Prairie Musings

The Biblical narrative could not be more clear. Nearly one hundred and fifty times in the Prophets, the Psalms, the Epistles, and the Gospels our duty to care for the least among us, to care for the stranger, to love our neighbor as we do ourselves, is proclaimed as one of the most important aspects of our covenant and grace-filled gift to participate in the righteousness and justice of God. There are so many verses to quote—here's one I have not used before, from Philippians 2:4: Let each of you look not only to their own interests, but also to the interests of others. But this is not the perspective of Fr. Keith the priest—if your ears are stopped and your heart is hardened and you are still unable to "have sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind" (1 Peter 3:8), know that you are in my daily prayers—and still continue reading. This is the perspective of Fr. Keith, the hospital chaplain who for 18 months has been holding people's hands in the midd...

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven… not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever" ( John 51a, 58b ). You know how we always talk about our celebration of the church year is divided into liturgical seasons, and our most important feast days are actually celebrated over several weeks, like Christmastide and Eastertide….Well, we’re in the middle of a special season that comes around only once every three years in our lectionary. It’s not something you’ll find in the official calendar; it’s a season sometimes dreaded by those of us who have to preach…This is the season of Breadmastide —the five Sundays at the end of summer in lectionary year B when the Gospel reading for every Sunday has Jesus talking about bread. (1) Jesus feeds 5000 with two loaves of bread. (2) Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (3) Jesus aga...