Tag Archives: transformation
Franciscan Spirituality: Week 3 Summary
Franciscan Spirituality: Week 3 Summary: Sunday, June 18-Friday, June 23, 2017 The Franciscan philosopher and theologian Bonaventure teaches that to really see things, we must “consider all material things in their origin, their process, and their end.” Everything comes from God, exemplifies God, and then returns to God. (Sunday) John Duns Scotus’ idea of the Read More »
There Is Nothing to Regret (God Uses Everything in Our Favor)
Franciscan Spirituality: Week 2 There Is Nothing to Regret (God Uses Everything in Our Favor) Monday, June 12, 2017 Toward the end of his life, Saint Francis told the friars, “Let us begin, brothers, to serve the Lord God, for up until now we have done little or nothing.” [1] That enigmatic sense of beginning Read More »
Spirituality of Change
Alternative Orthodoxy Spirituality of Change Monday, May 29, 2017 Metanoia, Jesus’ first message upon beginning his ministry (Mark 1:15, Matthew 4:17), is unfortunately translated with the moralistic word repent. Metanoia literally means change or even more precisely “Change your mind!” So it is strange that the religion founded in Jesus’ name has been resistant to Read More »
Grace Must Win
Law and Grace Grace Must Win Sunday, May 21, 2017 The relationship between law and grace is a central issue for almost anyone involved in religion. Basically, it is the creative tension between religion as requirements and religion as transformation. Is God’s favor based on a performance principle (Law)? Or does religion work within an Read More »
Life as Participation
The Apostle Paul Life as Participation Thursday, May 18, 2017 After conversion, you don’t look out at reality; you look out from reality. In other words, God is not “out there”: you are in God and God is in you. You are in the middle of Reality! You’re a part of it. It’s a mystery Read More »
Paul’s Conversion Experience
The Apostle Paul Paul’s Conversion Experience Tuesday, May 16, 2017 All of Paul’s major themes are contained in seed form in his conversion experience, of which there are three descriptions in Acts written by Luke (chapters 9, 22, and 26). Paul’s own account is in the first chapter of Galatians: “The Gospel which I preach Read More »
Dying into Life
Resurrection Dying into Life Sunday, May 7, 2017 The Resurrection is not a one-time miracle that proved Jesus was God. Jesus’ death and resurrection name and reveal what is happening everywhere and all the time in God and in everything God creates. Reality is always moving toward resurrection. As prayers of the Catholic funeral Mass Read More »
Forgiving Victim
Jesus as Scapegoat Forgiving Victim Wednesday, May 3, 2017 In terms of the soul, no one else is your problem. You are invariably your primary problem. You are always the locus of conversion and transformation. I believe the message of the crucified Jesus is a statement about what to do with your pain. It’s primarily Read More »
The Cross as Cure
The Cross The Cross as Cure Thursday, April 27, 2017 The second sacred image that the cross echoes is the “Lifted-Up One,” and it comes from the bronze snake in the desert. YHWH tells Moses to raise up a serpent on a pole, and “anyone who has been bitten by a serpent and looks upon Read More »
The Universal Pattern: Loss and Renewal
The Cross The Universal Pattern: Loss and Renewal Monday, April 24, 2017 I believe that the Mystery of the Cross is saying that the pattern of transformation is always death transformed. Death and life are two sides of one coin, and you cannot have one without the other. The theological term for this classic pattern Read More »
