May 9, 2024 | EXPLORING THE BIBLE, NEWS
“Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked… but their delight is in the way of the Lord” (Ps 1:1,2) But who is whom, exactly?? At first glance, it can be very easy to decide which of these applies to ourselves. Or not. “I don’t follow the way of the...
May 2, 2024 | EXPLORING THE BIBLE, NEWS
In today’s Gospel, Jesus does not say, “Love Jesus or love God as I have loved you”. No, he says: This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. If we really love our brothers and sisters, including strangers and even enemies, we do not have to...
Apr 23, 2024 | EXPLORING THE BIBLE, NEWS
We love those we know and who are like us. We hold no fear. There is nothing to muddy our sanitised world views. It is easy to be the person of faith in that place. But we are not given that luxury. We must love the invisible ones, the ones who are different from us,...
Apr 16, 2024 | EXPLORING THE BIBLE, NEWS
If there is one image associated with the Christian faith which has found an enduring and endearing place in the collective life of the church for centuries, it is the image of Jesus as the good shepherd. In the Bible there are over 500 references to sheep. In Psalm...
Apr 10, 2024 | EXPLORING THE BIBLE, NEWS
The disciples are huddling together and have just heard Simon’s account of his walk with Cleopas to Emmaus, and how a stranger had started walking and talking with them. He is talking about how they were surprised that this stranger did not seem to know what had...
Apr 4, 2024 | EXPLORING THE BIBLE, NEWS
Imagine how it must have been for Mary, weeping outside the tomb, to then look into the tomb and see two angels sitting where the body of Jesus had been laid. Not an absence, but a presence – messengers from God; but they weren’t Jesus! And what anguish...
Mar 28, 2024 | EXPLORING THE BIBLE, NEWS
Of all the Gospel accounts of the resurrection, Mark’s is the briefest. There are no walks along the road, no breakfasts by the beach, no conversations with Jesus, no wounds to plunge our fingers into. Easter Day begins early in the morning. The women disciples who...
Mar 20, 2024 | EXPLORING THE BIBLE, NEWS
How do we explain Holy Week? based on a reflection by Karoline Lewis (Professor and the Marbury E. Anderson Chair of Biblical Preaching, Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minnesota) It’s hard to reflect on Palm/Passion Sunday. And maybe, we shouldn’t delve too deeply? Have...
Mar 12, 2024 | EXPLORING THE BIBLE, NEWS
Seeing Jesus based on a reflection by Karoline Lewis (Professor and the Marbury E. Anderson Chair of Biblical Preaching, Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minnesota) “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Do we really? Do we actually want to see Jesus? Or do we pretend, feign...
