Image: Jorge Bautista Dear Beloved Community,    This Sunday’s scripture is John 2:13–25, alongside Mary Oliver’s “Where Does the Temple Begin, Where Does It End?” We’ll reflect on Jesus’ fierce response to what’s happening in the temple, and what that reveals about love, holiness, and justice. Together we’ll ask: Where is sacred space today? Is it only inside a sanctuary, or does it extend into creation. Into the trees, the birds, the sky? And if Jesus points to the temple as his own body,...

Image: Jorge Bautista Dear Beloved Community,    This Sunday we’ll reflect on Mark 1:9–15 alongside Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese.” In Mark’s gospel, Jesus begins not with a list of achievements, but with baptism, and a voice of belonging: “You are my beloved.” Before Jesus preaches or proves anything, God names him as loved. And then, surprisingly, the Spirit drives him into the wilderness, reminding us that hard seasons are not signs of failure, but places where truth is faced and grace...

Image: Jorge Bautista Dear Beloved Community,  This Sunday’s gospel, coming from Matthew 5:13-20, holds a surprising kind of comfort: Jesus doesn’t tell us to become salt and light. He names what is already true. “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.” And here’s the good news: salt can’t actually lose its saltiness. You can crush it, dissolve it, scatter it—after everything, it’s still salt. In the same way, nothing can take away the God-given “flavor” in you, no...