December 9/Second Wednesday of Advent “Come to me, all you that are weary and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” ~ Matt 11.28 What are your burdens right now? There are the usual workaday worries — about the well-being of friends and family members, our job status, physical health, financial condition, spiritual state. The pandemic and the election…
Category: Keeping Advent
Keeping Advent 10: Seeking and Hiding
December 8/Second Tuesday of AdventFeast of the Immaculate Conception The Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” ~ Gen 3.9-10 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let…
Keeping Advent 9: Look Here!
December 7/Second Monday of Advent Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.” ~ Isa 35.3-4 Who among us in these parlous times would not admit to the occasional weak hands and feeble knees? Who among us has not experienced, if…
Keeping Advent 4: The Gift of Presence
December 2/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 15.29-30 A friend…
Keeping Advent 3: Wise Guys
December 1/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: Follow Me
November 30/First Monday of AdventFeast of Saint Andrew, Apostle Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ~ Matt. 4.18 On this Feast of St. Andrew, we can all produce a stack of reasons not to follow Christ — immediately or otherwise. So many of us are just hanging on as it is: trying to keep a job if we…
Keeping Advent 1: Readiness is All
November 29/First Sunday of Advent Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. ~ Mark 13.33 For many of us, the pandemic has scrambled our sense of time. The lockdowns, the straitjacket of routine, the monotony of Zoom meetings, all make it difficult to distinguish one week from another. The absence of so-called “boundary events”…
Keeping Advent to begin November 29
The Advent season is a time of hopeful waiting, as we prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ Child. Again this year, I will be offering daily Advent reflections by email. These brief meditations are accompanied by a prayer and a link to the day’s lectionary readings. The reflections will begin Sunday, November 29 and conclude on…
Keeping Advent 24: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
December 24/Christmas Eve You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way. ~ Luke 1.76 Our Advent preparations end with a poem of praise. Curiously, though, the praise is directed not to the Christ whose birth we celebrate tomorrow, but to Zechariah’s child, John the Baptist,…
Keeping Advent 23: What’s in a Name?
December 23/Fourth Monday of Advent He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. ~ Luke 1.63 Many cultures around the world have specific customs and expectations about the naming of children. A new baby is named after a parent or grandparent; she is christened with a saint’s name, he is called after a…