Mark MacDonald

ARTICLES

The force of truth

In the past few weeks, many have expressed concern about the Uyghurs of China, appropriately describing the Chinese government’s actions as genocide. Although I feel too little attention has been paid to this horrendous crime, it has eclipsed—along with truckers, Ukraine, and the latest celebrity shenanigans—the 54 potential grave sites found on Keeseekoose First Nation.

Mercy

This is written as we are learning of the discovery of 93 potential burial sites associated with the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School that operated at Williams Lake First Nation, B.C., from 1886 to 1981. Many of us feel a grief painfully amplified by the gradual but noticeable disappearance of residential school grave discoveries from public consideration and conversation.

Choosing life over consumption in a time of crisis

“Multitudes [upon] multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” (Joel 3:14) Whatever the original context of Joel’s prophecy, our time fits these words like no other.

The birth pains of a new world

“How are you doing in these strange times?” I hear it often. The word “strange” suggests we are in a time that is out of ordinary and hard to interpret. I would suggest, however, that this is a time that reveals something we have forgotten.

To find life on a day like this

For many years, I have been troubled by the inability of non-Indigenous people and institutions to receive and grasp the full reality of the pain and challenges of Indigenous life in this land. Statistics and stories are acknowledged with sympathy, but the realization of what this might mean seems completely elusive.

The rule and power of Jesus

When the early followers of Jesus proclaimed he was ruler of all things (“Jesus is Lord!”) they pointed towards an understanding of authority and power which seems far from the world we live in today—so far that some wonder if describing Jesus as the sovereign above all else is a contradiction of the character of his life and teaching.

Facing what is before us today

There are many things that can be said about the involvement of the colonial churches in the residential schools. Most clearly, that involvement was not as sheep among wolves.

Ordained for the whole church

If one does justice to the poor and destitute, then it is good; is this not knowing me?—the Word of the Lord. (Jeremiah 22:16) Since

Why do they talk about Jesus so much?

A wise and sensitive co-worker once approached me with a troubled look. She wondered why Indigenous elders who were so wise, tolerant and compassionate talked

Withered—and filled with power

“For in his power are the hidden mysteries of earth.” This translation by Rabbi Hillel Danziger of the first part of Verse 4 of Psalm 95 reveals a rabbinic insight about the presence of God’s energies and power in Creation.

Identity and idolatry

The apostle Paul says that “enemies of blood and flesh” (Ephesians 6:12) are not our greatest challenge in life.

May God’s name be holy

The first request of the Lord’s Prayer, directed towards God, also points towards your heart and our communal experience and practice of Christian faith.

Considering communion

A Eucharist that embraces a pandemic The pandemic has delivered uncomfortable restraints on the central act of our faith: the ceremony Jesus gave so that

Artifacts of the future

There are many things that make the Four Corners area of the southwestern United States a wonderful place. Among the most powerful is the constant

Looking around

Jesus said these words in the context of his encounter with a Samaritan woman.

As a way decays, a new way appears

When it comes to the life of the church, the love that the Holy Spirit moves in our hearts can be clearly identified in four

Photo: Kal Visuals/unsplash

Jesus on strategic planning

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.

Technocratic society and the world to come

Our descent into the reality of living in a pandemic has brought to my mind an early 1980s audio recording of a lecture by lay theologian William Stringfellow.

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