Vox Veniae Podcast

Shifting Our Gaze

Where might you be misperceiving God’s intent in your life? On this fourth Sunday of Lent, Kimberly Culbertson considers how we navigate challenging seasons by looking at the story of the Hebrews wandering in the wilderness. [Numbers 21:5-9]

Reflection

• How has God carried you through times of trouble?
• Where might you be “looking at snakes” and misperceiving God’s intent towards you?
• How might God be steadying you through a season of change even now?

Letting Go of Harmful Power

What is your relationship to power and authority? On this third Sunday of Lent, Weylin Lee invites us to disrupt oppressive systems, embody our anger through protest, and reimagine decentralized power in light of the story of Jesus' confrontation in the temple. [John 2:13-22]

 

Reflection

• How are we revealing and disrupting oppressive systems?
• How are we connecting with and expressing our passions as a form of protest?
• How are we reimagining ways of decentralizing power and removing gatekeeping?

 

Resources

1. Book: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
2. Film: Origin Written and directed by Ava DuVernay

Book: Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames by Thich Nhat Hanh

Reorienting Our Rule of Lent

How might we name the need for and create a different set of practices, as well as theological and communal pathways according to our uniquenesses? On this second Sunday of Lent, Christopher Mack interrogates a one-size fits all spirituality and invites us to “begin again, again” this season. [Romans 4:13-15, 18-22]

 

Reflection

• What might respecting how the Divine Creator has made you look like on this lenten journey?
• How might you incorporate learning from someone else’s perspective into your lenten experience?
• Where might you need healing from a one-sized fits all approach to the spiritual journey?

Resources

1. Book: Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
2. Article: Faith: Instead of giving up something for Lent, what if we gave something to the community? by Josh Kulak https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2024/02/20/faith-give-something-to-the-community-for-lent/72661308007/
3. Webpage: Ash Wednesday & Lent Resources https://voxveniae.com/2024/02/ash-wednesday-liturgy-resources/

A Movement of Faith

What have you embraced with your time and attention that is weighing you down? On this first Sunday of Lent, Vanessa Maleare compares the poetic psalms to the stories we tell and how each of us uniquely hears them in light of the story of our Christian faith. [Psalm 25:1-10]

Reflection

• Is there something to which you give your time and effort, that hurts you?
• What is something that would bring you more life, that could occupy that space instead?

Ash Wednesday

On this Ash Wednesday, Christopher Mack, Caroline Cody, Vanessa Maleare, and Weylin Lee invite you into a practice that is an amalgamation of a sacred reading and an examen. After a short reflection, they read a few verses of our passage at a time as we intentionally listen to the conversation between the text and our lives as we begin this 40 day journey of Lent together. 

 [2 Corinthians 6:1-10]

 

Reflection

• We are God’s co-workers, not the Most High’s minions nor the Almighty’s underlings. We participate in God’s salvific liberation with a posture of  “power with” rather than “power over.” How might you, as a Divine co-laborer,  reflect this participatory power this lent?
• What might this Divine co-laborer relationship be asking of us? What might it cost us in this season?
• We are invited here to participate in work in all states of being alongside our divine partner. This work can be joyful and strenuous. What might that consistent labor look like for you in this season? What emotions does this bring up in you?
• Where are the glimpses of hope that we are noticing that are emerging alongside the seasons of loss and grief?  How are we invited to hold both of those simultaneously in tension with each other?

What is Your Voice?

What is possible when we speak boldly, listen intently, and connect expectantly? On the sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Brandon Kinder facilitates a panel discussion with YanHao Wong and Emily Galusha to reflect on their artwork in our Vesper art show “What Is Your Voice?” They discuss connections to spirituality and how artistic creativity is an exploration of finding our voice in the world. [Mark 9:2-8]

Reflection

• Is there a piece of art that inspires you to find your voice?
• How have awe and wonder inspired your own creativity? 
• How does creativity fuel our inner healing and outer work of peacemaking and justice bringing?

