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]
“If I give myself glory, my glory is nothing. It is my Father—of whom you say, ‘He is our God’—who gives me glory; and you have not known him, but I know him. And if I say I do not know him, I shall be a liar like you; rather, I know him and keep…[read more]
It is somewhat striking that in our time we speak so little, and even think so little, of an aspiration to become wise. For much of humanity’s history, cultures and societies would so desire to identify the wise persons among them and to seek their guidance. These would become revered by their society because of a sense that they knew something about the true significance and purpose of human life and, perhaps, could communicate this wisdom to others. Our society, on the other hand, reveres the wealthy and the powerful. If we look at who is given recognition and memorialization…[read more]
Day and night they never stopped exclaiming: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.” Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before…[read more]
With what shall I come before the Lord, / and bow before God most high? / Shall I come before him with burnt offering, / with calves a year old? / Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams / with myriad streams of oil? / Shall I give my first born for my…[read more]
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath. . . .If you knew what this meant, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.” Matthew, 12:2,8…[read more]
So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized at once. He brought them up into his house and provided a meal and with his household…[read more]
The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power the Apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all. There was no needy person among…[read more]
Thus says the Lord: This is what I commanded my people: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper. But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed. They walked in the hardness…[read more]
What occurred yesterday at the Boy Scout Jamboree, with not only the speaking of the President but the cabinet officers and other public figures laughing behind him, speaks to the action of the demonic when we are unable “to get out of the way.” The hundreds if not thousands of Boy Scouts were but props or objects for the President’s self-promotion.…[read more]
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]
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