Carol J. Dempsey

Scripture for Life: The seasons of spring and Easter invite us to become liberated from toxic theology whose spiritual effects anesthetize us to unjust crucifixions happening daily in our world today.

Scripture for Life: This Sunday's readings present a way forward for those seeking to live alternatively to the dominant social model of power, prestige, status, control and the colonization of others.

Scripture for Life - Deeply embedded in today's readings is a message of hope and an opportunity to move beyond our God metaphors so that we can embrace life in a fuller way for the full flourishing of all creation.

Scripture for Life: For the two-thirds of the globe's population living in poverty, with many impoverished people living in "the land of plenty," today's Gospel offers a word of hope.

Scripture for Life: In dialogue with the divine, Jesus expresses his desire for those whom he loves, namely, that they also share in the same divine oneness that he shares in with his God.

Scripture for Life: For those of us who dare to act prophetically like Jeremiah and Jesus in our world hungering for hope, vision and justice, we have the promise of presence — "I am with you to deliver you," says the holy one, whose power working within us continually empowers us for the work to be done.

Scripture for Life: The Gospel reading focuses on love: love of God, love of self and love of neighbor. But what is love? And who is our neighbor?

Scripture for Life: When laws and traditions become ends unto themselves, "doctrine" used to sustain mausoleums built with bricks and mortar reflective of times past, then the Spirit will have difficulty in renewing the face of the earth.

Scripture for Life: Recognizing the contributions that quantum physics has made to spirituality, perhaps a new understanding of Trinity is energy, that which exists at the center of all created matter.

Scripture for Life: Central to the "prophetic" is its ability to expose realities that many people, especially leaders, would like not to see or face.

Scripture for Life: Rarely do we take time to think about and explore the rhetoric and imagery for "God" in Scripture and lectionary texts.

Scripture for Life: This Sunday’s readings invite everyone to and into the margins, if some of us are not already there. To be Christian in the context of the Gospel is to embrace life on the margins.

Scripture for Life: The gift of Easter and Pentecost, the gift of the Christ, is peace, which is a gift of the Spirit. Peace, the hope of all creation, is the gift given, now waiting for humanity to bring it to fruition.

Scripture for Life: Dare we allow the stones that encase and entomb the spirit be rolled away so that the spirit can be the life-giving force and transformative energy it is meant to be?

Scripture for Life: Family relationships are often complex, complicated and ever-changing. Families today are diverse. Power relations within families are also diverse.

Scripture for Life: This Sunday's readings are about hunger, both the inability to experience it and the experience of it.

Scripture for Life: This journey is grounded in the knowledge that I am an ordinary person on the road of life, traveling alongside everyone else as we make our way in this world together.

When someone from the people of Bemba acts unjustly or irresponsibly, then that person is required to stand in the center of the village, alone and unrestrained. The other members of the Bemba people are called together and they gather in a large circle around the one who has been accused of some wrongdoing.

Scripture for Life: The themes of celebration and reconciliation come together in the parable of the prodigal son heard in this Sunday's Gospel from Luke. Jesus addresses this parable to a group of complaining Pharisees and scribes who take issue with Jesus' interaction with sinners.

We are living in a time of global turmoil as we watch some democracies being taken apart while other ones erode socially, culturally and economically. In ancient biblical times, people faced similar crises to those we face today. In the midst of wars, with empires usurping power and lands from one another, the Israelites looked for good and just leadership. In this Sunday’s first reading, the biblical writer speaks about a divinely promised new leader who will do what is just and right and bring peace and security to the land of Israel and Judah.