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

Despite the evidence around us, how can we awaken to God’s posture of love and liberation for the earth? On the fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Virginia Cumberbatch names the disruption, disappointment and injustice we face, while guiding us to the liberation movements of acknowledging, awakening, and anticipating God’s loving presence all around us and our world. [Isaiah 40:21-31]

Reflection

• How might we renew our strength, our faith, in the midst?
• How can the uncertainty or mystery of our human condition embolden us in our collective purpose for equity and liberation?
• How can we entrust the big, the unknown, the scary to God’s hands?

Resources

Book: Shoutin’ In the Fire: An American Epistle by Dante Stewart

 

What is Our Discernment Rooted In?

How has pride in our knowledge limited our ability to love? On the fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Weylin Lee invites us into a practice of discernment rooted in mutuality that respects difference, embodied contemplation, and a freedom that protects the vulnerable. [1 Corinthians 8:1-6]

 

Reflection

• Where does knowledge limit and hinder our posture and practice of love and mutuality?
• What is our invitation to consider meaningful relationships with those beyond our own comfort and alignment?
• What does a nonviolent practice of empathy look like as we hold space for difference?

Resources

Book: This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us by Cole Arthur Riley

The Gospel is a Message Best Served Whole

How might we creatively embody good news toward our enemies? On this third Sunday after Epiphany, Christopher Mack glimpses Divine Love enveloping our pain, extending toward our enemies, and shifting our perspective through the story of Jonah.  [Jonah 3:1-5, 10]

Reflection

• Is there somewhere pain has you locked in a cycle that isn’t working? 
• Where might God’s Love invite you to shift your perspective?
• What might it mean to show up wholly for yourself and others?

The Good Work

Homily: The Good Work

What stories and beliefs did you inherit about sexuality? On this second Sunday after Epiphany, Kimberly Culbertson invites us to question and explore our inherited beliefs and practice, in light of Paul’s paradigm of the good and beneficial.  [1 Corinthians 6:12-13]

 

Reflection

• As you consider the work of being human, can you begin to prayerfully ask God, “Is this beneficial? Or is this destructive in some way?” 
• How can you lean into community as you discern right actions for your life? 
•  We are members of one another. How is your life helping your communities to thrive

The Epiphany Society

Can you recall a life realization that in retrospect appeared glaringly obvious? On this first Sunday after Epiphany, Lilly Ettinger invites us to wonder at God’s radical inclusion and how it invites the formation of a Beloved Community experiencing rescue and restoration.  [Isaiah 60:1-6]

Reflection

• Where might you “lift your eyes” and see the world around you?
• Is there a place where you once felt like you didn’t belong but now do?
•  What changed? What needs to change?

 

You Belong Here

Who do you know that gives really good hugs? On this Fifth Sunday, Vanessa Maleare leads the Wonder Moment for our New Year’s Eve liturgy and brunch. She invites children of all ages to remember and reside in our beloved belonging. [Galatians 4:4-7]

Advent: Glimpses of Grace

What are the glimpses of hope, peace, joy, and love that we are invited to notice and hold with us? On the Friday before Christmas, Weylin Lee looks back on our year through both a global and local lens, before inviting us to practice sacred reading or lectio divina to glimpse grace in our own lives. [Luke 2:13-20]

Resource

• Practice: Vox Lectio Divina Guide 
• https://voxveniae.com/lectio-divina/

Advent: Joy of Being Remembered

Homily: The Joy of Remembering

When have you been surprised by joy? On the third Sunday of Advent, Christopher Mack ponders how Mary and Elizabeth found deep joy in challenging circumstances through gratitude, kindness, peacemaking, and solidarity. [Luke 1:46-56]

Reflection

• How might I cultivate joy by practicing gratitude this week?
• Is there a person or situation where I might choose kindness and generosity?
• Where can I seek out community and practice solidarity for the road ahead?

