23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, RCL)

In Mark 7, a Syrophoenician woman is apparently able to win one with him.

There is no reward in heaven for those who work to accumulate wealth rather than care for people.

The psalms of ascent press hard against the norms of our bootstrap culture.

Throughout scripture, human bodies are not an obstacle to righteousness; they are its location.

Reading Proverbs 22 without risking a change of heart

Proclaiming God’s abundance or dwelling in perceived scarcity?

This time of year, our inner landscapes can seem as bleak as the outer ones.

In his response to John, Jesus speaks of hope in the present tense.

Recent books that are shaping discussions in New Testament studies

What does it do to the body and spirit to be preyed upon constantly?

Ephphatha is Jesus’ own original language. Be opened!

A well-placed wisecrack can pull the mighty down from their thrones.

Did Jesus just call that woman a dog?

In the Talmud, there is a story of a group of rabbis arguing over the status of a particular clay oven. Is it clean or unclean? Rabbi Eliezer stands alone against the interpretation given by his fellow sages, and he begins to call upon nature to confirm him.

I have spent most of my Christian life in deep discomfort with Mark 7. I now read it as an early example of the priesthood of all believers.

Last week we drove 350 miles to Smith College, where our daughter was singing with the glee club at Christmas Vespers. Each year at a pair of services, campus and community enter liminal space by hearing sacred music from student choral and orchestral groups, pondering poetry and biblical readings by students and faculty, and singing carols together. 

This year it also became a setting to turn attention to other matters. As a Facebook event page put it, “You can’t sing carols if you can’t breathe.”

Nelson Mandela has died, and most of the TV stations have programs paying tribute to him. Over and over again journalists are referring to him as an “icon.” An “icon” of what? It still sounds vaguely blasphemous.

He has repeatedly told journalists (and the world) that he is not a saint, and that he rejects the depiction of him as any kind of saint. So if he is not a saint and not the icon of a saint, what is he?