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...You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.
These two commandments here are pretty interesting. I think it shows the two tendencies that most people generally fall into. Some people seem to want to focus on the Divine and coming to know God. Prayer, meditation, contemplation, deep thought — these are all favored activities. Others, like to dig into doing. Penance, acts of mercy, protest — these tasks make them happy and feel closer to godliness. Heady piety versus works — it is the age-old struggle.
Read more...“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19 (RSV)
In this room alone, how many sermons have we heard on this passage? Dozens? Maybe even hundreds? And, yet, these words are impactful each time. Why?
There are two main reasons, I think. The first is guilt. The second is hope.
For many people, their hearts sink at hearing this passage. They remember times they were called by Christ, but did not listen. They have guilt. They have anxiety. They worry they might again, maybe even in this moment, be confronted with another call. Again, they might have to decide to answer God’s call or to ignore it.
Read more...Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
Nailed to a cross, bleeding, hurting, mocked, physically suffering for hours, Jesus breaks his silence.
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
On the cross, dying for the treason of being a Messiah when he was truly so much more. Jesus, in his greatest moment of terror continues to identify with humanity; with us; with you; with me; yes, even with them.
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