Crucifixion. Resurrection. Ascension. All of these were very public events as the first followers of Jesus began to form the community we now call the church. Busy, public events are important. But public events are just that — public. On display. Other people are watching, watching not only the event itself, but also people’s reactions…

This Easter season, the fifty days between the Resurrection and Pentecost might be called our time of reassurance. Jesus has completed his mission. He has become man, born of the Virgin Mary, nurtured in the carpenter’s shop, launched in his ministry by turning water into wine at a wedding. He has become a teacher and…

This gospel text is read in Eastertide, in anticipation of Jesus leaving a particular place, at a particular time, and a particular group of people. As might be suspected, there was some anxiety about that in his leaving a particular group of people. We can imagine how they must have felt. Life and feelings had…

“I know them, and they follow me. I gave them eternal life.” I heard this story on National Public Radio recently. Jeff Smith, “Frugal Gourmet,” was traveling through Washington state and was in a remote area when he came across a flock of sheep crossing the road. He stopped his car to wait and soon…

Children’s books with names like One Fish, Two Fish; Red Fish, Blue Fish. Screen savers on our computers that pretend to be an aquarium. Long weekends in the north woods, on silent lakes waiting for the first nibble on the line, or sea stories about “the one that got away.” It seems like fish turn…

This gospel reading ends with, There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name. The Gospel…