Thursday, December 5, 2019
Maybe you’ve seen or read or heard about the series of novels that depict life before and after the Rapture. This series and other books and media like it capitalize on our shared preoccupation with what is waiting on the other side.The Second Epistle of Peter helps...
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Oh, the cows of Bashan. Amos’s harsh words are classic in the canon of prophetic proclamation. Advent may be just the season to pause and notice what inspires his ire—and what it says about our own lives. Bashan is dense, rich pasture land east of the Jordan, between...
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
by Br Todd Aquinas van Alstyne, OP Like many children, I grew up hearing about and believing in Saint Nicholas. Different cultures have different stories, legends and myths about Saint Nicholas. Growing up in the Dutch tradition, he was called Sinterklaas. His season...
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
During this time of year, the world enjoys images of a meek and mild baby smiling at his mother. That is not the Jesus we encounter in today’s gospel. What are we to do with this angry young man? To start, we ought to listen to him. Jesus isn’t just angry—he is...
Saturday, November 30, 2019
The violin section is by far the largest cohort in a symphony orchestra, and it’s divided into two subsections: first violins and second violins. A young violinist may have to play “second fiddle” early in her or his career. Often, many career musicians have to accept...
Friday, November 29, 2019
When we encounter a grammatical adversative—yet, but, however, nonetheless—we are tempted to discount everything that comes before it, particularly if what follows the adversative seems more appealing.There is a branch of Christian theology known as apologetics—the...
Thursday, November 28, 2019
In John’s Gospel, there is no account of the institution of the eucharist at the Last Supper. But John’s sixth chapter, the Bread of Life discourse, is no less eucharistic than the institution narratives in the other gospels.Through ordinary elements of ….(View...
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
As a child, I learned about a country called Yugoslavia. Children today learn instead about Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Kosovo. National identities suppressed by centuries of empire building and colonization have...
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Without denying the abundance of God’s grace or God’s ability to act independently of human will or human behavior, English clergyman Martin Thornton contends that our growth in the life of grace is something we can take responsibility for through persistent, repeated...
Monday, November 25, 2019
We often think of salvation in terms of the question, “Will I go to heaven when I die?” The word itself points to health and wholeness. (It’s the same root as the exclamation salud! when offering a toast.) Salvation also has meaning in the present. Notice...
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Division and enslavement by sin is the default human condition. It dogs us every day of our lives and at every level of our lives. It mars relationships between people in families, in local communities, among nations, and yes, even in churches. In the collect for...
Saturday, November 23, 2019
The biblical authors employ a wide variety of images and metaphors for how God is or what God is like or how things will be when they are made right, but the descriptions only serve to whet our appetite for what lies ahead. One of Isaiah’s favorite metaphors for this...
