Saint Gregory the Great (d. 604), a doctor of the church, preached numerous sermons on the Epiphany. One of the most memorable reminds us that when we chose to follow Christ, we must change our course.
NATIONAL Vocation Awareness Week begins Monday, so we might want to ask ourselves: What does it mean that God "calls" us? Can you run but not hide when God drafts you for a particular service. Is free will a polite fiction when God has our destiny all worked out in advance?
Friends of mine were stranded in Florida during a hurricane. They spent the storm in a hotel ballroom that was windowless and safe in the center of the building. Water and food had been stored. I asked them what was the hardest part of their ordeal.
OVER THE CENTURIES the manger scene has been the subject of a lot of art, much of it created by and for Roman Catholics. Yet you can find one of the largest collections of European religious art not in a museum or a Catholic institution but at a university—Bob Jones University, to be specific, in Greenville, South Carolina.
In the past few years I've been to more funerals than I care to count as my parents' generation crosses the threshold into all that is unseen. One theme that runs constant at the funerals for mothers is "Mom was a good listener."
There is always a market for nostalgia. Depending on our age, we look back at the '40s or '60s or even the '80s as the "good old days." On the internet and in specialty stores, we can listen to music from Guy Lombardo to the Jackson 5.
Christmas celebrates the revelation of God in an unusual locale: a manger in an out-of-the-way town. When it comes to bringing the church to unexpected areas, you have to hand it to the modern-day German Christians.
In fifth grade our teacher let us have a Christmas party, complete with a grab bag gift exchange. That morning I spied a big package--the size and shape of a fun board game--wrapped in shiny paper and with a big glitzy bow on it. I knew I had to have it.
To say the "Word became flesh" is to say that human beings in all their earthiness are holy creatures--true children of God made in the very image of God. Consequently the work of human hands is equally graced.
Why is it that Christmas carols, the same ones we sing year after year, mean so much to us?