The readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter wake us up once again to the perennial truth and current application of Scripture nbsp Acts 14 21-27 takes place just after Paul and Barnabas had left Lystra and Derbe if ldquo left rdquo is the proper description of how Paul was escorted out of Ly
John W. Martens
John W. Martens is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn,where he teaches early Christianity and Judaism. He also directs the Master of Arts in Theology program at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. He was born in Vancouver, B.C. into a Mennonite family that had decided to confront modernity in an urban setting. His post-secondary education began at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas, came to an abrupt stop, then started again at Vancouver Community College, where his interest in Judaism and Christianity in the earliest centuries emerged. He then studied at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, and McMaster University, with stops at University of Haifa and University of Tubingen. His writing often explores the intersection of Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman culture and belief, such as in "let the little children come to me: Children and Childhood in Early Christianity" (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009), but he is not beyond jumping into the intersection of modernity and ancient religion, as in "The End of the World: The Apocalyptic Imagination in Film and Television" (Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford Press, 2003). He blogs at www.biblejunkies.com and at www.americamagazine.org for "The Good Word." You can follow him on Twitter @biblejunkies, where he would be excited to welcome you to his random and obscure interests, which range from the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, to his dog, and 70s punk, pop and rock. When he can, he brings students to Greece, Turkey and Rome to explore the artifacts and landscape of the ancient world. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and has two sons. He is certain that the world will not end until the Vancouver Canucks have won the Stanley Cup, as evidence has emerged from the Revelation of John, 1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra which all point in this direction.
Posted inThe Good Word
The Church, Sexual Abuse, and “Anti-Catholicism”
There is an important article by Joseph Bottum at The Weekly Standard com on the recent ldquo odd hysteria rdquo that is the media rsquo s response and role in the recent and revived claims regarding sexual abuse by priests and cover-ups of this abuse by some in the Church rsquo s leadership Th
Posted inThe Good Word
“Always in need of being purified”(3): Suggestions for Change
3 How do we allow the Church to meet the standards that Jesus set for it in the treatment and reception of children All I can do as an individual Catholic is propose ideas imperfect though they may be for change that will serve the most vulnerable amongst us as Jesus intended I should be clear
Posted inThe Good Word
“Always in need of being purified”(2): Jesus, Children and Church Leadership
2 We need to return to the source The mission of the Church was outlined by Jesus and we must listen to Jesus with renewed care The elements of the Church rsquo s mission with which I am concerned are a Jesus rsquo teachings on how his disciples should utilize power and authority b the partic
Posted inThe Good Word
“Always in need of being purified”: The Church and Change
Some of you may be aware of the Talking Heads song ldquo Once In A Lifetime rdquo in which David Byrne sings the refrain ldquo same as it ever was same as it ever was same as it ever was rdquo over and over nbsp I sometimes get the sense that many members of the Church clerics and laity
Posted inThe Good Word
Acts of the Apostles 5:12-16
There is a ldquo seam rdquo in the first reading Acts of the Apostles 5 12-16 for the Second Sunday of Easter nbsp 12 Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles And they were all together in Solomon s Portico 13 None of the rest dared to join them but the peo
Posted inThe Good Word
“By what power or by what name did you do this?”
Over the past two days the story of the healing at the Beautiful Gate of a man ldquo lame from birth rdquo has been read Acts 3 1-26 Peter and John encounter him at this Temple gate where he asks for alms Peter responds that he has no silver or gold but that he can offer something much bette
Posted inThe Good Word
“We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel”
While they were talking and discussing Jesus himself came near and went with them but their eyes were kept from recognizing him And he said to them What are you discussing with each other while you walk along They stood still looking sad Then one of them whose name was Cleopas answered h
Posted inThe Good Word
The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
nbsp Today is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord only nine months from Christmas This is an interesting time-out in the midst of Lent as we prepare for Easter to concentrate on the coming of the Lord as an infant I used to wonder about all this talk of Jesus coming to earth as a l
Posted inThe Good Word
The “Surpassing Value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”
As we come to the end of Lent Paul rsquo s soaring passage from Philippians 3 8-14 reminds us beautifully of the quot surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord quot 3 8 Paul imprisoned as he writes to the Philippians speaks of having quot suffered the loss of all things quot 3 8 s