Ellen B. Koneck

Feb 23, 2024 | commonwealmagazine.org | Ellen B. Koneck |César J. Baldelomar |Brad East |Paul Baumann

On this second Sunday of Lent, we have a set of readings on dead sons. Beloved sons that die because they are beloved. At least that’s what Jon D. Levenson, an Old Testament scholar, suggests. He offers a compelling exegesis that to be beloved, in scripture, is really to be cursed. Think of Isaac, Joseph, Jesus.

May 2, 2023 | currentpub.com | Ellen B. Koneck |Natalie Carnes |Leah Libresco |Agnes R. Howard

Jennifer Banks’ book opens pathways and unveils vistasNatality: Toward a Philosophy of Birth by Jennifer Banks. W. W. Norton, 2023. 272 pp., $27.95Some books have the potential to change public discourse for the better. In this moment, when people on both sides of the political divide can agree that human life and dignity are under threat, a book on birth—natality—seems to be just the kind of book we need. *The hope for hopeEllen KoneckI was pregnant.

Feb 25, 2023 | commonwealmagazine.org | Ellen B. Koneck |Paul Moses |Austen Ivereigh |Robert Rubsam

I am thinking about hunger lately, and how to sate it. You could say I have that in common with both Eve and Jesus in the readings for this first Sunday in Lent. We’re hungry. In my case, I don’t even really mean metaphysically hungry. I mean I’m thinking about lunch. (I won’t speak for the two of them, who may have had a bit more on the mind, to be fair.) As a breastfeeding mother, I’m insatiable—at least as insatiable as my almost-nine-month-old.