As the anniversary of the terrible events of 9/11 approaches, many people of good will are surely disturbed by the outcroppings of hatred and distrust—even violence—that are appearing across our land. more

Pope Glenn the First has spoken. The decree has been declared. The judgment rendered. more

The relationship between Muslims and members of other faiths (and persons of no explicit faith) has been a lot like that woman who appeared in the synagogue on the sabbath while Jesus was teaching (see Luke 13: 10 – 17). That is, it’s been “crippled,” “bent over,” “not able to stand up straight.” more

In terms of the current immigration debate, what do we Christians do—well, I guess, it applies to Jews too—with the fact that the model of our faith was an immigrant, and an undocumented one at that? According to the Christian scriptures, we live with it. more

In Luke’s version of Jesus giving the disciples a model of how to pray to God, the itinerant rabbi seems to assume – for that particular society in which he proclaimed and demonstrated the coming Reign of God – an understanding of humanity’s moral condition. (Luke 11: 1–13) Jesus assumes, that is, that human beings are evil. No surprise, right? more

OK, I grant that Jesus didn’t include aid to the unemployed in his litany about the sheep on the right hand and goats on the left, as recorded in Matthew 25. But, as a graduate school professor of mine once said about things Jesus reportedly didn’t say: “He should have.” more

Freedom, as St. Paul reminds us, has its temptations – serious ones, in fact. Like the temptation to bite and devour and consume one another. more

One could get the impression from the opening lines of the story about Jesus eating with and at the home of the Pharisee named Simon (Luke 7: 36 – 50) that this was going to be just a pleasant dinner party, a break from the sparring that kept the Pharisees and Jesus apart yet persistently and contentiously together. . .It took an uninvited guest to disrupt the spirit of good will that had, up to this point, characterized the evening. more

Jesus is hardly the hero in the story from Luke’s (and Matthew’s) Gospel about the centurion in Capernaum who sends Jewish representatives to Jesus to seek healing for a favored slave. And Jesus admits as much. more

It gives me the shivers to think that I might be in league with members of the Tea Party. But increasingly, under my breath, I find myself growling: “Throw the bums out.” more