Reflections for

Ash Wednesday, Feb 18, 2015

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Cover Story

What did Luther say?

Jesus and Mary Magdalene

May 16, 2006 by Matthew Becker

A recent New Yorker article on Mary Magdalene, obviously written with an eye on her role as Jesus’ paramour in Dan Brown’s best-selling The Da Vinci Code, began by noting that “Brown is by no means the first to have suggested that Christ had a sex life—Martin Luther said it” (February 13-20).

Faith Matters

Dust to dust

The holiness of ashes

Mar 27, 2002 by Barbara Brown Taylor

Easter is almost here and I know I should be glad. The whole Christian year leans toward this Sunday of all Sundays, when God raised Jesus from the dead and made the whole creation new. During the great 50 days that follow, the trajectory of the Easter hymns will be up.

Cover Story

Go fast and live

Hunger as spiritual discipline

Feb 28, 2001 by Mark Buchanan

Recently some huge billboards along British Columbia’s major roadways showed black-and-white photos of car wrecks—gashed and mangled metal, clouds of steam and smoke—all illumined under the luridness of fire, flares, searchlights and siren lights. The caption beneath the ads was as stark and grim as the photos: “Speed is killing us. Slow down and live.”

Living by the Word

Regeneration

Psalm 51

Mar 22, 2000 by Samuel Wells

The one who voices Psalm 51 is on the floor before God, utterly ashamed and as dust before glory: “My sin is ever before me.” The symptoms of sin are gradually displaced by the greater reality of God: “Against you, you alone, have I sinned.” The speaker does not look outside for an oppressor to blame, but inside, to the “inward being,” for a heart to be renewed.

Living by the Word

Holiness: Simplicity

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Feb 23, 2000 by Samuel Wells

The religion of Israel is a great theater. Moses goes up on the mountain and the clouds close underneath him like curtains. He brings down the commandments, and the children of Israel are unimpressed. Solomon builds a huge temple. Inside, behind a great curtain, is the Holy of Holies, where the high priest, like Moses before him, communes with the Lord.

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Revised Common Lectionary © 1992 the Consultation on Common Texts. Used by permission.