The choir director at the church where I serve has unusual credentials. She used to lead a large choir in the Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania. She grew up there herself: her extended family fled from violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and then spent almost 25 years in Tanzania before resettlement in San Diego in 2016. I met Matrida that fall, when she arrived at St. Luke’s with her two young children and her voice that moves worshipers to tears, whether or not they understand Swahili or Kibembe.
April 12 Easter Day Acts 10 34 43 Psalm 118 1 2 14 24 Matthew 28 1 10
April 10 Good Friday Psalm 22 John 18 1 19 42
Things Pilate cannot touch: creative life, confounding power
April 9, Maundy Thursday (Psalm 116:1–2, 12–19; John 13:1–17, 31b–35)
Jesus is saying, Love should feel like this.
April 5 Passion Sunday A Matthew 26 14 27 66
The story of Jesus’ unjust trial and wrongful conviction must not be romanticized.
April 5 Palm Sunday A Matthew 21 1 11
Triumphal entries have a certain formula. Jesus does it all wrong.
March 29 Lent 5A John 11 1 45
Lazarus’s story is one of grief—and hope.
March 22 Lent 4A John 9 1 41
Keep going, says John.