Good Friday

My understanding of the cross and Jesus's death has been helped immensely – transformed even – by the work of womanist theologian, Kelly Brown Douglas. Rev. Dr. Douglas is the Dean of Episcopal Divinity School and Canon Theologian at the Washington National Cathedral. I use some quotations from her most recent book below to reflect prayerfully on this Good Friday.

"Jesus was not crucified because he prayed too much. Perhaps because he prayed, he was able to go to the cross, but it was not praying that got him crucified." Kelly Brown Douglas, Resurrection Hope, 125.

O, God, forgive us when we deform the cross into a mere act of piety. We too easily rely on prayers when action is also faithful and necessary. May our response to the death of Jesus be more than prayer, more than words, more than pious thoughts. Help us see the crucified in our days.

"The full measure of God's incarnate love is found in the cross. It is through the cross that the paradoxes which define God's love are definitively disclosed. These are paradoxes that maintain God's utter solidarity with the crucified classes of people." Kelly Brown Douglas, Resurrection Hope, 121.

O, God, through the cross you reveal your love – for us and for all creation. Through the cross, you stand in solidarity with the crucified throughout all time and in our time.  Help us see the crucified in our days.

Avoiding Anti-Judaism

How to avoid anti-Judaism this Easter - ABC Religion & Ethics

Jesus of Nazareth, charged by the Roman authorities with sedition, dies on a Roman cross. But Jews — all Jews — become known as “Christ-killers”. Every year, the same difficulty surfaces: how can a gospel of love be proclaimed, if that same gospel is heard to promote hatred of Jesus’s own people? Ev…

ABC Religion & EthicsABC Religion & Ethics

A Benediction (Or Miscellaneous Thoughts)

1. If you know someone who might like to read this newsletter, forward this email to them.
2. Last year's reflections on the Easter Triduum – the three days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are found here.

3. You can read an online version of this newsletter here.