First Reading

Detail from
Commentary on Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

As I write this biblical reflection—more theological and historical, likely—I [...]

photo of a man with ashes on his forehead
Commentary on Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

This text for Ash Wednesday skips from verse 2 down [...]

photo of a mountain
Commentary on Exodus 24:12-18

I have stood looking onto the horizon at sunset in Sedona, Arizona. I saw what [...]

photo of salt (water) and light
Commentary on Isaiah 58:1-9a [9b-12]

Though the context is postexilic, the voice of First Isaiah [...]

Children smiling and making peace signs with their hands.
Commentary on Micah 6:1-8

The prophet Micah places the mountains, the hills, and the foundations of the earth as [...]

photo of an old gray wooden boat with fishing net beneath it
Commentary on Isaiah 9:1-4

The Season of Epiphany characteristically focuses on light. One of its flagship texts comes from [...]

photo of a flying dove
Commentary on Isaiah 49:1-7

Recapitulating many of the themes articulated in Isaiah 40–48, Isaiah 49:1–7 confirms the Servant’s identity [...]

Detail from Empore Wolfschlugen. 13: Taufe Jesu.
Commentary on Isaiah 42:1-9

In Isaiah 42:1–9, God presents the servant as “my chosen, in whom my soul delights” [...]

Detail from Adoration of the Magi (San Donato in Scopeto) by Leonardo da Vinci, ca. 1482.
Commentary on Isaiah 60:1-6

At the time this poem was composed, Jerusalem was a conquered, depopulated city struggling to [...]

photo of light in darkness
Commentary on Jeremiah 31:7-14

The joyful declaration that God is the giver of every [...]