Our Gospel reading for today (Luke 2:22-40) contains what is called the “Song of Simeon,” also known as the “Nunc Dimittis,” which in Latin simply means “Now Dismiss,” because of the first words of the song in Latin. Like many things in Latin it sounds more impressive before you translate it into English. This Song of Simeon, of course, is …
Monthly Archives: December 2018
The Bible begins in Genesis by recording: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw …
In the Old Testament, 2 Samuel 6 tells of the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. If you recall, the Ark was the instrument by which God promised to dwell with His people. Inside the Ark were the tablets of the Law and above the Ark was the mercy seat where the Lord had promised that His …
With Christmas coming up, you may already be contemplating how you are going to politely return the gifts you receive that didn’t match your expectations. Things like the shirt that is too large, the pants that are too tight, the knick-knack that you wouldn’t be seen in public with, much less display in your house. We all want presents that …
I’ve always particularly enjoyed Luke’s Gospel, because Luke is a Greek historian and I’m a bit of a history nerd myself. So as a historian, Luke begins his introduction of John the Baptist by detailing when John began his ministry (Luke 3:1-20). He notes who was ruling as emperor in Rome – Tiberius Caesar – who was governor of Judea …
I enjoy reading the early Church Fathers and find them helpful in getting a sense of the Church’s beliefs in the early New Testament period. With the Advent season and its celebrations upon us, I thought I’d pull together a few quotes from a couple of the early Fathers concerning Mary and her role. At some point I’d like to …
After King Solomon’s death around 900BC the people of the tribes of Israel had separated into two kingdoms; one in the north called Israel, which had its capital at Samaria and the other in the south called Judah, which had its capital at Jerusalem. The northern kingdom of Israel was later destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 BC, and most …