April 7, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Luke 24:36-43 After the revelation at the table at the end of the road to Emmaus, Jesus again appears to his disciples and introduces himself saying, “Peace be with you”. Through a wordcloud exercise, Pastora Inés invites our congregations to a communal reflection of Scripture asking what […]
March 31, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Luke 24:28-35 After the resurrection, Jesus goes searching for his friends and listens to their dashed hopes on the road to Emmaus. The disciples don’t recognize him until he takes the bread, gives thanks, and shares it. Resurrection is a road and a ritual where Jesus’ presence […]
March 3, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | John 6:1-14 In the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, if we count women and children, Jesus actually fed about 15,000+. Jesus sees the marginalized and hungry crowds and invites his disciples to provide. A young boy brings his sack lunch that maybe his mom baked […]
February 18, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | John 6:25-36 THE VOICE translation Pastora Inés introduces us to our Lent series: Bread and Body which will carry us all the way to Easter. In this story, Jesus invites us to the tables that he sets and calls himself the “bread of life”. As we enter […]
January 28, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Mark 4:1-10 In the parable of the sower, Jesus invites the conditions that would make the seed of the Word to remain, take root, sprout, and bring forth fruit. Soils need sustainable rhythms to receive this word. Instead of asking “What soil am I?” perhaps our agency invites […]
December 17, 2023 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Ruth 4:11-12 → Luke 1:46-55 Mother Ruth secures the steps and seeds of the Messiah and we hear echoes of her hope in Mary’s Magnificat. Our very own Nicola Patton re-writes Mary’s Magnificat in Ruth’s voice. We linger in Mary’s words. She speaks from her soul. She […]
December 3, 2023 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Ruth 2:8-12 NRSV In Ruth 2, we observe that the steps of Ruth plant the seeds of the Messiah and prepare the way for the Messiah. Mother Ruth, a foreign Moabite woman steps into the field of prophetic promise where God has been cultivating a path of shalom […]
November 5, 2023 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Ruth 1:16-18 Migration is a means of God’s love and God’s company. In the story of Comadre Ruth and Naomi, we see the embodied hesed love of God in the friendship vows that Ruth makes to Naomi in times of crisis and duress. Comadre Ruth did not know […]
August 6, 2023 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | 1 Cor. 12:4-14 (NRSV) Paul reminds the Corinthian believers that God has dispensed power from above for them to live the resurrected life. This same Spirit grants individual spiritual gifts that are meant for the common good and to edify the body. Lastly, this power is power […]
July 23, 2023 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | 2 Cor. 2:14-17 Christ is sufficient and the Spirit is supreme to make us competent to fulfill our calling. In Christ, we are empowered to be the aroma of Christ and sometimes, well, Jesus smells like a mango empanada.