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April 3, 2021 | By Andrew Raines
They have anointed his body with oil
And veiled his face like a bride.
They have laid him in Joseph’s tomb...
April 2, 2021 | By Jeremy Begbie
Many of us are haunted by the memory of a missed opportunity. Near the end of Graham Greene’s novel, The Power and the Glory, an old priest sits in his cell the night before his execution. He looks back over his life, thinking of all the things he could have done and should have done, could have said and should have said. As Greene has it, “He felt like someone who had missed happiness by seconds at an appointed place.”
April 1, 2021 | By John Daoud PM ‘21
Lent calls us to improve and deepen our relationship with the Lord in many ways. One such way is through an examination of his Passion. I have recently been drawn to the beautiful Passion hymn, “The Song of the Two Thieves.” The hymn finds its root in the Indian Orthodox churches and is originally in Malayalam. Translations may be found here and here. And of course, hymns are not meant to be read but rather chanted.
March 31, 2021 | By Shiwen Yeo MC ‘23
I grew up in a convent. People often joke that I seem nothing like a convent girl and are genuinely surprised whenever I say that I didn’t go to elementary school. And while I was not raised Catholic, I think that my convent years had a profound impact on my spiritual life, in little ways that really add up.
March 30, 2021 | By Ben Colon-Emeric TD ‘22
Could God microwave a burrito so hot that He Himself could not eat it? Despite the inherent silliness involved with placing God in the same sentence as the word “burrito,” this is the basic paradox of omnipotence. As soon as you place your faith in an omnipotent God, you have to believe that God can do anything; but what about things that are logically impossible?
March 29, 2021 | By Audrey Huang BR ‘21
I first heard about the season of Lent my freshman year at Yale. Beloved Jesus lived in the wilderness and was tempted by Satan for 40 days, I heard from the pews. Thus, we mimic His fasting, we ritualize mourning, and we teach our bodies to long for Easter celebration. We learn about wilderness through the pages of a book and spiritual disciplines, like children rehearsing escape plans during school fire drills.
March 28, 2021 | By Brandon Cobb
21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
March 23, 2021 | Jason Lee TD ‘22+1
Repentance, cloaked not in Eden’s leaves, but the words of others, which are more familiar, and less agonizing to order, than any I could write myself.
“I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
Genesis 3:10
March 26, 2021 | By Barkotel Zemenu GH ‘24
During winter break, I was in a book group for first years at Yale Students for Christ (YSC). It was the only major YSC activity I was doing, yet it ended up being the most rewarding experience of my entire break. The book we read, The Return of the Prodigal Son, was based on Jesus’ famous parable.
March 24, 2021 | By Frances Boggs
Fiat mihi—such a small phrase, and yet it changed the course of the world. Mary’s two words allowed for Christ to enter into our lives in a very real way. Through this small phrase, Mary opened the door for salvation to enter into the world. With her humble obedience, she became the mother of God and not for her own sake.
March 24, 2021 | By Katherine Matsukawa BK ‘23
I pray that I will decrease and that you will increase.
Use me, Lord.
Your will be done.
Growing up, whenever I heard someone pray these words, I’d typically think, good for them...but I could never pray those things sincerely.
March 23, 2021 | By Joe Brownsberger SM ‘21
Jesus said to the crowds: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a great contra dance in an enormous hall. As the guests filed into the hall, the musicians struck up the tune and the caller began calling out the steps of the dance. A few people took to the floor, and seeing them, many others soon joined them.
March 22, 2021 | By Bella Gamboa JE ‘22
Sorrow is a particularly relevant emotion during Lent, all the more so in a Lenten season that marks a year of profound hardship. In my own life, I find that sorrow is quite an accessible emotion. I only occasionally experience the overflowing exuberance that I feel I ought to have as a Christian, as one who has eternal hope and salvation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ—the events which Christians eagerly and repentantly await throughout these forty days.
March 20, 2021 | By Andrew Forrester
So why all the doom and gloom? If our Lord and Savior really is risen, and our sins have really been forgiven, why should we be sorrowful at all? During Lent, our preparation for the joy we take in the day of the resurrection, should we not be joyful since we know what’s coming?
