Redemption – SSJE

God’s courtesy shows that we fail, but that we aren’t our failings; that we sin and do horrible things, but that we are not those things. God’s courtesy assures us that we are loved, loved for all of who we are, which is known fully and completely only by God. While remembering Julian of Norwich, Br. Lain Wilson reminds us that God's goodness allows for us both to see and practice a particular kin...

Dust off your memory. You may discover in the discarded rubble of your past there are some precious gifts to be claimed from your earlier life. That would be redemption. On the feast of Saint Stephen, Br. Curtis Almquist encourages us to look backward on our lives and to give thanks for gifts that emerged from unlikely circumstances.

Numbers 21:4-9 John 8:21-30 When God rescued our ancestors out of slavery in Egypt, they spent forty years wandering in the wilderness. It was anything but a direct route to the Promised Land. They often complained about the conditions, thinking God must not care. It would have been better to stay in Egypt. The water…

John 12:1-8 This Gospel passage captures a moment in the close relationship between Jesus and two of his friends who probably know each other quite well: Mary of Bethany and Judas, the apostle. Mary and Judas could not seem more dissimilar… except for one thing. If we consider this Gospel scene “forensically,” that is, if…

“I’m sure many of us have felt, or maybe are feeling even now, a sense of despair—that we are going down a road with no return, that there will be something about who we are that is irrevocably broken. Here in the US, our major party candidates promise two very different visions of tomorrow—you may despair that the other side may win, or you may despair that neither vision speaks to the challenges...

“As I was praying with this Gospel reading, I imagined being there with these crowds and with Jesus. I felt within myself that deep peace which those people must have felt, sitting with Jesus their shepherd. I believe that Jesus wants to give that same peace, that same rest, to each one of us. In a world which seems sometimes to be falling apart, with a center which cannot hold, Jesus the Good She...

“Joy is such a great paradox. For Saint Paul, suffering sets the stage for knowing joy: a deep sense of well-being and gratitude in life. One might say that Saint Paul is a little over-the-edge about joy, rather hyperbolic in an unimaginable sort of way… unless you have discovered how joy will so often emerge from and companion grief and loss.” Br. Curtis Almquist looks to Saint Paul for the parad...

“We may not limit the work of Christ to a particular people or organization, such as the Church, but instead must ask ourselves, “Who are the scattered people for whom Christ died in order that they, too, might be reconciled with God?”  John does not limit the scope of God’s saving grace, and neither must we.” Br. David Vryhof prays that we will open our eyes to discern the height and breadth and...

“Lent is a season that invites us to change, to repent, to turn around.  It invites us into a new and lifegiving way and challenges us to give up our sinful or unhealthy ways.  But it’s not easy to change.”  Br, David Vryhof considers why it is so hard for us to change and offers the encouragement: God waits to help and strengthen you.

“Grief comes to each of us in a thousand shades and hues. We experience a vivid spectrum of grief. As loss—of loved ones in death, of relationships, of direction. As missed opportunities, roads not taken, paths unexplored. As things we may never be or do because of what we already are or have done. As limitations imposed on us, or by us. For what do you grieve today? For what does your heart ache?...