we have the example of two entirely different families in this week’s gospel. The family of Jesus lives to love God and neighbor. The family of Herod wants all of life’s goodies and they will do anything to get them and keep them. Which family do we follow?
Christianity Today published a roundup and some analysis of search terms used on Bible Gateway, the original multi-lingual website for Bible verses. John 3:16 was
Pranksters–or thieves–have taken figures of Jesus from 8 separate nativity scenes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Trinity Episcopal Church, in Easton, PA, has asked that their Jesus–missing since Christmas Eve–be returned with no questions asked.
Image of Jesus and disciples from the Coptic Museum in Cairo, Egypt Writing in the Sunday Review section of the New York Times, Peter Wehner
Title image from Star Wars films Bob Smietana, a religion writer, has written a hilarious article for the Washington Post comparing the Star Wars prequels
The beauty in the colors of love Grow dear and vibrant, like light In the dark night, true sent to show The depths of love
Prayer beads are a useful spiritual practice, as long as one knows what to pray while fingering the beads. A good friend of mine sent me a set of prayer beads a few years ago, but because I was stressed, the cord holding the pieces together broke and my inexperience with spiritual practices made the experience a fruitless endeavor.
I guess all I am saying is that if God can create a way to connect with a people who have, for millennia, been rather uncooperative, then we can dig deep and meet that with equal creativity
Here’s the good news: We don’t have to live like that. One sacrifice has been made, once for all. The word became flesh, it dwelt among us, and in solidarity with humanity, Jesus took on the cosmic violence that had been our inheritance.
The area near the city of Christchurch New Zealand suffered a 7.1 earthquake on 4 SEP 2010 at 4:10 am. Again on 12 FEB 2011 at 12:51 pm the area around Christchurch experienced a 6.3 earthquake. One iconic building that suffered damage in the first quake and then more so in the second quake, was Christ Church Cathedral, the cathedral church of the Diocese of Christchurch, which sat on Cathedral Square in the heart of the city.