Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

Good News

  • Gospel

    I first really heard the gospel in school. I was in an undergrad Bible class on Paul; the kind of distributive requirement that seemed like a natural fit for me. English major; PK (priest’s kid). The professor was an Orthodox bishop, Makarios. And his thick Indian accent meant that we had to really listen. Listen…

  • The resurrection and how Jesus wants to be known Easter  |  John 20:1-18   Earlier this week We have come to the end of a long, truly holy week. So much has happened in the story since we gathered last week (was it really only a week ago?) and many of us could benefit from…

  • They break bread. They eat. They drink. Then they leave for the Mount of Olives. And here Jesus declares: “You will all become deserters” Just like that. Deserters all. Peter’s protests mimic our own. Peter is always our stand-in. Surely I won’t desert Jesus, we say. Surely I would keep awake.

  • “It was two days before the Passover” Read the Text: Mark 14:1-11 Did you notice the context? Jesus brings His followers around, staying at the house of an outcast, and is served by another. Then is betrayed by one of His own. Of course, you were naturally drawn to that age-old debate: should they sell…

  • The never-ending story of GOD a Homily for Advent 2B  |  Text: Mark 1:1-8   The Beginning The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This gospel, given to us by the writer we call Mark, opens with a declaration of beginning. It does not say this is the beginning,…

  • I have this feeling that we all live with a paradox about Jesus. On the one hand, we feel confident, every one of us, that we could actually answer that question What Would Jesus Do? And, at the same time, when pressed on what Jesus’s most important message is, we shuffle our feet, look at…