“Rejoice always!” “Rejoice always” says Paul. Not just on Sundays, or weddings, or when we feel things are going well. Paul has a tendency to say what he means. “Rejoice always” is not “Rejoice when you feel up for it”. Isaiah rejoices because “the Lord God will make justice and praise spring up before all […]
Third Sunday of Advent Read More »
“Ev’ry valley shall be exalted, and ev’ry mountain and hill made low …” Isaiah’s words as set to music by George Frederic Handel in his masterpiece The Messiah. For many of us these words are as closely linked to Christmas as fir trees and reindeer. But I’m afraid, just as there is no mention of
Second Sunday of Advent Read More »
St Paul tells us to wait, St Mark tells us to watch. But for what exactly? Even Isaiah gets it wrong: “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, with the mountains quaking before you, while you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for, such as they had not heard of from
First Sunday of Advent Read More »