Story from the Outside:One of the most impactful things I remember from my childhood was a nun telling me in my very first Sunday CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) class, that Jesus lived in my heart. But everything that came later seemed to contradict that. The Catholic church I grew up in was not very welcoming to outsiders, I can see it all around me - the whispers about the divorcees, ...  Read More

Friday, March 4REPENT by Amy Sanders Matthew 3:1-12In those days John the Baptist appeared in the desert of Judea announcing, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!” He was the one of whom Isaiah the prophet spoke when he said:The voice of one shouting in the wilderness,“Prepare the way for the Lord;Make his paths straight.”John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a l...  Read More

Thursday, March 3FASTING by Brittany RadfordIsaiah 58:6-12Isn’t this the fast I choose:    releasing wicked restraints, untying the ropes of a yoke,    setting free the mistreated,    and breaking every yoke?Isn’t it sharing your bread with the hungry    and bringing the homeless poor into your house,    covering the naked when you see them,    and not hiding from your own family?Then your light w...  Read More

Wednesday, March 2You Are Dust by Dave MerrillPsalm 103Let my whole being bless the Lord!    Let everything inside me bless his holy name!Let my whole being bless the Lord    and never forget all his good deeds:    how God forgives all your sins,    heals all your sickness,    saves your life from the pit,    crowns you with faithful love and compassion,    and satisfies you with plenty of good th...  Read More

By Matt Miofsky March 1, 2022Gathering, Years ago, I was talking to a young man who told me that he didn’t like church because it sugar-coated life. For him, hope, love, faith – these were all nice ideas but none of them fully took seriously the injustices and hardships of life. Some of us may feel that way. We might look at religion as encouraging a naïve optimism or church people as inauthentica...  Read More

Story from the Outside:Chronic pain is funny, not haha funny, but odd, strange, funny. The thing about living with chronic pain is no one really knows you have it unless you tell them. From the outside I look perfectly healthy and normal, but on the inside there is a never ending storm that won’t quite settle down, and is never quite finished with me. A storm of pain that makes “feeling” and “bein...  Read More