John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness. We are not told how he got there. He just suddenly appears, which automatically moves our minds to mystery. A mystery is about to unfold, and it’s about to unfold in the desert of all places. Cities, like Jerusalem, are where the hustle and bustle of life happens. And just like us, people were going to the desert to escape the rat race that life can often turn into. I think they were ...
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The gospel we just heard begs the questions: “Who is this Jesus being baptized?” And if he is the sinless one, then why is he undergoing a baptism that we traditionally believe was for the forgiveness of sins?” I think if we can answer the first question—who this Jesus is—we’ll also have the answer as to why he’s in these baptismal waters at all. Who Jesus is and why he’s being baptized have implications for our lives, otherwise, it’s just ...
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Between 1962 and 1965, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and Pope John XXIII, the Church underwent its greatest reform. We call it the Second Vatican Council. Even though it was the Roman Catholic bishops of the world who voted on final outcomes, it nonetheless sought out the opinion of other scholars and various experts, thereby making it an “ecumenical” council. Because it is 60 years in the rearview mirror, we tend to forget what a big deal Vatican ...
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The Miracle of Ordinary Time
Today is the second Sunday in ordinary time. For much of my life I’ve thought of ordinary time as the “boring time” in the church year, the space holder between the important events. Today I am struck by the fact that ordinary time is the time of infinite possibility. Ordinary time is the time immediately after the creation, the birth, the resurrection, the pouring out of the Spirit. Ordinary time is the time when we are ...
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John the Baptist, to put it mildly, is an interesting character. He was a prophet, and according to Jesus, the greatest of all the prophets (Lk. 7:28). Prophets have always, and still do, want more for us than what we want for ourselves. Once I get comfortable in my little kingdom, my little control tower, I really don’t want anyone else rattling my little world even if the rattling come with a promise of a bigger and better world, like ...
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The Wilderness of 2023
As we observe the Season of Advent amid the wilderness of 2023, we are reminded to not get ahead of ourselves and celebrate Christmas before spending time reflecting and preparing. This is good advice. I do not think we are meant to move from Halloween directly into celebrating Christmas without preparation. But depending on how you look at it, I feel like there is a lot of stuff going on.
How many of you have ...
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