by Mathew Swora | Mar 28, 2017
…”THE UNHEARD VOICE,” THAT OF MIDDLE EASTERN CHRISTIANS. Rev. Awad, a native of Israel/Palestine, is a former Methodist missionary, Professor Emeritus and former President of Bethlehem Bible College in the West Bank. There he often partnered with Mennonite mission and...
by Mathew Swora | Mar 28, 2017
A Meditation on John 9 As they say, “Ask a silly question, and you’ll get a silly answer.” I count about eight to ten silly questions in today’s Gospel story, like “Are you really the man born blind?” and “How did Jesus heal your eyes?” They make sense the first time...
by Mathew Swora | Mar 21, 2017
From a sermon by St. Peter Chrysologus, 380-450 AD “There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy...
by Mathew Swora | Mar 14, 2017
John 3: 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born...
by Mathew Swora | Mar 9, 2017
For all the strenuous, sacrificial, serious self-denial that we usually associate with the season of Lent, there is one rich self-indulgence which I permit myself, from which I fast the rest of the year: listening to the musical settings of the Passion story by J.S....