Resources

Commentary: Luke 1-9 (Wisdom Commentary Series)  by Shelly Matthews and Barbara Reid

Advent: Preparing for Peace

How are we preparing to embody the peace of Christ and live as peacemakers? On the second Sunday of Advent, Weylin Lee connects peacemaking to the practices of rehumanizing others,   Being present to decentered places, and adopting a posture of consent. [Mark 1:1-8]

 

Reflection

• How is love helping me hold on?
• Which parts of life feel like caterpillar soup?
• How am I inviting my community to come near? 

Resources

1. Article: Welcoming Prayer  by Contemplative Outreach  https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/welcoming-prayer-method/
2. Poem: Shalom, Her Magnetic Heart Than by Kaitlin Curtice https://www.kaitlincurtice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Curtice_poems.pdf

Advent: Hope

What helps you hold on? On the first Sunday of Advent, Gena St. David wades into the wilderness to grasp onto hope in these challenging times. [1 Corinthians 1:3-7]

Reflection

• How is love helping me hold on?
• Which parts of life feel like caterpillar soup?
• How am I inviting my community to come near? 

Resources

1. Instagram: @blackliturgies by Cole Arthur Riley
2. Article: The Three Elements of Self Compassion by Kristin Neff https://self-compassion.org/the-three-elements-of-self-compassion-2/ 

 Podcast: Swearing Is More Important Than You Think by Freakonomics https://freakonomics.com/podcast/swearing-is-more-important-than-you-think/

Indivisible from Justice for All

How might we re-imagine God’s justice in a restorative framework rather than a primarily punitive one? On Christ the King Sunday, Christopher Mack reexamines scriptures on God’s justice and judgment through a lens of nonviolent theology and restorative justice. [Matthew 25:31-40]

Reflection

• Where are you struggling to see God at work in our divisive, violent, over-consumptive, and destructive world?
• When you long for God to be at work in the world, what values or actions do you hope for?
• How might our hunger for justice reshape our baggage of images of God’s judgment?

Resources

• Book: Raising Abel: The Recovery of the Eschatological Imagination by James Alison

Finding Wisdom

Finding Wisdom

What does wisdom mean to you? Gena St. David glimpses the wisdom of nature as shared through life, trees, and rain. We are invited to consider how we might find spiritual wisdom in the cycle of connection, disconnection, and reconnection embodied in nature and the life of Jesus. [Proverbs 3:13-20]

Reflection

• What wisdom have you learned by observing patterns in nature?
• Where am I currently working against the wisdom of nature?
• What does nature teach me about the wisdom of Love?

Resources

• Book: On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old by Parker Palmer
• Meditation: “Personal Weather Report” from Sitting Still Like a Frog by Eline Snell

Let’s Not Do This

Let’s Not Do This

When you think about your story of faith, is there a season where you felt especially burdened by the teachings and ideas around you? Kimberly Culbertson follows up her October 1st message, “Rethinking Priesthood” with a reminder of three areas, Problematic Sexual Ethic, Religious Responsibility, and Disregard for Self, where we should reconsider how religious leaders have set limitations to reinforce their own power instead of offering mercy to the marginalized. [Matthew 23:1-5]

Reflection

• What burden might God be trying to lift from your shoulders this morning?
• What burdensome expectation for others might God be calling you to release?
• How might you lean into the “rest for your soul” that Jesus promises?

God Loves Every Part

God Loves Every Part

What does a hug from God feel like? On this Fifth Sunday, Vanessa Maleare, leads our entire community, including our younger ones from Greenhouse and Zamyn, in a wonder moment. She reminds us that God loves us holistically, including our being, thoughts, and feelings [Genesis 1:1-5, 26-27, 31]

 

Reflection

• Which song or breath practice might you deepen?
• Where do you desire to feel more free?
• How might song or breath help you decide to wait or move?

Resources

• Film: Inside Out by Disney’s Pixar
• Poem: Broken Record by Michael Moynahan SJ