The Church in the Modern Context
This paper on the Church in the Modern Context brings into conversation the goals of Vatican I, Vatican II, and those of Pope Francis in today’s modern context. It seeks to understand the context of...
View ArticleOn the Task of Today's Theologian
This piece was written as a reading response paper for Kristin Colberg’s Documents of Vatican II course in the Spring of 2022. It argues that today’s theologian must take seriously the demands of the...
View ArticleThe Music in the Trees
The following poems are meditations about the growth students experience during the learning process. I utilize trees as an analogy for pedagogical development. References to the outward, circular...
View ArticleThe Generation of the Smartphone
iGen is the generation of those born after 1995. A common characteristic of teen iGen’ers is their lack of interest in school. Many of these kids attend school only because they must, not because...
View ArticleClimate Change: The Role of Technology, "Dominon," and Our Pastoral...
This paper briefly examines the correlation between burning fossil fuels, the increase of carbon in the atmosphere and resulting volatile weather, including hurricanes and floods. The paper then...
View ArticleHow Big Are Your Arms, O God?
Expansive images and expressions of God invite us all to experience God’s steadfast, faithful, and unconditional love in our lives. Out of this deep sense of belovedness, we are called to embody God’s...
View ArticleAn Exegesis Paper on the Hanging of the King of Ai
This paper analyzes Joshua 8 on the Hanging of the King of Ai. By utilizing contemporary biblical scholarship, this paper attempts to highlight elements of Ancient Near Eastern crucifixion and torture...
View ArticleFourth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
This is a homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – year C. Speaking God’s truth hurts, but love prevails. Being a prophet is difficult, but love never fails. SYNOD
View ArticleEveryone Wants a Revolution, No One Wants to Do the Dishes
This piece is a reflection on climate despair, filtered through the novel A Canticle for Leibowitz, the Catholic Worker Movement, and Benedictine spirituality to imagine what the response of a...
View ArticleReflections on Isaiah 63:7-9
This reflection for a homily given at a virtual midday prayer breaks open the Scripture reading of Isaiah 63:7-9. The scripture reading leads us to reflecting upon God’s mercy and goodness in our...
View ArticleLiturgical Signs and Gestures
Fully, consciously, and actively participating in the sacred liturgy was one of the goals of the renewal of the liturgy called for by the Second Vatican Council. This paper explores the question, how...
View ArticleThe Faith of Jesus
According to Jon Sobrino, a theologian of Liberation Theology, Jesus has faith since He is a believer “like ourselves,” the model of faith, the one upon whom we have to keep our eyes fixed to live our...
View ArticlePope Francis' Leadership in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The essay writes about the influences of the COVID-19 pandemic to human existence in various aspects, particularly Christian faith. In the darkness and hardship of life, believers and non-believers...
View ArticlePatient Response to Find New Meaning in Familiar Language
This piece is a reflection of the ongoing controversy of feminism in a patriarchal society. The reflections in this essay are limited to the conversation of male versus female body but it should be...
View ArticleChrist in You Is Your Hope of Glory: Exploring Colossians in the Sunday...
This paper was submitted in the Fall of 2022 as an assignment for LTGY 421: The Liturgical Year and the Word of God, exploring the use of Paul's letter to the Colossians in the lectionary cycle.
View Article"Get Me the Girl for a Wife": Feminist Readings of Genesis 34-35
This essay, originally written for “The Hebrew Scriptures: History, Theology, and Controversy,” considers the story of the rape of Dinah, exploring the text’s history and its traditional...
View ArticleThe True "New Eve": Ben Wildflower's Magnificat and the Second Creation Story
Images of the Virgin Mary have provided comfort to Christians for almost two thousand years. Many of these images have depicted the Mother of God as gentle, demure, pure, and obedient. Ben...
View ArticleIncarnate Spirits: The Embodied Roots of Worship
Spirituality is “how the Spirit of Jesus enables Christians to grow into fullness with God in this life and in particular historical circumstances.” The role of the community is definitive in shaping...
View ArticleTeresa of Avila's Inward Journey to Spiritual Growth
This essay describes the basic structure of Teresa's understanding of spiritual growth as depicted in her seven "dwelling places" in the Interior Castle. It places emphasis upon where God invites our...
View ArticleThe Role of Darkness and Trial in Spiritual Growth as Described in The Cloud...
This essay was written in Professor Michael Rubbelke's class titled "Growing into God: Spiritual Development in the Christian Tradition." The piece looks at darkness and trial and three resulting...
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