s life hung by a […]
WHY WOULD GOD LISTEN TO ME? – Psalm 86
I always think of what to say after the conversation’s over. For an hour I sat and listened to my friend complain. The world is falling apart, she fears. “And can you believe those people who pray about every little problem — do they think God cares about a parking space?!” She was incensed. “God has […]
HELP! (WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?) – Psalm 121
I hated walking home after Daylight Savings ended. I didn’t live far from where I babysat, but the road wasn’t lit. Not even houses along the way—houses of people I knew, who were friendly—erased the nagging fear that something could happen, I could be hurt, and no one would come to my aid. I’d clutch […]
LORD, MAKE HASTE TO HELP ME!
“O God, come to my assistance; O LORD, make haste to help me!” Who hasn’t prayed this, or something like it, at some time in their life? It comes from Psalm 70, where it is a strong cry for rescue. But those words are far more than a cry for help. The early desert fathers […]
