From Season to Season

All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee. —Mark 1:27-28 When many people hear the word “prophet,” they imagine someone who is essentially a divinely sanctioned fortune-teller. But, if we look at the full story of salvation as it is presented in the Bible, we recognize that prophets were just as concerned with the here and now as they were with the world to come. In fact, it was the prophets’ special mission to help the people recognize the truth about themselves and the world around them, especially calling them to the see how their words and actions impacted their relationships with God and others what the consequences of those words and actions might be. Prophets told the truth. Because of this, prophets were often hated, especially by people in power.   "Moses" by Michelangelo Buanarroti in the Church of San ...

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert:  “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. —Mark 1:2-4 Advent is a complicated season. I’m tempted to say that this is the most complex season of the Church Year. Advent presumes that we Christians have been formed in an adult faith that is prepared to celebrate an adult Christmas. And, as we know, Advent isn’t a season that is focused only on the past, because this is the time we focus our attention on One who is among us right now and who will come in glory in the future. Although Advent is a season of hope, hope seems to be in short supply these days. So, as I was reflecting on this Sunday's readings , I thought about what hope might mean for our Church and the world. In this, I realized that I was making a mi...