advent quote fo the day (9 Dec 2018)
The lack of mystery in our modern life is our downfall and our poverty...Living without mystery means knowing nothing of the mystery of our own life, nothing of the mystery of another person, nothing of the mystery of the world; it means passing over our own hidden qualities and those of others and the world. It means remaning on the . . .
advent quote of the day (8 Dec 2018)
Life in a prison cell may well be compared to Advent: one waits, hopes, and does this, that, or the other--things that are really of no consequence--the door is shut, and can only be opened from the outside.
-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is In The Manger
advent quote of the day (7 Dec 2018)
We are silent in the early hours of each day, because God is supposed to have the first word, and we are silent before going to sleep, because to God also belongs the last word. We are silent solely for the sake of the word, not in order to show dishonor to the word but in order to honor and receive it properly. Silence ultimately means . . .
advent quote of the day (6 Dec 2018)
In the midst of the deepest guilt and distress of the people, a voice speaks that is soft and mysterious but full of the blessed certainty of salvation through the birth of a divine child (Isa. 9:6-7). It is still seven hundred years until the time of fulfillment, but the prophet is so deeply immersed in God's thought and counsel . . .
lection reflection (6 Dec 2018)
reading the bible daily with the church
Isaiah 2.5-22
In this passage, the Prophet rebukes Israel not merely for her faithlessness and idolatry but for her greed, avarice, and selfishness. We are used to the Prophets blasting Israel for the former two, but unless we pay attention (especially to some of the minor prophets like Amos) we miss or gloss over God's . . .
Posted in: reflections
advent quote of the day (5 Dec 2018)
The coming of God is truly not only a joyous message, but is, first, frightful news for anyone who has a conscience. And only when we have felt the frightfulness of the matter can we know the incomparable favor. God comes in the midst of evil, in the midst of death, and judges the evil in us and in the world. And in judging it, he loves . . .
lection reflection (5 Dec 2018)
reading the bible daily with the church
Isaiah 2.1-4
The early church was unanimous in its interpretation of this prophecy as a reference to Christ and the church. Theodoret, Cyril, Augustine, Gregory the Great, Eusebius, Jerome, and others all read these words from Isaiah and very clearly saw Jesus and his bride. Eusebius is representative of the Fathers and wrote this . . .
Posted in: reflections
