(First published December 25, 2013) After the first Christmas, the holiday took awhile to catch on. No one is sure exactly where Jesus was for his first birthday, the one where adults have a party and laugh at the silly things the child does with cake. It is possible, of course, that the “uncles” from […]

I keep having arguments in my head about where to find Saint John of the mall. I can’t decide where to look when it’s time to think about Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. Because the obvious place to look is the big fountain, outside J.C. Penney. I found him there once before. But when I think about […]

“Do you ever feel like a stuffed sheep?”Saint John of the mall said. It was the strangest question for the week before Christmas. Actually, it’s a strange question for any time. But I struggled to make sense of what he was asking. My head was full of thoughts about the gift list (Is there enough? […]

(continued from yesterday) “Whatever,” I said. “Second question: why did Jesus avoid being made king by the crowd? Isn’t that what he came for?” Saint John of the Mall leaned forward. “That’s a good question, and fairly simple to answer. They wanted to make Jesus king by force. They wanted to make him king rather […]