“When the apology meets an offended person’s needs, he does not have to work at forgiving.  Forgiveness comes spontaneously; the victim  feels like his offender has released him of a burden or offered him a gift.” –Aaron Lazare* Aaron Lazare has done some important study on the dynamics of apology, and the role it plays[…]

“When soldiers return from war, they cry because they are alive.  Their parents, wives, husbands, children and friends cry for joy. But when the parades end, what do they have?  What do the wives, husbands, children, brothers, and sisters of soldiers receive when their loved ones return from war after so much fear, hatred, and[…]

We must “make revolution as a people who have been forgiven,” and remember that we carry liberating love in vessels of clay. –Jose Ignacio Gonzalez Faus

But Thomas,  (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.”  But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails,[…]

“God has made known to us the mystery of God’s will, according to God’s good pleasure (delight)  set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” –Ephesians 1:9-10 “Atonement is the path I step into so that my identity[…]

“What kinds of pastoral models were used in your own diocese back in Long Island?”  “Well,” I said hesitantly, “while people on Long Island gathered to reflect on the gospel in light of their own lived reality, the final word always belonged to the pastor.  The heirarchical model of church and pastoral practice is standard[…]

“Joseph, her husband, was a man of integrity.  Not wanting Mary to be disgraced, he intended to dismiss her quietly.  But while he was thinking about these things . . .”  –Matthew 1:19-20 Where is God in the midst of life’s unwarranted developments, disruptions, crises?  When we are confronted with circumstances we have not asked[…]

The God revealed in this story is the One who gifts unreservedly, who loves without negotiation, who indwells, who makes space for new life where space has not been perceived (or has even been prohibited), who links our lives inseparably with everyone else’s, who nurtures, who astonishes us with the invitation to welcome fully God’s[…]

  ” . . . the events of the New Testament are an intervention into the core structure of violent humanity in order to change it into something loving, peaceful, and life giving.”  –Anthony Bartlett   I would like to consider the above proposition  through the lens of  Matthew 3:13-17, the account of Jesus’ baptism.[…]

When folks ask me about my fascination with forgiveness and my dedication to it,  I tell  them that my life has been a laboratory in it.  I have needed forgiveness, and received it, in abundance. I have also suffered injuries that have required its practice if I was to heal. But I must confess another[…]