Ignatius of Antioch, from the 2nd Century, penned this: A star burned in the sky more brightly than all the others; its light was indescribable, its newness marvelous, and all the other stars, along with the sun and the moon, formed a chorus around this star, the light of which reached father than that of … Continue reading Advent Devotional: Tuesday, January 6: Epiphany!
Tonight you should invite someone over for dinner. No, seriously. Have a twelfth night party, play host or hostess, and have someone for dinner in your house as the Holy Family welcomed the Magi. Then sit around the table, eat, and learn from them. Share wisdom together. Share this sacred space together. And if you … Continue reading Advent Devotional: Monday, January 5: Twelfth Day of Christmas
Today we’d be expecting the eleven pipers piping, according to that old carol “The 12 Days of Christmas.” That carol seems to take forever to get through most days. By now you’re tired of Christmas music anyway, right? If there’s one thing I lament about our current Christmas practice it is not that it starts … Continue reading Advent Devotional: Sunday, January 4: Eleventh Day of Christmas
In these days we lean more away from the Christmas event itself, the birth, and more toward what it means. We lean away from the stable and toward the star, like those Magi in Matthew’s Gospel, who search for wisdom in the sand of Palestine. Our life is like this, right? We’re caught between an … Continue reading Advent Devotional: Saturday, January 3: Tenth Day of Christmas
The Roman Rite for this Christmas week has a lovely verse to be said at prayer, When peaceful silence lay over all, and the night had run half of her swift course, your all-powerful word, O Lord, leaped down from heaven, from the royal throne. I love and imagine the almost hushed tones that this … Continue reading Advent Devotional: Friday, January 2: Ninth Day of Christmas
Blessed New Year! A funny story about January 1st… Liturgically this date for a long time had no importance for the Christian church. The day was originally intended to celebrate Janus, the Roman god who faced two directions. It encouraged much revelry and license…and still does for many. But the church rejected the holiday as … Continue reading Advent Devotional: Thursday, January 1: New Year’s Day and the Holy Name of Jesus
Read Revelation 21:3-5 The idea of things being made new again is compelling, isn’t it? We get to start over. We get a clean slate. That’s sometimes how I feel about the new year. We mark the end of one year, and the start of another. We finish the chapter and close the book on … Continue reading Advent Devotional: Wednesday, December 31: Seventh Day of Christmas
The time after Christmas has begun to feel strange to me recently. In this new life I find myself in, there’s not much of a break. The church doesn’t exactly “take off” for the week. Life still goes on. People still have questions, still have concerns, still end up in the hospital, still have life … Continue reading Advent Devotional: Tuesday, December 30: Sixth Day of Christmas
Thomas Becket was born in 1118, studied in Paris, and became a member of the household of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury. He was sent abroad to study at seminary and was ordained a deacon and made archdeacon in 1154. In his position as chancellor of England, Thomas lived extravagantly and found great favor with King … Continue reading Advent Devotional: Monday, December 29: Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr, 1170
The commemoration of the Holy Innocents was introduced to the calendar early in the life of the church, yet there remains uneasiness about its observance. You can understand why; Christmas is a joyous time, a time to remember Jesus in his infancy, perfect and innocent. And yet, this is precisely why the commemoration of the … Continue reading Advent Devotional: Sunday, December 28: Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs
the narrow way 