Most Recent Posts
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Starting the Great Fast
Ash Wednesday: Joel 2:12-18, 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18. Like a thief in the night, Lent is here. I am tempted to think, “Must I again pare down my pleasures so soon?” Maybe the start of the year was hard for us. Maybe we feel like it’s been several hard years in a row.…
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The Dawn from on High
Thursday in the 4th Week of Advent: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16, Luke 1:67-79. Christmas Eve! Ah, the Dickensian glow that illuminates my image of this day. It’s the day of antique sweets in lamp-lit Victorian windows, snowball fights and sledding, and the night Scrooge finds a heart. But this Christmas Eve of my…
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Amazing Portents
Wednesday in the 4th Week of Advent: Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24, Luke 1:57-66. At Penn State University where I attended college, a grand, elm-lined pedestrian walkway called Pattee Mall leads from College Ave all the way up to the library. Classroom buildings line the 0.3-mile stretch, and it is after one of these — the particularly…
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Maidservants, Rejoice!
Tuesday in the 4th Week of Advent: 1 Samuel 1:24-28, Luke 1:46-56. As we approach our great day of rejoicing, the significance of our readings and the weight of salvation history build and magnify. We have been holding our breath, waiting for the Christ child to burst into the world, and these readings hit us…
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On Recognition
Monday in the 4th Week of Advent: Song of Solomon 2:8-14, Luke 1:35-49. How would you recognize Jesus if He stood in front of you? This is a common enough prompt from preachers, although theologically it seems to hold no water. What I mean is that we hear a lot about Jesus’s second coming in…
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A House for the Lord to Dwell
The 4th Sunday of Advent: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16, Luke 1:26-38. Today we are asked to witness the scope of God’s plan through the generations as He prepares a home for Himself in humanity. Can there be a better reminder that we owe all we have to God than today’s readings? He grants…
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“Fathering” the Word of God – Part II
Friday in the 3rd Week of Advent: Judges 13:2-7, 24-25a, Luke 1:5-25. On the heels of yesterday’s reflection of St. Joseph’s righteousness and exemplary acceptance of God’s plan for him, today’s readings give us the stories of two other scriptural fathers, 1,100 years apart, with stunning parallels. Neither father accepts God’s word to the extent…
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The Back-Seat Servitude of Fatherhood
Friday in the 3rd Week of Advent: Jeremiah 23:5-8, Matthew 1:18-25. Today’s readings provide us with further prophecy about the coming Messiah, but from Jeremiah rather than the Advent-friendly Isaiah. Jeremiah gives a unique name for Christ the Messiah: The Lord Our Righteousness. At least most translations phrase it this way, although our lectionary for…