19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, RCL)

Jesus offers signs of life in the midst of death.

Late in life, my mother confessed that she never enjoyed cooking. "But," she said, "I did take satisfaction in serving simple meals to my family." Well, there's no such thing as a simple meal anymore.

For decades, my students have failed to grasp the resurrection of the body as an article of faith.

Whether we choose to believe it or not, we human beings are embodied creatures. There have been many times throughout the history of philosophy and religion when great thinkers have tried to minimize or deny the physicality of human existence. Simple phrases such as “mind over matter” and biblical passages such as 1 Corinthians 9:27, “but I punish my body and enslave it,” have contributed to the misleading belief that we are at our best as human beings when some spiritual core that is separate from our physical nature governs our lives.

God has become clear in the person of Jesus.

The psalmists of the Bible often sound as if they’re drowning.

In the face of existential threat, God comes with the grace which is the courage to be.