Month: December 2021

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, that he might redeem them who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons [Galatians 4:4-5, Douay-Rheims Bible (1750), ed./tr. by bishop Richard Challoner]. As I have mentioned within these weekly meditations on several occasions, I’m part of an active Bible Study that meets each Wednesday at 11 a.m., via Zoom. I haven’t cleared this with the group, but if anyone outside the Carolina Arbors community is interested in joining us online, I think we can accommodate you. In any event, we’re currently in Matthew…

Introductory note Our Dad, unlike his two brothers-in-law, was not a story-teller. And yet, one of my most vivid memories about him is how at some moment during the weeks just before Christmas—year after year after year—he would turn to us and say, “Boys, did I ever tell you about that Christmas in Sioux City?” We’d laugh, and as Mother smiled and looked at us, one of us would say, “Dad, you tell that same story every Christmas.” Over the years, the story became interactive. Since we knew the story so well, if he omitted a detail while telling it, we’d interject a comment here and there to supplement Dad’s…

First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all [Hebrews 10:8-10]. The Lectionary committee showed particular skill in joining the readings for this upcoming Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Advent (RCL, Year C). For example, the Psalter reading, Psalm 80:1-7, with its descriptive metaphors and…

Rejoice in the Lord always; I will say it again, Rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God [Philippians 4:4-6]. Waiting can be quite difficult for many, if not most of us. When I want to draw upon my strongest feelings about waiting, I reflect back to my freshman and sophomore years at Wake Forest, now more than 50 years ago. Then, before the completion of I-85 and the rest of the interstate highway system, it took me almost six hours to drive from Wake…

“By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” [Luke 1:78-79]. In Luke 1:68-79, the first of two Gospel readings appointed for this upcoming Sunday, the second Sunday of Advent RCL, Year C, Yahweh—God of the Impossible—is at it again. And yet, if we didn’t already know important parts of the story, we might think that nothing truly special is going on. To be sure, if we read the verses that precede this week’s lesson, we’d see that a…