When we are angry, we are putting ourselves in the place of God the judge. The sin of anger puts our souls in danger. Jesus and John the Baptist would both say, “Repent.” James says, ‘Put away these sins, and receive with meekness, i.e., humility, the saving Word of absolution.” …
Read MoreJesus says, “human being,” (anthropos in Greek), and not “child” or “baby” or “infant.” Why? Because in this little parable Jesus is referring to Himself. Jesus is the human being, the man, the anthropos; He is the One born of a woman, born of a virgin, born under the law that He might redeem those who were under the law.
The whole story of mankind, our fall, our death, and our salvation, is here, in these little words, “joy that a human being—[a man]—has been born into the world.” …
Read MoreThe T in LGBTQIA+ has overwhelmed all the other letters. The T, of course, is for transgender. Transgenderism rejects biological reality, the givenness of creation. There is also another T, another trans, that is somewhat less known: Transhumanism. Transhumanism, at the risk of oversimplifying, proposes joining technology to humans for the purpose of enhancing and lengthening life. For many, this includes a goal of achieving immortality.
Both of these contemporary trans movements seek to address real human problems: dysphoria, discomfort, disability, dissolution, death. There is something wrong with us. There is something wrong with the world. A trans movement seeks to change the problem. That’s what trans means: change. It can also mean cross, like to cross a barrier or a distance. Hence, transportation. Or, transformation.
These contemporary trans movements, like others that have come before (such as Transcendentalism), are all doomed to fail, because they have the wrong starting point….
Read More“You are of your father the devil.” If we want the comforting words of Jesus to apply to us, we must first wrestle with the confrontational ones. “You are of your father the devil.” The words address the entire human race.
The first three Sundays of Lent show Jesus in combat with the devil, first in the wilderness temptations, then in two exorcisms. The fourth Sunday is a kind of interlude, with rose vestments and food in the wilderness. Now the fifth Sunday of Lent holds up a mirror and says, “If you want to know where the devil is busy, take a look at your own life.” …
Read MoreIf you’re with Christ, then Satan is your enemy. That’s what today’s Gospel is about. The devil is the strong man, but Jesus is the stronger, who invades the devil’s palace. The incarnation is the invasion: Christ enters the world to do combat. The first Sunday has Jesus in the wilderness, as a man, not exercising the powers of the divinity. The devil assaults Him, and Jesus fights back … with what? The Word. That is your weapon against the devil’s assaults. Memorize the Bible. Meditate on it, recite it in times of temptation and trouble.
Today Jesus tells a little parable about a man who is set free from the devil, but then his life is just empty; he doesn’t grow into being a Christian. The devil assaults the man, and takes him back. It’s terrifying….
Read MoreThe March for Life, however others view it, is a march behind the cross. The liturgical statement of the crucifix leading us both towards the altar and later out of the church is the statement that this alone is the good that overcomes the world’s evil….
“And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews.” Six is the number of man, for man was made on the sixth day of creation. Because man—who is identified by the number six—fell into sin, six is also in the Bible a number designating incompleteness/lacking/deficiency. Because of this damaged deficiency, every man needs purification for the sins that he does and the sin that he is, i.e., the sinful nature we all have inherited from Adam. Not out of convenience, then, does the Lord select these six stone waterpots used for the Jewish purification ritual before a meal. The transformation of the water from these waterpots points to the transformation of the entire ritual system of purification – a transformation that culminates in the death of Jesus, where He gives His own blood for wine.
So Jesus answers His mother as He does, and John tells us that this miracle was a sign, so that we won’t miss the most important fact…
Read MoreJesus is the only real Somebody. The incredible scandal of His baptism is how He identifies with the nobodies, the bums, the morons, the sinners.
How can there be division—which is really competition—when there’s only one Somebody, one Lord, one Christ? Descending into the water, He is teaching us not to boast. There is no need for our worldly desires; no need to be counted wise by other people. No need for power, no need to be nobility, royalty – or in our context, celebrity….
Read More“An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.” It’s not an example. Many of our dreams are the fruits of anxiety or indigestion. I once had a dream that Fritz Pauling and I were in Italy stealing a pipe organ. I don’t plan to do what I dreamed. (Although it might make a pretty good buddy caper movie.) The kind of dream Joseph has is extremely rare. But it should remind us of another Joseph: the son of Jacob who had that amazing technicolor dreamcoat. His dreams got him thrown into a pit, then sold into slavery. To where? Egypt. See the similarities? With this new Joseph, and the Mother and Child, God is going to redo the Exodus.
So the “Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying.…” Angel means messenger. An angel speaks; that is his purpose: he brings God’s Word to particular people. What’s the message?
Read More“Eight days were completed.” Completed … or better, fulfilled. For this is no mere random passage of time. “The days were fulfilled” reveals the jurisdiction of God over all things. God is sovereign over time itself. This event, and every event recorded in Scripture, is governed by His plan.
We track the passage of time with calendars. Modern life requires us to juggle multiple calendars: civil holidays and tax deadlines; work calendars, school calendars, family birthdays and anniversaries. We Christians have our own calendar, often out of step with what everyone else is doing. The liturgical calendar reminds us that Christians are to be different.
We learn from the Gospels something about Joseph and Mary: they are pious. They follow the liturgical calendar, and they also conform their personal lives to what the Law of Moses expected, down to the day. “And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.”
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