On this first weekday of Advent, we pray that when the Lord comes and knocks, we shall be found “watchful in prayer.” To be in prayer is to be awake and watchful in a way far more truly and distinctively human than the way we are present to life much of the time. In today’s gospel Jesus exclaims to his disciples that in no person in Israel has he found the faith that the centurion manifests. For what Jesus experiences among his own people is what he well may experience among his church today when he comes. He may find…[read more]
“Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen I say to you. I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour!” Matthew 25: 11-13 For me, some of the most frightening words of the scriptures are…[read more]
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God, have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” John 14: 1-2 I can’t recall when or where it…[read more]
It is clear in the familiar passage from Matthew 25 that the difference between the blessed and the chastened is a matter of awareness. The awareness that distinguishes them is not an awareness of the Lord’s presence, for neither group was aware of on the one hand serving the Lord and on the other failing to serve the Lord. Rather the differing awareness was that of recognizing and responding to the need of other human persons. To read today’s passage in the context of the entirety of Matthew 25 is to recognize that the whole chapter is a reflection on…[read more]
Since you have purified yourselves by obedience to the truth for sincere brotherly love, love one another intensely from a pure heart. 1 Peter 1:22 Jesus summoned them and said to them “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority…[read more]
Recent Comments