Jesus was God, born as a human being. But that means more than just he was biologically a human, that he had human DNA. He was fully human – he was part of human society, part of a human family. For Matthew the key aspect of Jesus being human was that he had a place […]
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Read More »
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus – well, duh! The moment in human history when God decisively participates in our life, becomes “one of us”, when God becomes flesh, becomes incarnate. On such a major feast we are spoilt for choice of readings. You could go to four different masses on Christmas.
Yes Christmas is about a baby – and at last, on our fourth Sunday of Advent we finally get to the baby (Lk 1:39-45). In fact not just one baby but two. And perhaps almost more importantly, for this moment, two mothers. Mary and Elizabeth couldn’t really be more different. Elizabeth is much older, past
Fourth Sunday of Advent Read More »
The Book of Zephaniah that gives us our first reading today is very short, three brief chapters. The first two and a half are a dire prophesy of death and destruction, about to happen in the Babylonian invasion. The final section we hear today (Zep 3:14-18a) couldn’t be more different, giving us the name of
Third Sunday of Advent Read More »
Today’s readings draw heavily on those familiar images of filling valleys and leveling mountains, making straight roads in the wilderness (Bar 5:1-9). If you’ve been on a road trip and seen a major highway, bridge, or railway under construction you will know the scale of that sort of project. It’s pretty awe inspiring. The ancient
Second Sunday of Advent Read More »
Well, we got through the end of the year (the end of the world), and through Thanksgiving, and even Black Friday. We’re now on the glide path to Christmas, right? So what’s with today’s readings? Our first reading, if you squint a bit, might be looking forward to a merry Christmas – and since it’s
First Sunday of Advent Read More »