A Good Friday Homily

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Miserere-Plate-LVII
“Obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” Georges Rouault 1948

By Tom Cornell, Co-founder of Catholic Peace Fellowship

After the Last Supper, Jesus and his companions walked across the Kedron Valley to Gethsemane, the Mount of Olives.  If you visit Israel today, you will surely want to see the Mount of Olives where Jesus suffered his Agony in the Garden.  You come to a little stream at the bottom of the valley on the way.  The guide tells you, “This is the Kedron River.” You are surprised.  It’s not much of a river now, just a little stream, not much more than a trickle.  You can hop over it.  It was broader then, the guide tells you.  Jesus and the apostles took their sandals off to wade across.  Imagine it. Continue reading “A Good Friday Homily” →

The First Bible Study in the History of the Church

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological Animation2 Comments

EmmausBy Ched Myers

Note: This is part of a series of Ched’s occasional comments on the Lukan gospel readings from the Revised Common Lectionary during year C, 2016. Because the Easter Sunday reading from Luke is long, so too is this reflection. It is abbreviated from a chapter entitled “Easter Faith and Empire: Recovering the Prophetic Tradition on the Emmaus Road,” in Getting On Message, edited by Peter Laarman, Beacon Press, 2006.

In the first century Pax Romana, Christians had the difficult and demanding task of discerning how to cling to a radical ethos of life—symbolized preeminently by their stubborn belief in the Resurrection of Jesus—while living under the chilling shadow of an imperial culture of domination and death. Today, in the twenty-first century Pax Americana, U.S. Christians are faced with the same challenge. Continue reading “The First Bible Study in the History of the Church” →

The Towel Before The Tomb

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footwashingBy Tommy Airey

[Jesus] got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 
John 13:4

To invite people to look at, to wash, to care for our feet is to invite them to accept us as we are.
Wes Howard-Brook, John’s Gospel & The Renewal Of The Church (1997)

In each of the four canonical Gospels, Jesus is portrayed in terms of kenosis, or self-emptying. In none of the canonical Gospels is the scandal of the cross removed in favor of the divine glory.
Luke Timothy Johnson, The Real Jesus (1996)

For those just now tuning in, Western Christianity is in the midst of a massive intramural contest over what it means to follow Jesus. Fortunately & strategically, Holy Week re-calibrates us towards a creative & constructive imitation of Jesus’ life of service. If the various brands of Christianity (from evangelical to ecumenical, from Catholic to Charismatic, from fundamentalist to free thinking) can come together tomorrow and focus our respective energies & resources on acting out the Gospel script (washing one another’s wretched feet), we can realistically hope for a more compelling witness to our audacious claim that a redemptive Something pervades our existence.
Continue reading “The Towel Before The Tomb” →

Thirsting for Justice

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Race, Identity, and History, Watershed DiscipleshipLeave a comment

snyderBy Joyce Hollyday

Ho, everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you that have no money,
Come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
And your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Isaiah 55:1-2

I was in Detroit welcoming my new honorary grandson, Cedar, when a coalition of justice organizations convened a Water Crimes Tribunal. The tribunal brought charges against Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, and their accomplices. Their crimes include the infamous switch of the Flint water system to a river that poisoned city residents with bacteria and lead. Continue reading “Thirsting for Justice” →

Not Altogether Lost

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TagoreBy Rabindranath Tagore
I know that this life, missing its ripeness in
love, is not altogether lost.
I know that the flowers that fade in the dawn,
the streams that strayed in the desert, are not
altogether lost.
I know that whatever lags behind, in this life
laden with slowness, is not altogether lost.
I know that my dreams that are still
unfulfilled, and my melodies still unstuck, are
clinging to Your lute strings, and they are not
altogether lost.

Palm Sunday: Puppets and Peace Parades

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Art as Resistance, Just PeacemakingLeave a comment

Peace ParadeBy Bert Newton, Pasadena Mennonite Church

This year in Pasadena, Calif., we will hold our 14th annual Palm Sunday Peace Parade. Every year has a different theme. This year our theme is “Peace without Borders; Welcoming the Refugee.” Last year we called attention to the ecological crisis as well as to police shootings of unarmed black people. The year before that we addressed economic injustice and consumerism that drives war. We created a 12 foot Lady Wisdom puppet and a smaller Mammon puppet who rode a coach called “The Excess Express.” You can watch the struggle between Lady Wisdom and Mammon here. Continue reading “Palm Sunday: Puppets and Peace Parades” →

The ‘Liturgy of the Palms’ as Political Street Theater

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Palm SundayBy Ched Myers, for Palm Sunday

Note: This is part of a series of Ched’s occasional comments on the Lukan gospel readings from the Revised Common Lectionary during year C, 2016.

Luke’s Jerusalem narrative commences with the so-called “Triumphal Entry,” a misnomer for several reasons. For one, Luke’s version of the story omits the Hosannas and the palms—indicating that these are not the most important parts of the “Palm Sunday” parade (even though that’s all most First World Christians focus on). For another, this carefully choreographed political street theatre is designed to repudiate Messianic triumphalism.

Let’s take a careful look. Continue reading “The ‘Liturgy of the Palms’ as Political Street Theater” →

The earth we are leaving for our children…The children we are leaving for our earth…

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, Subverting Empire, Theological Animation, Watershed Discipleship2 Comments

Wilderness WayBy Solveig Nilsen-Goodin

Just a few weeks ago, the Wilderness Way Children’s School (read: Sunday School…Wilderness Way style) opened its doors to invite children whose parents are not regularly participating in the life of the community. Why?

Imagine this…

Imagine a “Sunday School” program happening mostly outside.

Imagine a Sunday School program led by two well-paid (for the few hours a week they prepare for and work with our children), highly skilled and experienced teachers of children, who view their work with children as a calling. Continue reading “The earth we are leaving for our children…The children we are leaving for our earth…” →