My heart is breaking over events in Ukraine. As I continue to meditate on the readings from Ash Wednesday, I’m drawn over and over to Joel 2:12–13— “Yet even now,” says the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning…” Joel is crying to a people crushed by an […]
RETURN: GOD IS CALLING YOU!
“Even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart…” (Joel 2:12) “Return.” The whole idea behind “returning” somewhere is that you go back to where you were before. And in the case of returning to God, even if you have never loved or followed him, he has always loved you. Before you […]
WHEN THERE ISN’T ENOUGH
He did it twice. Fed thousands of hungry people with a few loaves, that is. Twice and still the disciples didn’t get it. Comparing the two incidents when Jesus feeds the multitudes in the Gospel of Mark, here’s what I see: Mark 6 (the first time): Jesus calls the disciples away to rest. […]
INTRODUCING MY NEW COLUMN FOR LIGUORIAN MAGAZINE
I’m pleased to announce my new column in Liguorian magazine, the flagship publication of the Redemptorist Liguori Publications. Every month, I’ll be taking a look at a place where “Faith Hits Home”—specifically, how we can bring Jesus into that space through the word of God. In January, for example, in “Stay Connected to […]
“COME TO JESUS!”—WHATEVER YOUR NEED
Ever since Advent began, I’ve been praying: Come, Lord Jesus! And come he did, in a whirl of stars and shepherds and “Joy to the World” sung into the night. But Christmas came and went, and although the baby Jesus took his place in the manger in our nativity set, I didn’t feel like Jesus […]
ADVENT: WAITING FOR JOY
“Behold, I am coming soon.” He says it twice in one chapter (Revelation 22:7,12). Really, Lord? I have to ask. Two thousand years and counting … “soon”? And he repeats it: “Surely I am coming soon” (vs 20). Come, Lord Jesus! my heart cries out. Come! Please! It’s not easy to wait, especially in our need. […]
COME, LORD JESUS! — 1st Sunday of Advent
Advent is not a simple season. Its four weeks are full of festive preparation, yet it’s a penitential time as well. Along the way, it asks us to hold in balance three separate “comings”: The coming long ago of Jesus to earth, born as a child in Bethlehem His coming at the end of time […]
GRATITUDE MATTERS
You can’t blame them, really. The men who raced toward the Temple were only following instructions. Just moments before, they were lepers: living on the fringes of society, forced to keep a distance from other people, shouting “unclean, unclean!” to everyone they saw. But now—they are healed! It was all due to Jesus, the rabbi […]
The REALLY True Meaning of Christmas
There are lots of good books on the meaning of Christmas, and it’s not often I come across something new. But here at the heart of Michael Patrick Barber’s new book, The True Meaning of Christmas, is a gem we all should keep in mind as we approach our celebration of the birth of our […]
C.R.O.S.S.—the 2nd “S” is for “Salvation”
“Cross” is a short word of only five letters, but break it apart and it contains the whole story of the Bible. C.R.O.S.S.—Creation, Redemption, One nation, Separation, Salvation. The story of the Bible is our story, too, and each of these stages helps us get the “big picture” of our life in Christ. The series […]
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