In ancient of days, rabbis had myriad ways to read the Torah. Using their imaginations, they would scour the scriptures looking for meaning between the lines and in the spaces between the words. It’s called “midrash” and here is one of my favorites by Rabbi Marc Gellman. “When God set out to pick a leader…
In last week’s Gospel we read how the devil attacked Jesus in what arguably could be thought of as one of the hardest times in Jesus’ life … when Jesus was in the desert and tempted over and over and over again by the devil. This week’s Gospel, however, shows us how the devil also…
Who Do You Say That I Am? Lenten Series Post #3 Growing up a little Catholic kid, I collected holy cards: dreamy other worldly little pictures of Jesus and the saints. An ethereal and mysterious being, I recall Jesus appeared to be floating on a cloud, his feet barely gracing the ground. Holy Card Jesus…
Who Do You Say That I Am? Lenten Series Post #2 Who is Jesus to me? Well… The hard lesson for me is to learn that at a certain point, my accomplishments are not helpful for my spiritual life. They inflate my ego and fortify my false self. I begin to think that I can make…
The biblical story of the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-43a) — proclaimed today – appears in each of the four Gospels as an important moment in the life of Jesus and as evidence of His divinity. After Jesus performs a series of miracles and foretells His own death, Jesus leads just three of His disciples, Peter, James…
I am pretty sure that just about everyone who knows me knows that I grew up Roman Catholic. An Anglican now for nearly forty years, there is much of my former tradition I still cherish, some things more than others.😊 My years at Holy Family School were drenched in ritual: rounds of the rosary, First…
Once upon a time, I worked at a plant store called “Great Plants Alive.” Tragically — and quite ironically — most of the plants that came home with me came home to die. Much was the same back in the days when I still had a backyard. I was quite happy to just let Mother Earth be…
Welcome to Emmanuel’s Lenten Film Festival, Jesus at the Movies! Since Jesus first stepped foot on Mother Earth more than two thousand years ago, humanity has wrangled over the nature of his identity. The early church hashed it out in synods over several centuries. Is he human? Is he divine? Paradoxically, he is both. And…
How many of you remember A Fish Out of Water? I know that I am dating myself here, the book was published in 1961. Written by Helen Palmer, it was based on a short story, Gustav, the Goldfish, by her husband Theodor Geisel. (Yes, that Theodor Geisel, Dr. Seuss!) Now Helen Palmer was a very…
WELCOME TO THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS! I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED YOU ARE HERE! I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED TO SHARE THIS LIBRARY WITH YOU! Once upon a time (pre-Covid), thus began my weekly spiel, as I led visitors from all over the world, on a tour of the Nation’s Library. This bibliophile previously had worked Bishop…
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