Irreverently Reverend

  Ordinary Time; Pride Sunday Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest  2  and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.  3  Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  4  He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  5  He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.  6  But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”  7  The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one.  8  Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus....

  Fifth Sunday of Easter So what are we going to say? Should we continue sinning so grace will multiply?  2  Absolutely not! All of us died to sin. How can we still live in it?  3  Or don’t you know that all who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  4  Therefore, we were buried together with him through baptism into his death , so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too can walk in newness of life.  5  If we were united together in a death like his, we will also be united together in a resurrection like his.  6  This is what we know: the person that we used to be was crucified with him in order to get rid of the corpse that had been controlled by sin. That way we wouldn’t be slaves to sin anymore,  7  because a person who has died has been freed from sin’s power.  8  But if we died with Christ, we have faith that we will also live with him....

  Ordinary Time Christ is just like the human body—a body is a unit and has many parts; and all the parts of the body are one body, even though there are many.   13  We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greek, or slave or free, and we all were given one Spirit to drink.  14  Certainly the body isn’t one part but many.  15  If the foot says, “I’m not part of the body because I’m not a hand,” does that mean it’s not part of the body?  16  If the ear says, “I’m not part of the body because I’m not an eye,” does that mean it’s not part of the body?  17  If the whole body were an eye, what would happen to the hearing? And if the whole body were an ear, what would happen to the sense of smell?  18  But as it is, God has placed each one of the parts in the body just like he wanted.  19  If all were one and the same body part, what would happen to the body?  20  But as it is, there a...

  Blue Christmas/Longest Night (last week of Advent) We know that the whole creation is groaning together and suffering labor pains up until now.   And it’s not only the creation. We ourselves who have the Spirit as the first crop of the harvest also groan inside as we wait to be adopted and for our bodies to be set free.   We were saved in hope. If we see what we hope for, that isn’t hope. Who hopes for what they already see?   But if we hope for what we don’t see, we wait for it with patience. In the same way, the Spirit comes to help our weakness. We don’t know what we should pray, but the Spirit himself pleads our case with unexpressed groans.   The one who searches hearts knows how the Spirit thinks, because he pleads for the saints, consistent with God’s will. (CEB)             One of my favorite book series is The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper.   It’s been on my mind this week because the BBC...