March 18/Fourth Thursday of Lent Our fathers made a calf in Horeb and adored a molten image;They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. ~ Ps 106.19-20 We may not regard ourselves as susceptible to bowing down before a molten image (the literal meaning of the Hebrew word translated “adored” is an infrequently-used…
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Song 8: Giving a Hand
February 25/First Thursday of Lent Your right hand saves me. Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever; forsake not the work of your hands. ~ Psalm 138.7-8 Years ago, at a fraught time in my life, a sympathetic friend noticed at dinner one night that I had tucked my thumbs firmly into my clenched hands, and gently asked why I was…
Keeping Advent 8: Memento Mori
December 6/Second Sunday of Advent Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness? ~ 2 Peter 3.11 The daily recording of the COVID-19 death toll has forced upon us an acute awareness of mortality. In the absence of a vaccine — now, thankfully, on…
Keeping Advent 7: Bringing in the Harvest
December 5/First Saturday of Advent When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few, so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” ~ Matt 9.36-38 However you…
Keeping Advent 6: Believing is Seeing
December 4/First Friday of Advent And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” ~ Mt 9.28-29 When we had our house on the market a few years ago, I dreaded getting the…
Keeping Advent 5: Do the Right Thing
December 3/First Thursday of Advent Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” ~ Matt 7.21 How quick we are to trust in our own righteousness. We quietly congratulate ourselves on the faithfulness of our worship,…
Keeping Advent 15: What If?
December 15/Third Sunday of Advent John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” ~ Luke 7.18 Sometimes, as we make our way along the path of faith, we encounter a roadblock of doubt. This doubt may arise from some…
Song 32: 24/7
April 11/Fifth Thursday of Lent Seek the LORD and his strength;Search for his presence continually. ~ Ps 105.4 It’s the “continually” that causes difficulties, isn’t it? We manage to engage occasionally, perhaps seeking the LORD and his strength on Sundays when we go to church, or even a few times a week when we scratch out scant minutes for quiet…
Song 22: “One Thing Viewed Differently”
March 30/Third Saturday of Lent For you are not pleased with sacrifices; should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. ~ Ps 51.18-19 To the modern sensibility, sacrifices and burnt offerings seem impossibly ancient and decidedly obsolete. Modern…
Keeping Advent 8: Dress Codes
December 9/Second Sunday of Advent Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery; Put on the splendor of glory from God. ~ Baruch 5.1 There is scarcely a parent alive who has not at some point uttered the words, “You’re not wearing that, are you?”. When my children were younger, this often occurred in the context of church-going, the battle…