As William T. Cavanaugh says “politics is a practice of imagination,”[1] imagination is political because it has the potential to critique reality and evoke the hope for political transformation. While theologians have used biblical stories as the resource for the… Read More ›
(W) Article
Beauty and Reverence: Great and Holy Friday Evening Service (the Epitaphios Threnos, the Lamentation at the Tomb)
Introduction The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension in Oakland is located at 4700 Lincoln Avenue, next door to Oakland’s Mormon Temple.[1] Like most Eastern Orthodox churches, the building has three main parts: the narthex (vestibule), the… Read More ›
A Practical Application of Satin Bernard of Clairvaux’s Concept of Love: Preaching Designed to Deepen the Spiritual Maturity of the Faithful
Introduction This essay considers sermons an essential element of spiritual formation and of the movement from loving God for one’s own sake toward loving oneself for God’s sake. Loving God for one’s own benefit is primarily developed by sermons emphasizing… Read More ›
Living Devotion and Worship: A Case Study of a Religious Pilgrimage in a Casino City in China
Introduction Popular Piety is one aspect of the cultural and religious diversity in the praxis of Catholic faith. Catholic processions, pilgrimages, rosaries, novenas, way of the cross, holy medals, scapulars and other contextual customs and rites were coalesced in the… Read More ›
Amazing Grace: A Word for the Less Than Able-Bodied
Introduction I am an amputee. Upon my disability I immediately became a member of the one minority population to which anyone may belong at anytime any place under unanticipated circumstances. An infection in my leg resulted in gangrene. I was… Read More ›
Mysterium Tremendum Restored in the Life of the Preacher
My Story: An Alarming Experience What is your most unforgettable preaching experience? Did it happen just last week or last year? Or did it happen five or ten years ago? For me it happened immediately after my graduation from my… Read More ›
Part II: Toward Postcolonial Liturgical Preaching: Drawing on the Pre-Columbian Caribbean Religion of the Taínos
In the first half of this article, I introduced a proposal for a three movement Postcolonial Liturgical Preaching: (1) spaces of tension, (2) journeying imaginatively, and (3) experiences of connectedness. I illustrated with the Taíno ritual batey the first movement of… Read More ›
Part I: Toward Postcolonial Liturgical Preaching: Drawing on the Pre-Columbian Caribbean Religion of the Taínos
It seems that little has changed in Christian congregations in the United States since Martin Luther King, Jr., said that, “eleven o’clock on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of Christian America.”1 This segregation is part of the aftermath… Read More ›
Homiletical Insight from the Book of Haggai: Deconstruction of the Temple and Reconstruction of God’s homelessness
Introduction In suffering—not only natural disasters, but also catastrophes caused by humankind intentionally or unintentionally, people bring up theodicy questions. When we answer the theodicy question stating that it is God’s will, it is ungodly to affirm the will of… Read More ›
Homiletical Insights from Paul Tillich and Wonhyo: Focusing on Their Understanding of God and Ultimate Reality: Part II
The false dichotomy between subject and object As humans can make God an object, they can make other humans their objects which they deal with or even use while they themselves are subjects in their relational schemes. Definitely, it is… Read More ›