Dissensus, the “Yes” on my way to dissent. Rev. Jim Ryan, M.Div, Ph.D. I began this calendar year, 2023, with the question of dissent in the church as a subject to explore. My specific focus would be on the place of disagreement and how it is, or is not, handled in communities of faith, specifically…
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Coming-to-faith via Grace 2nd Sunday of Easter – April 16, 2023 Rev. Jim Ryan, Ph.D. Thomas’ story (John 20:19-31) is one of coming-to-faith. Here is a disciple of Jesus, one who would later be given the title, Apostle, who followed and accompanied the Teacher for a good part of Jesus’ ministry. This is Thomas who…
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Bethany Walk, Passion of Love Rev. Jim Ryan, Ph.D. This Palm Sunday our Gospel was of the entry into Jerusalem. We will save the reading of the Passion narrative for its proper day and time which is Good Friday. This allows us to focus on Jesus’ Passion of Love. Today we are doing the Bethany…
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Sometimes One Chews on One’s Words OR “Psalm 27, we hardly knew ye.” Rev. Jim Ryan, Ph.D. Not so long ago I spoke about the Psalms as being difficult to pray due to the militarism, triumphalism, and revenge one finds in them. And then comes Psalm 27. It’s sentiment and poetry, as well as its…
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Equality & Synodality – discernment and disagreement in the Spirit Rev. Jim Ryan, Ph.D. I invited the community to interpret St. Paul’s message to the Corinthians (1Cor 2:6-16) applying these questions. When he uses the term “we” who do you think this refers to? Is it, for example, the apostles, the disciples from Jerusalem, church…
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The Beatitudes – through the lens of a narrow focus Rev. Jim Ryan, Ph.D. Today, I want to make a small point. I’ll leave it to others and to another day to ponder the larger, more comprehensive, message of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) for spiritual life and living. It’s the first Beatitude that has drawn…
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Agree in What You Say (even if it includes dissent)© Rev. Jim Ryan, Ph.D. So now’s the time of year to settle in between the seasons of Advent-Christmas-Epiphany and of Lent-Easter-Pentecost; time for us northerners to get through the rest of winter. This is the time for drawing closer to the fire (figuratively speaking as…
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Rev. Jim Ryan, Ph.D. I have read about Emmanuel Mounier, not very often, but when I have it has been associated with Mounier’s influence on Peter Maurin, co-founder of the Catholic Worker with Dorothy Day. Maurin shared with Mounier a belief that faith in Jesus is a radical act of the person. This radicality obliges…
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Rev. Jim Ryan, Ph.D. How familiar is the image of the manger that serves as cradle for the newly born Jesus; familiar, too, is our understanding that the Word of God becomes human in this child. But how are we to understand this divine Word who grew in human “wisdom, age, and grace?” (Luke 2:52) …
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Rev. Jim Ryan, Ph.D. Promise is a central element of covenant peoples. Jewish faith wouldn’t exist without promise – from strangers who are fed by Abraham and Sarah and leave them with the promise of a son within the year, to a burning bush on Mt. Sinai which promises Moses and the people a Promised…
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