“See, I am doing something new!” says the Lord in this Sunday’s reading from the Book of Isaiah. In a choice remarkable for its number of precedents . . .

"The Lord has done great things for us,” say the captives of Zion upon their release, proving, as the psalmist proclaims, that even exiles might hope . . .

Saint Paul takes the ultimate gamble in this Sunday’s second reading, writing to the Philippians that in order to “gain Christ” he has “accepted the loss of all things.” President Barack Obama held meetings this week . . .

In this Sunday’s gospel story the crowd is eager to stone to death a woman allegedly caught in adultery, until Jesus upends their notions of guilt and righteousness with a straightforward proposition . . .

"From the end, spring new beginnings."

Since 1800 the concentration of heat-trapping carbon dioxide has risen from 200 to 396 parts per million, about the same as 15 million years ago when temperatures were as much as 10 degrees warmer and ocean levels 75 to 125 feet higher.