St. Joseph is an important saint in my life. I first knew him, as most do, as simply the adopted father of Jesus. Hardly mentioned, hardly thought about. He helps Mary and then Mary and Jesus in their travels and then quietly disappears from the gospel story. Later, in ministry in the jail and on the streets, I came to know him as St. Joseph Terror of Demons. Finally, in the last few years through my work at Christ our Anchor I’ve come to know him as St. Joseph the Worker.
Read more...The second Sunday of Advent is, for me, when things start to feel real. When Advent truly starts.
In the first week, we’re still coming out of Thanksgiving, surprised we’re already in December, faced with blue after months of green, and thrown into remembering our place in the world, but not of it, as society begins feasting while we’re still reflecting and preparing.
In some ways, I wish we’d add a fifth week of Advent and just spend two weeks on the first readings. We read of the return of King Jesus, God making the world new, judgement, and hope. In the blur of it all, each year I feel like I don’t sit with that as long as I should.
Read more...A few years back I was walking through Opry Mills with Jennifer and the kids. It was early December, so the mall was decked out in all the trim and finish one would expect a palace to consumerism to have. As a Millennial, I’m three generations in to the sights and sounds of post WWII secular Christmas. It is the air I breath. It is the default. It comes and goes in my life expected, but also unnoticed, like July 4th and Halloween. The day after Thanksgiving it springs up as if out of nowhere and no one misses a beat when Kroger starts playing songs about magical snowmen instead of pop hits from the early aughts. That particular day, however, something did stand out to me. As I stood outside a store keeping Oliver moving in the stroller, I noticed a large display. Taking up the entire middle space where a pop-up store could go, were giant red sparkly letters all decorated for Christmas. They spelt out the word “believe.”
Read more...In mein Haus ist es kein Geheimnis dass ich kein Fan von den säkularen Weihnachten bin. Ich bin außerhalb der Kirche erwachsen. Als ich ein Kind war, liebte ich die Weihnachten. Die Musik. Die schönen Farben. Nostalgie für eine „bessere Zeit.“ Die Ideen von Freude, Familie, und Frieden. Und, natürlich, die Geschenke.
Aber dann, antwortete ich den Anruf Jesu. Die Weihnachten, kam ich zu verstehen, war nicht nur eine Erinnerung von einem netten Mann der schönen Sprüche ausgegeben hat und eine gute Lebensweise ausgeführt hat. Nein, die Weinachten waren ein Christliches Fest der Menschwerdung. Gott ist Mensch geworden. Gott hat zu uns gekommen! Die Welt und das All waren größer als ich je gewusst hat. Gott war echt. Gott kennt mich und — auch wenn er mich wirklich kennt — liebt er mich unbegrenzt und bedingungslos. Die Geburt Christi ist der Zeitpunkt wo alles verändert. Es ist der Augenblick wo das Wort Gottes Fleisch angenommen hat. Mein Fleisch. Dein Fleisch. Unser Fleisch. „Cur Deus homo?“/„Warum wurde Gott Mensch?“ fragte Heilige Anselm. Die Lösung fängt man mit den Weihnachten an zu finden.
Read more...In my home it is no secret that I am no fan of secular Christmas. I was raised outside the Church. When I was a kid, I loved Christmas. The music. The beautiful colors. Nostalgia for a “better time.” The idea of joy, family, and peace. And, naturally, presents.
But, then, I answered the call of Jesus. Christmas, I came to understand, was not just a remembrance of a nice man that gave out pretty sayings and showed an examplary way of life. Christmas was a Christian feast of the Incarnation. God became human. God came to us! The world and the universe were bigger than I had ever imagined. God was real. God knew me and — even when he really and truly knew me — he loved me unconstrained and unconditionally. The nativity is the moment where everything changed. It is the momement were the Word of God took on flesh. My flesh. Your flesh. Our flesh. “Cur Deus homo?”/“Why did God become Human?” asked St. Anselm. One begins to find the answer to that question with Christmas.
Read more...For the last several years, I’ve been trying to find a short and simple Advent liturgy to do each night around the advent-wreath. The family form of Evening Prayer from the 2019 Prayer Book is good, but it is still a little long for my very young children and still requires me to find short readings for each night. I wanted a resource that was short and simple for my young family, but still retained the character of the daily offices. This Advent I have finally found the perfect resource, The Season of Light by Jay Cormier.
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