December 8, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | 1 Sam 2:1-10 Luke 1:46-55 Mother Hannah in 1 Samuel has a melody of hope that is harmonized by Mary’s Magnificat. Both matriarchs of the faith point to an ancient present hope as we are rooted in the promised Messiah to arrive. They give us the gift of […]
November 24, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Hebrews 12:1-3 The liturgy of the leaves teaches us something about letting go as a spiritual practice that nourishes our understanding of Hebrews 12 v1-3. In the fall, toxic waste is secreted in the leaves that fall. If the trees don’t let go of this waste, the leaves […]
November 10, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Psalm 31, Matthew 5 The gift of lament in Psalm 31 is a reminder that we can openly call out and say that things aren’t as they should be. It reorients us towards the sermon on the mount where Jesus speaks to a community marginalized by both […]
November 3, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | 1 John 1:1-5, 1 Thess 4:13-18, Heb. 12:1-3 Abuelito John writes to a diverse community of churches in 1 John in the latter part of his life. He writes as an old man to churches that had not been eyewitnesses of Jesus, thus highlighting that they had […]
October 6, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Psalm 139 v1-16 Belonging begins IN our bodies and belonging is cultivated in community. The beginning of our belonging begins in the womb of God’s imagination and in the womb of our mothers who carried us. In Psalm 139 we see that Creator God who gave us […]
September 8, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Gen 16:7-16 Mother Hagar is the first human and first foreign woman to name God, the God who sees. This is in response to God naming her son, Ishmael, which means, God hears. She finds herself in a difficult predicament after being taken advantage of. Yet, God […]
August 25, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde
August 18, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Matthew 5:9 Pastora Inés grounds reconciliation in the work of Jesus on the cross in Ephesians 2:11-22. She centers peacemaking within the context of the upside kingdom of the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:9.
August 4, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Matthew 6:33 NRSV God is the author, architect, and arbiter of justice. From the Old Testament to the New, we see that God always has protested injustice and has preferential treatment for the marginalized. In the life and ethical work of Jesus, we are invited to live […]
July 7, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde The Holy Spirit is life, light and speaks a language. Pastora Inés gives an overview of how we see the power and presence of the Spirit as the 3rd person of the Trinity who was here from the beginning giving life-giving breath to all. We see the Spirit […]