Read Louisa Fletcher’s wonderful poem “The Land of Beginning Again” and then ask yourself if this is heaven. Heaven not as some distant and cloud-filled paradise but rather that place where all hurts are mended, all griefs comforted, all regrets repaired, all insults undone, all relationships restored. In painting a picture that reminds me a bit of C. S. Lewis’ Narnia, Fletcher reminds us that life – both here and in the world to come – is about relationships. And she reminds us that forgiveness – which is, in fact, releasing a claim on another so as to begin again – is the secret ingredient of life. But then ask yourself...
Luke 7:36-50
posted by DJL
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his...
Luke 7:36-50
posted by DJL
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his...
Luke 7:36-50
posted by DJL
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his...
Luke 24:25-27
posted by DJL
Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the...
Luke 23:34a
posted by DJL
[Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”] More brackets. Just to refresh our memory: brackets indicate that a particular verse or even set of verses are not found in the earliest fragments of the gospel that we have, but were contained in later...
Luke 5:17-26
posted by DJL
One day, while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting nearby (they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem); and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Just then some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to...
Luke 5:8-11
posted by DJL
But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then...
Luke 1:67-80
posted by DJL
Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his...
How Much Do You Know About Yom Kippur?
posted by DJL
I grew up in small city in Pennsylvania and most of my friends went to church. I had only one classmate, as far as I can remember, that was Jewish. But while I learned from him some things about Hanukah – probably because it seemed “close” to Christmas – I never learned about Yom Kippur; in fact, I’m not sure I knew it existed. In college I had a lot more Jewish friends, so I knew that Yom Kippur was important to them, and I knew it meant “Day of Atonement,” but that’s about it. So if you’re anything like me, you might be helped by even these few paragraphs from a brief article on Yom Kippur from the Huffington Post: The...
Mark 10:1-12
posted by DJL
He left that place and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan. And crowds again gathered around him; and, as was his custom, he again taught them. Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses...
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