War, war, war!
War all around us.
“Kill the terrorist bastards!”
“Love one another as I have loved you.”
Forgive your enemies
And pray for those who persecute you.” Continue reading →

The readings for Thanksgiving (Dt. 8:7-18, Col. 3:12-17, and Mk. 5:18-20) are about gratitude and Thanksgiving. Paul makes it clear that, when we are grateful to God, we live accordingly.
I often struggle with biblical concepts related to land, acquisition of the land and prosperity bestowed by God. I struggle especially when politicians remind us that we have been blessed and that we Americans are God’s chosen people. Somehow God’s bounty to us gets twisted into a divine mission to “save” the rest of the world from itself. It is wrapped up in the prosperity Gospel. Go to church, say your prayers and God will shower you with blessings. Of course, those of us who have been privileged will reap more of the divine rewards. We may even have to oppress others to get what we “rightfully deserve.” Continue reading →

In the Gospel for the 32nd Sunday in ordinary time, Jesus once again confronts the religious leaders of his day. This time the debate seems to be over the resurrection of the body. But it is really about much more. Remember that Luke’s gospel was written after the early Christian communities had formed. What we have here is a community’s reflection on a new way of life—eternal life given by Jesus through the power of the Spirit. Continue reading →

What follows is a response to an editorial in the 11/6 WSJ.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119430812489583231.html?mod=hps_us_inside_today
Dear Mr. Stephens,
Paul Tibbets also said there is no morality to war. That is why I am a peacemaker. With all out war or total war there is no morality because the principles of the just war theory are not followed before, during or after the war. That is reason enough that we must all work to eliminate war. Total war, including the use of nuclear weapons, is immoral. As recent Popes have said loud and clear, “No more war. Never again war!” Continue reading →

October 23, 2007 was a wonderful day. I finally had the long-awaited opportunity to see the launch of the space shuttle on yet another mission to the space station. Two weeks earlier, we had toured the Kennedy Space Center while our motor home was being repaired. The launch was awesome! I really cannot describe it. Continue reading →

In the readings for the 28th Sunday in ordinary Time, the prophet Elisha and the prophet Jesus perform their roles as prophets—they comfort the afflicted and they afflict the comfortable. Naaman and the ten lepers will be comforted but they will have to do it the prophets’ way and not their way. Naaman, powerful military commander scourged with leprosy, is told to go wash in the Jordan. Why the Jordan? He protests that the rivers in his country are just as good if not better. Jesus will heal the ten lepers including one Samaritan. But he does not say, “You are healed.” He tells them to go show themselves to the priests. They apparently are then healed but only one—the hated, despised Samaritan—comes back to express gratitude for his healing.
There are so many themes we could deal with in these readings. Naaman is sent to the Elisha by a slave girl—distinctions between classes do not matter. Lepers were social outcasts but Jesus goes beyond the rigid Pharisaical purity codes to reach out and heal them. The gratitude expressed by the Samaritan leper is a core biblical value. Continue reading →

This morning I did what I often do. I read the daily scripture readings without due diligence. [I must discipline myself to do lectio divina right!] Then, I was hit over the head as I was reading James Douglass’ The Nonviolent Coming of God later in the day.
Douglass lists the people Jesus associated with—tax collectors, soldiers, prostitutes, and Samaritans. Jesus hung around with the outcasts of his society. In particular, the Jews hated and despised the Samaritans. Continue reading →