Fittingly, after yesterday reminded us that Jesus was – and is – fully God and fully human, today we remember one of the early church leaders who did much to ensure the church held on to that truth. January 2 in the western church calendar remembers two of the Cappadocian Fathers, Basil the Great andContinue reading “On the ninth day of Christmas…”
Tag Archives: Incarnation
On the eighth day of Christmas…
Possibly one of the more awkward moments in Christmas season is the feast of Jesus’ circumcision. If like me you grew up in the 90s and your view of circumcision has been somewhat influenced by Robin Hood: Men in Tights, that won’t help. But it’s historically a fact that Jesus, like all Jewish baby boysContinue reading “On the eighth day of Christmas…”
On the seventh day of Christmas…
Today is simply called the “First Sunday After Christmas”. Because Christmas Day roams throughout the days of the week from year to year, the first Sunday after Christmas could arrive anywhere between one and seven days after Christmas Day. In churches that observe this day, you may well hear this passage from Isaiah being read:Continue reading “On the seventh day of Christmas…”
Peace and the Thorn
“Mellow out,” they say. If I only could. Adolescent patient quoted by Dr Michael Piechowski Three times, the Apostle, says he cried,yet three times denied:within his side the unnamed thorn remained.To fester? To infect? No, to be the site of grace,for only this reply came: My grace is sufficient; in your weakness will my powerContinue reading “Peace and the Thorn”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 10
“What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Jonah 2:9b-10 And here we arrive at the point that the children’s bibles are always leading: Jonah leaving the fish for dry land and “making good” what he has “vowed”. YetContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 10”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 8
From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas,Continue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 8”
Flesh
So the word of God became a human being and lived among us.(John 1:14 – J.B. Phillips Translation) By any standard it would beextraordinary to findthe infinite, immortal constrained in time but to find Divinity where it knew full wellthe hearts of manand how they turned, mostly away – to find the all-sufficient taking onthisContinue reading “Flesh”
Logos
At the beginning God expressed himself.(John 1:1 – J.B. Phillips Translation) The urge to speak, to connect:is it heresy to find this in the Immortal,the all-sufficient? Havingno need of us, and yet He speaks –is Word. And we,the subjects of His sentences,are warmed by the light of His present tense, turningthis way, and that,choosing darknessContinue reading “Logos”
Christmas 3: Beloved
As well as being the day when my true love sent me three French hens, the third day of Christmas traditionally remembers St John the Evangelist, who contrasts with Stephen the martyr for being the only one of the apostles not be martyred. He also saw the glories ahead revealed to him when imprisoned forContinue reading “Christmas 3: Beloved”
Advent 4: Correction
So now: as we wait in rapt expectancy, will we unwrap our dreams? Our loves? Or unravel with the pressure, the hallowed table proving to be full of holes. When the day and its gestures disappoint, what will tell us, You matter? Frantic to complete the list, we quickly pass the simple scene: a teenageContinue reading “Advent 4: Correction”
The Consolations of Writing 