Wednesday, March 10Exodus 30-31Have you ever attempted to read the Bible cover-to-cover? If you have, you know that starting with Genesis is easy and entertaining -- it covers the Creation story, the fall of Adam and Eve, Noah’s ark, and Joseph, whose saga and elaborate cloak inspired Broadway. Then, the epic saga continues in Exodus where you meet Pharaoh, Moses, and the Israselites, and God send...  Read More

Tuesday, March 9Exodus 28-29These two chapters discuss priestly garments, Aaron’s consecration, the tent of meeting, one-time and ongoing rituals involving sacrifices. Before I lose you, remember that Israelites did not have a set priesthood yet and God was establishing them as being “set apart” from the rest of the world.We are talking about a lineage of people who were slaves previously; traumat...  Read More

Monday, March 8Exodus 26-27Let’s level with one another for a second: if you’re reading through the second half of Exodus, you’re in some pretty dense and altogether BORING reading. I feel like it’s good to name that on the front end. This is the part of the Bible where people reading the Bible in a year start to veer off course around the end of January. Because there’s no action. There are no wh...  Read More

The Third Sunday in LentSunday, March 7In the Catholic tradition there are three pillars of Lent: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. The third pillar, almsgiving, often gets overlooked in our observance of the season. Almsgiving is a fancy word for charity. It is considered a form of prayer because almsgiving is meant to be a way of giving to God (Matthew 25:40). Just as we make sacrifices through f...  Read More

Saturday, March 6Exodus 23:20-25:40You want to know that a child is serious about a commitment? Don’t just ask them to promise. Ask them to pinky promise. Similar to upping the ante on a dare to a double dog dare, the pinky promise is the most sacred of vows. While we can’t be sure whether God asked Moses and the Israelites to pinky promise, today’s reading does include a very significant commitme...  Read More

Friday, March 5Exodus 20:22-23-19“Signs” by Five Man Electrical Band, and later by Tesla, is such a great song that bucks authority. I’ve always had a problem with what I would consider stupid authority. Rules for no good reason. As I read the scripture passage in Exodus 20:22-23:19, the hair on my neck begins to stand up. Because man, “The Law” seems like a bunch of dumb rules.Probably because so...  Read More