28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, RCL)

The Advent 3 readings present an awkward tension.

Jesus’ question to Martha extends to all believers.

God swallowing up death indicates the ultimate defeat of sorrow and chaos.

This familiar text takes on new dimensions when read in tandem with this week’s epistle and gospel texts.

A dead shepherd isn’t helpful to anyone, least of all to the sheep left behind.

Can we notice what is true and noble, even when it is also ordinary?

Where is the psalmist’s own voice in this communal confession and appeal?

Two new books trace the history of a rich religious image.

Erin Raffety’s ethnographic study calls churches to repentance.

The church in Acts 2 will follow Jesus, for they know his voice.

“One day,” says Avivah Zornberg, “I had a flash of insight about Leviticus as a whole.”

The eclectic scholar masterfully uncovers the subterranean threads and tensions that underlie this nonnarrative text.

If we take the doctrine seriously, then we dare not draw the circle of salvation along religious lines. Or any lines at all.

It’s hard to take Paul’s admonition seriously these days.

The prophet Isaiah sings an eschatological melody.

Israel’s claim that all people are created in God’s image is strikingly egalitarian.