December 7/First Thursday of Advent The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house. And it fell – and great was its fall! ~ Matt 7.27 Failure to build on a strong foundation is inevitably a pathway to collapse, whether one is constructing a house or a faith life. The obvious and salutary…
Author: Betsy Cahill
Keeping Advent 4: Being There
December 6/First Wednesday of Advent Moving on from there Jesus walked by the sea of Galilee, and going up onto the mountain he sat down there. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them. ~ Matt 15.29 The Jesus…
Keeping Advent 3: Wise Guys
December 5/First Tuesday of Advent “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.” ~ Luke 10.21 No matter how many times I read this passage from Luke, it always makes me feel a bit defensive. What’s wrong with…
Keeping Advent 2: Higher Up
December 4/First Monday of Advent In days to come, the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills. ~ Isaiah 2.1 In the past year or so it has felt as if the world is unraveling. Global violence and terror, political division and social acrimony, storms and fires and floods, the…
Keeping Advent 1: Hiking Into Time
December 3/First Sunday of Advent Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. ~ Mark 13.33 A few Novembers ago, on my first trip to the Grand Canyon, my husband and I walked the South Rim, following the trail along the canyon’s top. When we reached the Bright Angel trailhead, he opted to stay on…
Keeping Advent 2024: Daily Reflections for the Advent Season
I will be offering Advent reflections again this year. These brief meditations, based on the lectionary, are accompanied by a prayer, a musical offering, and a link to the day’s readings. The reflections will begin on the first Sunday of Advent, December 1, and will conclude on Christmas Eve. If you or someone you know wishes to receive a daily…
Easter Day: A Hymn of Praise
Sunday, April 9Easter Sunday Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,for his mercy endures forever. ~ Ps 118.1 On this glorious Easter morning – glorious whatever the weather, which in my case is predicted to be a bit on the dreary side – as we rejoice in and celebrate the wondrous resurrection of Christ, I have some gratitude…
Song 40: Thresholds
April 8/Holy Saturday I set the LORD ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices, my body, too, abides in confidence.You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever. ~ Ps 16. 8, 9,…
Song 39: Words to Live By
April 7/Good Friday Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O faithful God. ~ Ps 31.6 To put our bodies into the skilled hands of a surgeon or a physical therapist is an act of trust, and an admission that we do not possess the knowledge, the experience, the power to heal ourselves on our own. …
Song 38: My Cup Runneth Over
April 6/Holy Thursday I will take up the cup of salvation, and will call on the name of the LORD. ~ Ps 116.13 On the eve of Christ’s gruesome, awful death upon the cross, we are invited, paradoxically, to lift up the cup of salvation. Given the events that will unfold this night — the Last Supper with the disciples’…