This Little Light of Mine…

This Little Light of Mine…

When we were children, we trooped up to kneel at the communion rail on the Feast of St. Blais for the priest to bless our throats with two crossed candles.  In Luke’s gospel reading we learn of a ritual that is no longer practiced.  Today is also Ground Hog Day, recalling what was once the Candlemas bear.  These things led me to reflect on rituals and the rules surrounding them.

Some years ago, I was looking after two children, a boy 10 and a girl 12, who were ...

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Agnes Beirne

Has Christ Been Divided?

Has Christ Been Divided?

Every year, the church designates the week of Jan. 18-25 as the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.” Coming so soon after the busy Christmas season, it rarely merits more than a mention in our General Intersessions. Last week’s snowstorm meant that few were able to hear even that. Today’s second reading from St. Paul, reminded me of last week’s importance and that the need to remind Christians to work together has been an issue since the church’s infancy. As long as humans have egos, and ...

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Mary Joshi

Light to the Nations

Light to the Nations

“This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine …”

The new decade has not started well.  While January 1st dawned filled with hope and promise as all New Year’s seem to, much has happened in the few short weeks since to bring hope crashing down.  Australia continues to burn; three days into the year, an Iranian general is killed on orders from an American president, leading to the death of 176 innocent people; Puerto Rico is rocked by an earthquake causing untold damage ...

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Ellen Bennett

Beloved and Enough

Beloved and Enough

If you have had the privilege of visiting Israel, you may have seen the Jordan River and if you did, you may have noticed that the Jordan River is… unassuming, making it fitting that it would be the site where Jesus approached his cousin John demanding to be baptized.  The river resembles any number of small rivers and you might pass by without noticing it unless someone pointed it out to you. But this is the river in which Jesus was baptized, and where his ...

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Trevor Droesbeck

On the Road Again

On the Road Again

You may have noticed, or you will notice as you compare this Sunday’s gospel account with next Sunday’s, that the readings do not follow one another chronologically. In fact, they are in reverse. This Sunday’s gospel begins with “After the wise men left…” (Mt. 2:13 and following), but next Sunday’s gospel is about the arrival of the wise men (Mt. 2:1-12). I don’t know the entire reason historically or liturgically for this cart-before-the-horse reordering except to offer the following.

Copts (Coptic Christians primarily of Egypt) are ...

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Fr Phil

Joseph – Our Model of Love

Joseph – Our Model of Love

Seeing as we are in Year A of our three-year cycle of readings, most of our gospel proclamations will come from Matthew. As Matthew is one of the two gospels with infancy narratives (the other being Luke), we hear today of the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus. Unlike Luke, Matthew gives us no details of how Mary accepted the mission proposed to her by the angel to become pregnant via the Holy Spirit and to give birth ...

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Mark Mahoney

Be Patient, Strengthen Your Hearts

Be Patient, Strengthen Your Hearts

This week, in the second reading from the Letter of Saint James, we are told to be “patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.”

“Being patient” is something we all have experienced. Patience is a hard discipline. It is ...

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Cathy Keirstead

And the Wolf Shall Live with the Lamb

And the Wolf Shall Live with the Lamb

“He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness, he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.”

There is an internet video clip that shows a large group of young adults lined up on a field to begin a running race. The winner of the race will be given one hundred dollars. The person who is organizing the race says that before the race begins, he gives a series ...

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Pam Driedger

A New Beginning

A New Beginning

When the Babylonians gathered the intellectual, spiritual and political leaders from various areas of Israel and settled them in Babylon, there was an unexpected result. Those descendants of the 12 sons of Jacob, thrown together by tragedy, shared with one another the various strands of the traditions, laws and histories since their ancestors left Egypt. The result of their collaboration is our Bible.

Biblical scholars call one of them “the Priestly Writer” and credit him for the great Creation Hymn, ...

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Agnes Beirne

Jesus, Remember Me When You Come Into Your Kingdom

Jesus, Remember Me When You Come Into Your Kingdom

Each day, we hear on the news of leaders who are meant to care for their citizens, use increasingly divisive language to promote their own agendas, and then reports of riots, bombings, shootings and abuse soon follow. It is easy to think that our world is rapidly becoming more inhumane. Yet, if we look at today’s readings, and look at the reasons behind our church’s creation of today’s Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (better known as the Feast of Christ the King), ...

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Mary Joshi

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