Every year I find it helpful to focus on one particular detail of the Passion narrative. This year I found myself drawn to the account of the events around the fire in the High Priest's courtyard. Much of what I share here is influenced by Rene Girard's thought, especially in his book "The Scapegoat". He breaks open the story of Peter's denial and shows its universality. But I realized something new this year as I […]
I’ve been meaning to point to this essay for the last week or so, but today is only the first chance I’ve had. I’ve written before about the almost pseudo-religious respect that SCIENCE and scientists are given in some quarters of society. (Which I don’t actually begrudge – better them than clergy.) But the overly worshipful tone leads one to think that when a SCIENTIST speaks, it is always an infallible pronouncement. And therefore all […]
The US Department of Energy, which officially rejects the idea of Peak Oil, admits that the only way oil production will increase after 2011 is if we find new oil resources with greater reserves than those Saudi Arabia – and put them into production immediately. And that all has to happen in the next few years. “The graph labels as ‘unidentified’ the additional supply projects needed to fill in a gap that is expected to […]
A small group of serious hikers decided to head east out of Phoenix today to the base of Superstition Mountains, just outside of Apache Junction. We took about four hours to cover the nine miles of the relatively flat hike over rocky trails. The big treat of the day was the amount of running water we had to cross again and again during the walk. The other hoped for surprise turned out to be a […]
A good friend of mine from my days in the Diocese of Bethlehem, Canon Andrew Gerns posted a reflection on the life of Bishop Oscar Romero. (We’re remembering the anniversary of his martyrdom today.) “We remember Oscar Romero, a Roman Catholic bishop who was killed by an assassins bullet while he celebrated a mass. That was 30 years ago today. We also remember the martyrs of El Salvador, the priests, nuns, and lay people who […]
Why would Jesus object to Judas' complaint against Mary's pouring out of a year's salary worth of oil? Surely Jesus didn't need to be worshiped. Surely the poor need our help. The thing is that Jesus seems to be actually taking Judas' complaint at face value, unlike St. John. The rebuke focuses on the fact that Judas actually is saying that his real interest is in serving the poor not on Jesus. And even though […]
It’s been crazy busy here in Phoenix this week, and I’ve not been able to post as much as I wanted to here on the blog. But I’ve got a few minutes this morning, and I’ve been wanting to draw attention to a really important experiment that was just published. Two researchers have constructed an apparatus that allows us to see a fundamental quantum mechanical effect with the naked eye. In other words, they’ve been […]
The parable of the Prodigal Son is so familiar to us that we are in danger of tuning it out when it is read. It no longer makes us squirm with discomfort. Part of what I wanted to do in this sermon was to find a way for us to recover the same sort of amazement at Jesus' message that its first hearers had. I did that by asking us to find a way to […]
We had a brief ceremony on Sunday following the 11 AM service. The Cathedral congregation has adopted the Light Rail station at Roosevelt St. and Central Ave. – the one right across from the Cathedral itself. You can see all of the pictures from the day here. (That’s Dean Dick George’s cassock. I’ve still not managed to order one, and this one fits well enough. But it is certainly, um, festive!)
I’m leading a group here in the Diocese of Arizona that’s reading through Brian McLaren’s newest book. At the beginning of the week I posted a critique of his criticism of the Graeco-Roman world view and its effect on reading the Bible properly. Apparently I wasn’t the only one to have the reaction I had. So McLaren has posted a response to the critics. “1. I would encourage people who are critical of the chapter […]
