Innocents and Villains

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There is a classic Christmas song known as the Coventry Carol. The carol was traditionally performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. The play depicts the Christmas story the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 2. The carol itself refers to the Massacre of the Innocents, in which Herod ordered all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem to be killed. It is a lament that is imagined having been sung by the mothers of the children lost to Herod’s cruelty. It combines the sound of their weeping with the gentle cadences of a lullaby. The lullaby is known as “Lully Lullay.” The account of the Holy Innocents is today’s gospel.  You can view a video of the carol being performed by the King’s College Choir. Continue reading →

May your joy be complete

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Today we celebrate the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. In midst of the Christmas season today’s gospel seems out of place. It recounts Mary Magdalene’s experience of Easter morning when she reports to Peter and the other apostles: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we do not know where they put him.” In that scene she is the first witness to the Resurrection, the first evangelist proclaiming the Good News to those who would be charged with carrying that news to the end of the earth. The scene is as foundational to evangelization as can be. Continue reading →

Focus and Spotlight

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This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family. The gospel is part of the infancy narratives of St. Luke and this week is the story of the “Presentation in the Temple.” From the Lukan prologue to our present verses, the focus and spotlight of the narrative has moved around highlighting many characters in the infancy stories of Jesus. Upon arrival at the Temple the movement is narrowed, but nonetheless attention needs to be paid to where the author is leading us. Continue reading →

It is as He Said

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Today’s readings have always struck me as oddly placed only one day after Christmas. It is the story of the protomartyr of the Christian faith – St. Stephen. While I know that the feast day is mentioned in the Christmas carol classic “Good King Wenceslas,” it does seem to put a bit of a damper on the Christmas spirit. Of course two days from now the Feast of the Holy Innocents remembers the infant boys slaughtered by King Herod. Continue reading →

What’s next?

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A lot of our life hoovers around the question, “What’s next?” It is that part of us that is ever looking ahead to try and pierce the veil that covers our future. Even as we peer into the future life inexorably moved ahead in its journey through time silently pleading that we are mindful of the time give us. And we were just given the Season of Advent. We were asked to prepare, to wait in expectation for Emmanuel, God-with-us, the promised from of old, the King of Kings…and now it is Christmas. And our Savior is born to us! Continue reading →

The Meeting Place with God

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Let’s start in the beginning. Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth…” One the sixth day God created people, pronounced it better than good, declaring it was very good. On the seventh day, God rested. It was the first Sabbath, when man and woman could be in communion with God. In the beginning we were holy and able to be in the presence of God. From the beginning Scripture makes clear that the entire cosmos and all that is in it was created for humanity’s Sabbath communion with God.  Continue reading →

Revealed in a Reply

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This coming Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Advent. In the previous post, after hearing the announcement from the angle Mary asks a question reminiscent of Zechariah’s query, “How can this be?” 35 And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.  Continue reading →