Pastoral Message – April 21, 2024

Have you ever seen an image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd? I’m willing to bet you have. There are plenty of statues and paintings in devotional art that illustrate this theme. From my Roman years, I remember seeing such images dating back to the 3rd and 4th centuries after Christ. It’s all based on Jesus’ words in the Gospel of John, “I am the Good Shepherd.” (Jn. 10:11) In the verses following verse 11, Jesus explains what this title

Hey y’all! Happy Easter Season! For the next few weeks we’ll be in the liturgical season of Easter. Because of Jesus’ action at that original Easter – His resurrection – and because the later understanding of the revelation that Easter caused, the single day’s Feast grew into a whole Season. And from that initial revelation that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, theology was thought out, reasoned out, fleshed out, and eventually lived out and given as the central message of

As some of you know, I took part in our mission trip to Poland a few weeks ago, from March 14th through the 22nd. Since I returned, a number of you have asked about the trip; today I would like to share with you some highlights. We spent several days in the city of Opole, a couple of hours’ drive from Krakow. We were hosted by Ostoja, a Pentecostal church which our group had spent time with last year. There we

He is risen. He is risen, indeed! So goes an ancient dialog between priest and people, and Christian to Christian. It is an Easter proclamation of faith in Jesus Christ, who was crucified, died and buried, and resurrected to life in glory – body, mind and spirit. The origin of this proclamation is attributed to St. Mary Magdalene. And even if this attribution isn’t completely accurate, it’s logical because Mary Magdalene saw it all. She was at the foot of the