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 ...

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. - Philippians 4:4-5; Entrance Antiphon for  the Third Sunday of Advent On this Third Sunday of Advent, the Church gives us a very particular mandate: Rejoice! And, during these pre-Christmas days, it seems that there is joy all around us. And yet, the essayist William Stringfellow makes a poignant observation that should give us pause: “For the greeting card sentiment and sermonic rhetoric, I do not think that much rejoicing happens around Christmastime, least of all about the coming of the Lord. There is, I notice, a lot of holiday frolicking, but that is not the same as rejoicing. In any case, maybe the outbursts of either frolicking and rejoicing are premature, if John the Baptist has credibility. He identifies repentance as the sentiment of Advent” (from Advent as a Penitential Season). The themes of judgment, repentance, and salvation preached by John the Baptist seem to be at odds with the spirit of C...

Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ. John answered them all saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people. —Luke 3:15-18 On this Third Sunday of Advent, the Church gives us a very particular mandate: Rejoice! And, during these pre-Christmas days, it seems that there is joy all around us. And yet, the essayist William Stringfellow makes a poignant observation that should give us pause: “For the greeting card sentiment and sermonic rhetoric, I do not think that much rejoicing happens around Christmastime, least of all about the coming of the Lord. There ...

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. - Philippians 4:4-5 Entrance Antiphon for the Third Sunday of Advent On this Third Sunday of Advent, the Church gives us a very specific mandate: Rejoice! And, during these pre-Christmas days, it seems that there is joy all around us. And yet, the words of the essayist William Stringfellow give us pause: “For the greeting card sentiment and sermonic rhetoric, I do not think that much rejoicing happens around Christmastime, least of all about the coming of the Lord. There is, I notice, a lot of holiday frolicking, but that is not the same as rejoicing. In any case, maybe the outbursts of either frolicking and rejoicing are premature, if John the Baptist has credibility. He identifies repentance as the sentiment of Advent” (from Advent as a Penitential Season ). Icon of St. John the Baptist, "Angel of the Desert" (17th century, Russia)   The themes of judgment, repentance, and salva...