Some of you may remember me from The Good Word, where I wrote for over 4 years. I decided to move on a little more than a year ago to begin my own blog Biblejunkies. At Biblejunkies I wanted to focus more on the practice of biblical studies as such and the philosophical, theological and hermeneutical questions that rest behind the practice of biblical studies, making these questions available to a wider online audience. I will continue that blog, but I will also begin blogging again at The Good Word. Some of what I do at Biblejunkies might only be posted there and the same will take place with certain The Good Word blog posts, but I hope to do a lot of cross-posting as well between the two blogs. This happy reunion took place when I was appointed The Word columnist and discussions took place as to how I might connect with the magazine audience online and what shape that online presence might take.

Sometimes the way to understand one story is by way of another The story which we rsquo d all like to understand more fully is the resignation of our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI The story the Church sets before us this First Sunday of Lent is that of Christ rsquo s Temptation Perhaps a story

nbsp Sometimes class discussions veer in a direction I don rsquo t intend For example I don rsquo t remember what aspect of the Incarnation I was trying to present in a class of freshman college students when a young man suddenly asked quot Where does Holy Water come from quot I was still t

Some of the best theology penned has been produced by novelists Take for example the figure of Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo rsquo s Les Mis rables If you haven rsquo t read the novel perhaps you rsquo ve seen the musical or recently taken in its film version In 19th century France Jean Valjea

Knowing that his election had precipitated the secession of the southern states but that as yet no shots had been fired Abraham Lincoln ended his first inaugural address on March 4 1861 with this appeal I am loath to close We are not enemies but friends We must not be enemies Though passio

The challenge of regularly visiting a group of shut-ins, or those confined to bed, is that each expects you to arrive at the same time each week, and yet each also pleads that you stay a little longer than you did the week before.