Month: December 2022

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod [Matthew 2:13-15a]. We had a post-Christmas ritual in the household of my youth that I silently despised. On the 27th or 28th of December each year, Mother would pack away all vestiges of Christmas and have several…

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger” [Luke 2:…

Look, the young woman shall become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means, God is with us [Isaiah 7:14b, Matthew 1:23, NRSV]. Some years ago, a friend and I were engaged in a discussion related to Paul’s “Corinthian correspondence.” Specifically, we were examining the initial chapter of Paul’s first letter to the gathering at Corinth. Within that chapter, Paul sets the context for his overall communication. My friend had honed in on a particular verse that, depending upon your translation, reads something like this: But we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles [1 Corinthians 1:23, NRSV].…

Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near [James 5:7-8]. Our Mother would sometimes repeat a story from her youth, a story that was played out similarly in many houses across rural America in the first half of the twentieth century. In 1934, a month or so before her 10th birthday in late November, her parents had given her a strict price limit—less than half a dollar—and…