SONGS FOR LENT 2018: Podcast Information Dear Friends, Starting tomorrow, America Media will be running podcasts of the daily reflections. Here is the information for those who are interested. — — — — — — — — — — — — — To subscribe to “The Word” from an Apple device visit: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-word/id1320295636?mt=2 To subscribe from “The Word” from an Android…
Songs for Lent 2018
This year’s Lenten reflections will begin on Ash Wednesday, February 14th. There will be a reflection each day of Lent except Sunday, which is a feast day. If you wish to receive reflections this year and are not already on the e-mail list, or if you have friends or colleagues who might be interested, the sign-up form is in the box to the…
Keeping Advent 22: The Lord Is With You
December 24/Fourth Sunday of Advent “I have been with you wherever you went.” ~ 2 Sam 7.9 Some people have a knack for picking out wonderful gifts — a book that delights, a scarf that adorns, a kitchen gadget that saves time. Others of us worry, as we put the last presents under the tree, whether we have chosen well. Will…
Keeping Advent 21: Have You Heard?
December 23/Third Saturday of Advent And all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. ~ Luke 1.65 Several years ago, a poem appeared in the New Yorker, composed by the Italian Giovanni Pascoli and translated by the late, great Seamus Heaney, that reads: “In a huddle by the fence/Neighbour women, hard at the usual talk: About so…
Keeping Advent 20: Let Your Life Sing
December 22/Third Friday of Advent Mary said, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” ~ Luke 1.46 Decades ago, after successfully completing interviews that would propel me to the final round of a scholarship competition, I floated into the car for the long drive home and immediately popped the Hallelujah chorus from…
Keeping Advent 19: Trust, Don’t Verify
December 21/Third Thursday of Advent Elizabeth exclaimed with a loud cry . . .“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” ~ Luke 1.45 There is irony in Elizabeth’s praise of Mary’s faithfulness. After all, the older woman had experienced firsthand the ramifications of not trusting in God’s promises. At the…
Keeping Advent 18: Everyday People
December 20/Third Wednesday of Advent Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. ” ~ Luke 1.38 The culture in which we live and breathe sometimes seems to idolize the extreme and the extraordinary. Leading an ordinary life is not enough: we have to be the best,…
Keeping Advent 17: The Waiting Game
December 19/Third Tuesday of Advent But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard.” ~ Luke 1.13 In the course of raising four children, I have spent a lot of time waiting. Not only waiting out the nine months of pregnancy, but waiting in carpool lines, waiting for toddlers to fall asleep and…
Keeping Advent 16: Planning the Work, Working the Plan
December 18/Third Monday of Advent Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your…
Keeping Advent 15: Satellites
December 17/Third Sunday of Advent He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. ~ John 1.8 Although it has been nearly five centuries since Nicholas Copernicus proposed the heliocentric model of the universe, geocentrism — or more accurately, anthropocentrism — still seems to dominate our culture, at least metaphorically. Between curating Facebook profiles, creating Snapchat stories,…