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Healing Scars
“Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with the others when Jesus” appeared to them after his Resurrection. Thomas “said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’” “A…
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Resurrecting
“Mary Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning… and saw the stone removed.” She ran “to the other disciples… and told them, ‘They have taken Jesus from the tomb, and we don’t know where he is.’” The priestly rulers who sought Jesus’ murder, the political rulers who ordered it, and the soldiers…
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The Cross: The Axis of Evil
The war waged by rulers against Jesus ends with their murder of him, as detailed in today’s Gospel. Religious rulers request Jesus’ torture and murder, political rulers order it, and soldiers carry it out. “The soldiers led Jesus away inside the palace… weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him,… kept striking his…
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Lifting Up Soldiers from the Abuse of War
Jeremiah writes of the War Lord Yahweh, a Soldier Master who claims to love his “chosen people,” and “will write his law upon their hearts.” But then the War Lord Yahweh says, “they broke my covenant, and I had to show myself their master.” The people are shown as holy for accepting enslavement, abuse,…
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Cancel War
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “the light came into the world, but people preferred the darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light, and does not come toward the light, so his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the…
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Ending the War on Water
“In their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses.” The Lord said to Moses, “Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.” In the Gospel, a Samaritan woman thirsts for water and goes to a well. She meets Jesus at the well and grumbles a bit…
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Youth Are Not Being Radicalized, They Are Being Soldiered
“God put Abraham to the test.” Take your “son Isaac… and offer him up as a holocaust.” “Abraham… took the knife to slaughter his son.” But seeing his devotion, God said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy.” Abraham’s tribe is transfigured by his rejecting child sacrifice. Jesus is also transfigured, on a…
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Giving Up War for Lent and for Life
The Old Testament reading recalls a flood experience, lasting 40 days. Its authors believed an ancient War Lord, sparing Noah, justifiably waged war against life itself and “destroyed all mortal beings.” The Old Testament then shows war being continually waged by believers in the ancient War Lord; Moses, Joshua, David, and the like. The…
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What Do We Will?
The Old Testament reading concerns the will of the priestly class to judge a man a sinner. He is a leper. The judgment dehumanizes the man. No longer is he a human being with a disease but instead, he is the disease. He is the sin; “the priest shall declare him unclean… (he) shall…