Holy Week
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The Following Day: Monday of Holy Week
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2 min read
“On the following day” Read the text: Mark 11:12-19 There are so few opportunities to see the anger of Jesus. We get so lulled by the images of the sweet Jesus, the stained-glass stick figure or the imagined bearded Caucasian with the sheep on his back and the children at his feet, that the Jesus with…
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One Week: Finding Jesus in our approach to Holy Week
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9 min read
Palm Sunday | Mark 11:1-11 Learning Holy Week I must have been 9 or 10 when I realized that the story didn’t make sense. I could follow the main elements of the story. I could make sense of the basic plot points. But there were holes. And the way we told it just confused…
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Approaching Jerusalem: Palm Sunday
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1 min read
“When they were approaching Jerusalem” Read the text: Mark 11:1-11. When Jerusalem is involved, we are reminded of its fractured history. Its division. Its failure. We even see Jerusalem as a source of emotional (not just literal) pain for Jesus. We are so taught to approach Holy Week with dread. That we might look past “Hosanna!”…
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Holy Week Meditations
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1 min read
Holy Week stands out singularly in the Christian calendar. There is no time like it. One week. A time marked patiently with palms and crosses. For Christians throughout history, it has remained a meaningful time of deep devotion. A whole season to itself, just seven days, culminating in the most terrifying moment.
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Tearing Down the Temple
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8 min read
Jesus’s call for the end of faith as we know it Now, Jesus isn’t pushing us toward a churchless faith, a religionless spirituality, or independent devotion. Jesus doesn’t attack the institution because it is an institution but because the leadership of the existing institution is corrupt. Because how they understand scripture is corrupt. Because the…
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Untalented
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8 min read
How the talents Jesus speaks of aren’t really gifts a Homily for Proper 28A | Text: Matthew 23:34-39 And the master rewards this behavior (dare we say, stealing) of the first two slaves. They know what this man is like. Chances are, they take on this behavior. Think The Wolf of Wall Street and the…