By Ched Myers Priests and People (Cambridge, England). 8 pp. Trying to identify the “major themes” of the Bible can be a treacherous undertaking, given the vast breadth, depth and diversity of the scriptures. It is not, however, an impossible task. Christians quite naturally look to the Jesus story for help, rightly believing that this…
By Ched Myers Immaculate Heart of Mary Newsletter. 5 pp. Mark opens and closes his Passion narrative with stories of women who wish to ritually anoint Jesus for burial (14:3-9; 16:1ff). The function of this bracketing is to give the reader hope that, even though the male disciples abandon the Way of the cross, there…
By Ched Myers Accent/Good Courage. 2 pp. Be aware, sisters and brothers, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the seas, and all were baptized into Moses, in the cloud and in the sea. 1 Corinthians 10:1-2The first week of July, this past summer, brought me to Holden for the…
By Ched Myers Catholic Agitator, November 1996, 2 pp. The history of culture suggests that one of the most primal human impulses is to try to institutionalize the divine presence in a sacred place, a shrine, or a cult. When such sites are established, a second impulse invariably follows: the cult becomes identified with political…
By Ched Myers The Other Side. 5 pp. “This is my body” should lie at the heart of our liturgy— and at the heart of our politics. We have arrived again at the quadrennial rite we call presidential elections. Like so many liturgical forms, the ritual remains long after the substance behind it has atrophied.By…
By Ched Myers Catholic Agitator, August 1996. 2 pp. At that time Mark wrote his gospel, the restoration of the great Second Judean Temple had recently been completed, a huge project begun almost a century earlier under the native tyrant, Herod the Great. This temple was a magnificent structure, considered one of the architectural wonders…
By Ched Myers The Witness, July-August, 1996, 2 pp. Most of us in the U.S. suffer from a profound alienation from history. In our imperial culture, inconvenient historical narratives have tended to be silenced while legitmating narratives have been mystified. We live with a peculiarly unaccountable, if not amnesiac, relationship toward the past. Whether we…
By Ched Myers Orbis, 1996. 2 pp. The historical problem of violence continues to be the most pressing issue of our time. This is evident by any index: the spread of the international arms trade war of urban gang-banging; our fascination with vicarious brutality, from cinema vérité to celebrity murder cases; or the epidemic levels…
by Ched Myers with Marie Dennis, Joseph Nangle, Cynthia Moe-Lobeda and Stuart Taylor: $25.00. Email BCM to PURCHASE A popular version of Ched’s “Binding the Strong Man” combined with reflections on the contemporary relevance of Mark’s text to today’s context. Ideal for study groups. Paper, 240pp, bibliography & appendices. Orbis Books.
By Ched Myers In Apostle of Peace: Essays in Honor of Daniel Berrigan, Orbis Books, 1996. 4 pp. I wish to reflect on Daniel Berrigan’s contribution to my understanding of how to reach and teach and live the Bible. If my appreciation seems like a eulogy, it is because I believe that good words about those…