Saturday after Ash Wednesday: Isaiah 58:9b-14, Luke 5:27-32. God shows us in todays’ readings His great desire to redeem us. Consider how different our God is from the gods in classical Greek culture or the nature-oriented gods of other pagan cultures. These deities have either complex personal, selfish desires that …
Friday after Ash Wednesday: Isaiah 58:1-9a, Matthew 9:14-15. Today’s readings cast some doubt on fasting, and it’s worth digging into them to understand the teaching God delivers to us. The verses from Isaiah are some of the longest in the Old Testament dealing with fasting. This chapter in Isaiah tackles …
Thursday after Ash Wednesday: Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Luke 9:22-25. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells us plainly that to follow him has a personal cost, that a person must “deny himself and take up his cross daily.” This saying is familiar to most Christians, although most believers I know are more …
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. So soon, I am tempted to think, must I again pare down my pleasures? On the heels of a pandemic year where we all felt penned in and constrained, Lent can …
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 …
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. Buildings holding classrooms line the 0.3-mile stretch, and it is after …
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 import of salvation history build and grow thick. We have been holding our breath, waiting for the Christ child to burst into the …
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 …
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 …
Saturday 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 …
