Faith

Like Susanna, Joanna exists in the shadow of Mary Magdalene. While Susanna is associated with funding for the movement, Joanna is associated with steadfastness, courage and power. Luke 8 begins with a general description of the 12 disciples and the women with them. “Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna,…

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on gratitude. An attitude of gratitude has lots of beneficial side effects – things like lower blood pressure, more pleasant social interactions, higher self-esteem, more energy, longevity, better sleep, etc. Visiting the website: smallchangesbigshifts.com/gratitude/, can get you started down that road. What I would like to deal with here…

So much ink has been spent on Mary Magdalene, that it is easy to lose sight of two other women who stand right beside her. Though Joanna and Susanna are named together in Luke, I’m going to look at them separately beginning with Susanna. “… Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support…

This past weekend the gospel in our lectionary for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, year A, was from Matthew 25: 14-30, The Parable of the Talents. A talent is the value of 75 pounds of gold or silver – a LOT of money! The master went on a journey and entrusted to the first…

Before we leave Phillipi and Lydia’s church, there is another woman worth our attention. This woman, she is unnamed. In this she is typical of many women in history. She is also “a slave.” We find her in Acts 16, immediately following Lydia prevailing on Paul, Silas, and Timothy. “One day, as we were going…

Though I did not cite the passage, last week was a commentary on: 1 Jn 4:16, “God is love, and he who abides in love, abides in God, and God in him.” When the love of the trinity moves outside of the trinity into creation, then we call that “grace.” Practically, we get an inkling…

How do you solve a problem like Euodia and Synteche? In fact, how do you pronounce their names? Euodia (You-oh-dee-ah) and Synteche (Sin-te-shay) are two women who are part of the church at Phillipi, Lydia’s church. (Brief pause to mention that if you are looking for a unique biblical name for a baby girl, no…

We experience grace as a free, loving gift to us from God. But what is it, what is its origin? To answer this question, look to the core of our Christian beliefs: the trinity. God is three persons in one God. As far as we can tell from scriptures and mystics and theologians, God is…

The title of this article refers to a wonderful song named “Lydia, the Tattooed Lady.” If you don’t know it, it’s worth Googling. That song was my first (and for a very long time, only) introduction to Lydia. Why? I wonder. Lydia is so much more than that. We meet her in Acts 16: 11-15.…