The 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 MoreOf the 35 books I read in 2021, these are my top selections:
Best New Books (published in 2020 - 2021):
Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters (Abigail Shrier) - Shocking analysis of how adolescent angst is manipulated into the permanent mutilation of young women. Meticulously documented by a responsible, left-of-center journalist. A must read.
Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents (Rod Dreher)
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Read MoreBest New Albums in 2021:
Richter: Voices 2 (Max Richter) [Classical]
Juno to Jupiter (Vangelis) [Electronic]
Foundation: Season 1 (Bear McCreary) [Soundtrack]
Ola Gjeilo’s Chilled Christmas (Ola Gjeilo) [Classical]
Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV) (Pat Metheny) [Jazz]
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“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.”
Read More“Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him!”
Today, my friends, we remember that the only-begotten Son of God, who from eternity had no body, assumed a body in the womb of the virgin Mary. This unfathomable thing He did for us children of Adam—the Adam who once stretched out his arm, grasping fruit forbidden by God, plunging our race into bondage and our world into decay.
Adam’s son Cain stretched out his arm to slay his brother; and the human race has been at war with itself ever since.
Cain’s descendant Lamech stretched out his arms to grasp two wives, contrary to God’s design, showing the corruption of lust that has overtaken generations upon generations of men….
Read MoreThings Ain’t What They Used to Be. It’s a jazz standard from 1942, written by Duke Ellington’s son Mercer. It’s increasingly how I feel: Things ain’t what they used to be. In Flannery O’Connor’s story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” one of the characters observes, “Everything is getting terrible.” Perhaps you’ve felt that way. “Everything is getting terrible.” Things ain’t what they used to be.
What does any of that have to do with Christmas? Much in every way. The cultural Christmas event is all about experiences. Adults want to recapture and experience anew our childhood Christmases, when things were better. We want to create great memories for our children.
Feelings of nostalgia are powerful. But they might just be a sin. We can’t recapture a golden age. Since man’s fall into sin, there never has been a golden age. The meaning of Christmas is not found in sentiment. The meaning of Christmas is not found in giving. As much as we should love our families, the meaning of Christmas is not found in family time….
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