March 19, 2021 | By Jason Lee TD ‘22
Sometimes the good news does not feel like good news. My confession is that, sometimes, my faith redirects my daily resentments from an implacable universe to an impassive God. It is easier, sometimes, to believe our afflictions result from the wingbeats of several rather malicious butterflies than from the motion of a world watched by a loving deity. Many believers have told me that the former viewpoint is much lonelier than the latter.
March 18, 2021 | By Hannah Turner BK ‘23+.5
This past year was not just different because I unexpectedly lived in my childhood home for 10 months. This past year was different because I was living at home as an earnest, believing, practicing Christian. I was not the child, the sister, nor the friend that people remembered.
March 17, 2021 | By Daniel Chabeda ES ‘21
All four biblical accounts of Jesus Christ’s life on earth contain the story of a woman who poured ointment on Jesus. The narrative starts at a dinner party in the town of Bethany:
Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany... So they gave a dinner for him there…
March 16, 2021 | By Gabbi Zegers ‘21
“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth… For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 3:5-6,11
March 15, 2021 | By Ashley Talton BR ‘23
Growing up in a traditional Southern Baptist church, I heard hymns played on the piano every Sunday. Although I tend to prefer modern Christian music, lately I’ve been remembering to appreciate the beauty of hymns that Christians have sung for hundreds of years.
March 13, 2021 | By Ally Eidemueller BK ‘22
Today, let us reflect on Matthew 20:29-34:
“As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. There were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” The crowd sternly ordered them to be quiet; but they shouted even more loudly…
March 12, 2021 | By Tommy Schacht PC ‘21
Lent is a season of penance. We seek to imitate Christ in the desert, in preparation for his Crucifixion and Resurrection. We seek mortification not out of pride or self-regard, but to better submit ourselves to God.
March 11, 2021 | By Justin Ferrugia TD ‘23+1
Lent is a quarantine—literally. The word “quarantine” comes from the Italian expression for the period in which any ship sailing to Venice had to stay anchored away from port during the time of plague. Quaranta Giorni: Forty Days.
March 10, 2021 | By Margot Armbruster
Content warning: This piece discusses disordered eating.
It’s Ash Wednesday, early and cold. I’m locking my bike outside the Duke Chapel, catching my breath through my mask, rubbing the feeling back into my fingers. I’m here to lead worship at this morning’s service.
March 9, 2021 | By Katie Painter TD ‘23
Squeezing my eyes shut, I crouched at the bottom of the staircase and placed my hands over my ears. My stomach clenched as warm, salty tears began to drop from my eyes. I drew my knees up to my chest and waited for silence to overtake the clamor of voices hurling acerbic words overhead.
March 8, 2021 | By Gabbi Zegers
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” Matthew 28:18-20
March 6, 2021 | By Shayley Martin DC ‘22
God wrote His law on my heart but it feels dry erase.
March 5, 2021 | By Matias Sur
Our Lenten journey is well underway, which is why I want to offer a quick reflection on the possible temptations that may arise—or may have already risen—in the middle of our respective paths toward Easter Sunday.
At the risk of being reductive, if you had to pick between these two persons reflecting on their Lenten journey, which would you pick?
March 4, 2021 | By Serena Riddle BF ‘21
Trigger warning: Suicide, self-harm
The ER was overbooked, as it tends to be these days, so I was put in one of many beds lining the hallway by the nurses’ station. From my position, I could see and hear the rest of the folks in my section, which gave me something else to meditate on for those 14 hectic hours other than my own miseries. Almost every patient around me was in for depression or suicidal ideation, too
March 3, 2021 | By Jordan Hepburn ‘21
About one in three adults in the United States don’t get enough sleep. Being a college student about to enter the workforce, I know my lifestyle matches really well with this statistic. Most adults, including myself, are tired, working long hours, and needing more sleep.
April 4, 2021 | By Serena Puang, DC ‘22 + 1
Happy Easter! He is Risen! It has been our honor to journey with you through Lent for the past seven weeks. I hope that wherever you are: whether at home or miles away, whether on fire for God or burnt out, you can take some time today to reflect on the miracle of the resurrection and its implications.