Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30 Have you ever wanted to fling the TV remote down ...

Rose Marie Berger Baptism means we are imprinted on Christ. FROM THE RIVER to the rope. From the creek to the ...

Bill Wylie-Kellermann Authority Over Death IN THE EARLY weeks of the Eastertide lectionary, there appears a s ...

On Wednesday, the white smoke got in my eyes, and rather than confusing my sight, it’s made things a little clearer. When I heard about the white smoke on Wednesday, I wrote on my ...

Will simplicity and social justice become the witness of the Roman Catholic Church around the world — and will it emanate from the first pope from the Global South, which is clearly the growing future of the c ...

What, in fact, does the election of Francis say about the Catholic Church at this point in its history? VATICAN CITY — A hierarchy looking to make a clear statement about where th ...

White smoke billowed from the chimney atop the Vatican's Sistine Chapel on Wednesday, followed by bells ringing from St. Peter's Basilica — signaling the election of a new pope. ...

I like to remind my community of believers from time to time why we do what we do. I have long felt the risk of liturgy is that it becomes rote narration, a thoughtless speechifying of sorts. So that this migh ...

National Catholic Reporter’s John Allen, a top Vaticanologist, perceived four main camps pushing different types of candidates: a pope who would overhaul the Roman Curia, the pontiff’s dysfunctional civil serv ...

of the crucifixion] Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies.” (Luke 23 ...

Black smoke from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel signaled that the first day of the conclave ended without the election of a new pope. VATICAN CITY — Black smoke from the chim ...

March 11, 2013 Sojo in the News The Huffington Post ...

MAG_1303-2.jpg $4.95 off ...

MAG_1303-2.jpg $4.95 off ...

I think CrossFit is like secular church. It offers more than weight loss or fitness. It speaks to our innate desires for community, purpose, and transformation. The first Christma ...

Species don’t evolve to become like other species. They evolve into better versions of themselves. I read a lot of Trinitarian theology last semester at Duke Divinity school, most ...

I watched with great delight as my sons, Luke and Jack, saw the first episode of “The Bible,” a History Channel special series that began this past Sunday and runs the five weeks through Easter. Film and telev ...

We did a focus group here as part of strategic planning at Trinity Episcopal Church. CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — We did a focus group here as part of strategic planning at Trinity Epis ...

All around us, death and life, life and death. Pitch black darkness, confusion, pain, redemption, hope, joy, life, and healing hover around us and within us each day and it’s rarely a smooth, seamless process. ...

It's a marvel that people hate vehemently enough to end their lives and those of complete strangers as a solution to their actual suffering or perceptions of injustice. It's expensive to make this me ...

What's it like to wrestle with the Divine One? You know, like Jacob did there in the desert one night. You can contend with God, can you not? Is God not then your enemy in some way? ...

There were at least 5,000 honor killings in 2000, according to a U.N. report. In 2010, a British newspaper estimated the number as high as 20,000. Most honor killings involve the murder of one family member — ...

Jim Wallis ...

March, 2013 Life, unplugged: Richard Rohr on finding God in the depths of silence. ...

The papacy of Benedict XVI came to a quiet end at 8 p.m. on Thursday, making him the first pope in 600 years to voluntarily leave office. VATICAN CITY — The papacy of Benedict XVI ...

This past year, I’ve been working out of my house, something like a stay-at-home dad, what with the after-school hours and school holidays and such. ... What I have discovered, in all this mess, is that I am a ...

You won’t find many Catholic churches named after Pope Benedict IX. You won’t find many Catholic churches named after Pope Benedict IX. Benedict IX squandered the papacy’s ...

Current events, like much about our lives, frequently leave us hopeless, fearful, and uncertain. Religious faith isn’t a matter of wishing away these experiences; it involves perceiving God in the midst of our ...

The bubble I see bursting is establishment Christianity in America. It is bursting ever so slowly, even as millions of people still find life, meaning, safety, and structure inside. ...

“Stepping into community is far riskier than expected. It’s far worse than you expect it to be. But in the end, it’s far better than you could ever imagine.” I’ve been asked sev ...

To the accusation that a nonviolent Jesus is a projection of my own wussy imagination: That is false and, in fact, the reverse is true – a violent Jesus is a god made in our own image. ...

It’s hard to over-emphasize the importance of honesty with God in our prayers. Stifling that honesty in ourselves or in our children by demanding that he or she pray for world peace instead of an awesome Chris ...

What if we, as a Lenten discipline, make a commitment to give up the fear of failure — for such fears are too often personally devastating and publicly debilitating if left ignored or unresolved? ...

So you’ve heard the flu shot is somewhat ineffective this year, and, though you have a normal immune system, you don't want to take the Eucharist from a common chalice. Part of me kind of wants to slap yo ...

The Gospel is public truth, available to everyone, that reveals to all flesh who it is who rules all things by love, who holds all things in the grip of grace, who is making all things new by Christ's res ...

This world. It’s so beautiful. And every day, we have the opportunity to relish it. How many days are spent checking off to-do-list items on the backs of receipts? Why do we think we’re so busy all the time? W ...

In Old Testament scripture, the resting place for the dead is called Sheol. While some believe this is the same as hell, there are indications to the contrary. In the ancient Jewish tradition, Sheol is a place ...

We can argue day and night about whether fear-based theology is effective, biblically accurate, or even necessary. But it’s worthwhile to consider where our contemporary ideas about hell and Satan even come fr ...

When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, the surprising choice cast a pall over the liberal wing of the flock and left conservatives giddy with the prospect of total victory. ...

As the 117 Roman Catholic cardinals walk into the Sistine Chapel next month for the election of a new pope, one hopes that they fully recognize the unfolding, dramatic pilgrimage of world Christianity: The dem ...

When disgruntled congregations have left hierarchical denominations such as the Episcopal Church, they’ve often lost property battles as civil courts ruled buildings and land are not theirs to keep. ...

The Memento mori ("remember you will die") of Ash Wednesday and of a Holy Lent is not a macabre, dark, or morbid reminder. It is our wake up call to live fully in the moment, to live *today* to its f ...

Many other partners either split up or continue their holy wars. Often, the believer eventually follows the nonbelieving spouse out the church door. SALT LAKE CITY — For years, Ma ...

Who better to embody the Christ-like compassionate suffering alongside the poor than one who knows the experience first-hand? For the first time in six centuries, the head of the ...

How about we all just agree to skip Lent this year and just get back together on Easter, okay? A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! -Joel ...

The Editors Modern passages from Oswald Chambers' classic devotional reader My Utmost for His Highest. L ...

Yet with the stunning announcement that he is resigning as the 264th successor to Saint Peter, Benedict may wind up fundamentally changing the way the church and the world view the papacy. ...

We were anointing our brother’s feet for burial. As I moved the oil over his feet, I repeated the words that Richard’s editor had said to me when we talked earlier that night: “Beautiful are the feet of the on ...

What will happen when the world’s cardinals gather before the splendor of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment fresco in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope? Who are the “papabile,” as the Italians say, the “pope-a ...

The president of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod apologized for his role in the “debacle” that led him to publicly reprimand a pastor in Newtown, Conn., for praying at an interfaith service following the ma ...