Today, June 24, is the day that we celebrate John the Baptist on our church calendar. But what about his mother, Elizabeth? A woman of joy and deep faith, she was instrumental in helping Mary through her fears -- and she raised a great son. Time to give Elizabeth her due! Who was Elizabeth? A descendent of Aaron; daughter of a family...
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Ethnic boundaries: apparently even Jesus had trouble with them. Case in point: Sunday’s Gospel reading from Matthew 15:21-28. A woman from "the outside," known as the Canaanite woman, spars with Jesus and convinces him to heal her daughter. And Jesus is oddly cranky about the whole thing, at least in the beginning. (Note: The Canaanite woman to which Matthew refers is...
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You don’t expect it to happen at “Gentle Yoga,” of all places. But the other day, as I was standing in line at the YMCA, mat in hand, a white-haired woman in sweatpants, built like a truck, walked up to me. “Get out of the way,” she said. “I always go in first.” She’d done the same thing before. I’d moved over...
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Movie stars have the Oscar awards, world leaders the Nobel prizes, TV the Emmy awards...
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