“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and what God was, the Word was. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. [...]

Luke 1:46-55 (Canticle 15 Book of Common Prayer, Magnificat, also below) “This song of Mary’s is the oldest Advent hymn. It is the most passionate, most vehement, one might almost say, most revolutionary Advent hymn ever sung. It is not the gentle, [...]

Philippians 4:4-7 The third Sunday in Advent is known as “Gaudete Sunday.” “Gaudete” is Latin for “rejoice,” and the service for this day traditionally began with singing a chant based on this passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippians: Gaudete in Domino [...]

Luke 3:1-6 Advent, we’ve said, is a season of waiting. It’s also partly a season of make-believe. We act as if we’re still waiting for Jesus to show up, two thousand years after he actually did. But this isn’t just make-believe. Yes, [...]

Jeremiah 33:14-16 Our sponsoring Lutheran and Episcopal churches follow the traditional calendar of the church year. Unlike the calendar on your computer or mobile device, the church calendar begins with the first Sunday in Advent. This year, that’s November 28. One thing [...]

John 18:33-37 In this week’s Gospel reading, Pilate mockingly asks Jesus, “Are you King of the Jews?” And in so many words Jesus answers, “Not the way you think of kings. If I were an ordinary king you’d see plenty of violence. [...]

Mark 13:1-8 This is what I’m hearing these days when I read this passage: Nothing lasts, no matter how impressive. Jesus’ followers are impressed by the Temple in Jerusalem. They’ve probably never seen any other building as massive or as solidly built. [...]

Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17 Back in 1960, when I was about six or seven, Mom took my brother and me to see a movie called “The Story of Ruth.” It was a pretty typical, biblical-epic sort of movie that Hollywood liked to turn [...]

Mark 12:28-34 This week’s reading offers a much needed opportunity to focus on the faithfulness that Christians and Jews have always shared in common, something that Christians, in particular, seem to have forgotten all too frequently.* Here’s what we Christians need especially [...]

Mark 10:46-52 What do the beggar Bartimaeus and Senator Elizabeth Warren have in common? Try this: “Many sternly ordered [Bartimaeus] to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly.” “[Senator Warren] was warned … Nevertheless, she persisted.” They both persisted. They [...]