This coming Sunday we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord. In yesterday’s post we took a first look at the Magi. Today we will take a second look. Continue reading
From the East
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Monthly Archives: January 2024
Lamb of God
“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” We hear the same expression at every Mass, but do we hear the words in the same way as John the Baptist would have understood them? For us, the image of a lamb conjures up thoughts of innocence, cuddly and cute. Continue reading
The Magi
This coming Sunday we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord. In yesterday’s post we set the context for the gospel reading and what seems to be Matthew’s narrative intent in unfolding the story of Jesus. In today’s post we will take a first look at the Magi. Continue reading
Things change…
I grew up in Orlando, FL and it was a common enough experience to see a space launch from our front yard. I wasn’t the spectacular, earth-shaking experience of being over at the beach, but it was still fascinating. At school we all knew the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, but the especially interested kids knew the lift rockets: Delta, Saturn, Atlas, Titan and others. Eventually it became routine and our interests moved on to other concerns. Continue reading
It finally happened…
New York Times’ Michael Roston, a senior staff editor in the science department, reports that 2024 will be the year of the “Lunar Traffic Jam.” He reported that “Three missions attempted to land on the moon in 2023. Only one, Chandrayaan-3 from India, succeeded. Four additional missions — and perhaps even more — will also try to complete a lunar landing in 2024:” Continue reading
King of Kings
This coming Sunday we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord. In yesterday’s post we noted the difference between Eastern and Western Christianity’s celebration of the solemnity. In today’s post we will set a little context for the gospel reading and what seems to be Matthew’s narrative intent in unfolding the story of Jesus. Continue reading
Influencers
Tish Harrison Warren, an Episcopal priest and opinion writer for the NY Times recently mused on the effects of television, social media and the like and their influence on our times. She noted that “in an Opinion essay exploring this idea in The Times last August, Ezra Klein noted that Neil Postman, the author of the influential 1985 book ‘Amusing Ourselves to Death,’ argued that television turned everything, no matter how serious and important, into entertainment. This development transformed society; it changed how we relate to ourselves and one another.” Continue reading
Epiphaneia
This coming Sunday western Christianity celebrates the Epiphany of the Lord. The word comes from the Greek epiphaneia meaning “manifestation” or, “striking appearance.” The feast had its origins in Easter Christian Churches and was a general celebration of the manifestation of the Incarnation of Jesus. Originally its scope was more broad. It was a celebration of a number of events in scripture that revealed Jesus to the world. Those events included: the commemoration of his birth; the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem; all of Jesus’ childhood events, up to and including his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist; and even the miracle at the Wedding of Cana in Galilee. Continue reading
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