They were all amazed and said to one another, “What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” Luke 4: 36 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand the things…[read more]
And so, while the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, here are we preaching a crucified Christ; to the Jews an obstacle that they cannot get over, to the pagans madness, but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power and the…[read more]
. . . to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. 1 Corinthians 1: 2 Every day I will bless you and I will praise your name for ever and ever. Great…[read more]
Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” John 1: 45 The opening of today’s gospel reading for the Feast of St. Bartholomew begins with a description of the encounter between Philip and Nathanael, whom…[read more]
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and you have neglected the weightier matters of the Law—judgment and mercy and faith. These you should have done without neglecting those. Blind guides, you strain out the gnat and swallow the camel. Matthew 23: 23-4 The distinguished 20th century…[read more]
Knowing this, we pray continually that our God will make you worthy of his call, and by his power fulfill all your desires for goodness and complete all that you have been doing through faith; because in this way the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified in you and you in him,…[read more]
Elijah stepped out in front of all the people. “How long” he said “do you mean to hobble first on one leg than on the other? If Yahweh is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21 Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have…[read more]
She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year, and Elijah and her son as well; the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the Lord had foretold through Elijah. 1 Kings 17:15-6 Just so your light must shine before…[read more]
Blessed are the mourners, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5: 4 In a commentary on the character of Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, he psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz writes: Ultimately Scrooge changes because the ghosts unpick his delusion that you can live a life without loss. They undo his delusion by haunting…[read more]
I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest, says the Lord God. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy, shepherding them rightly. Ezechiel 34: 15-6 Indeed…[read more]
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