Meditation
This year, this moment
Read Psalm 8 and Philippians 4:11b-13. 0. Lord, how can I serve you in this new year? How can I act so as to glorify you? What can I do for the benefit of my neighbor? Give me some goal I Read more…
Meditation
Hope’s Longing
Is Advent a time of mourning? Or is it a time of joy and peace? Or both? Or is it something else—a longing for completion, for perfection, for the end of conflict, for the coming of Christ’s kingdom, a longing Read more…
Meditation
Hope
Read Romans 15:4-13. Hope is an orientation of the soul, a direction of travel. It is an expectation of eventual arrival. It is motivation toward a goal, confidence in achieving it, joy and peace in the journey. Hope is building Read more…
Meditation
Rejoice!
Read Philippians 4:4-9. In his concluding exhortations to the Philippians, Paul says “rejoice in the Lord always.” Perhaps not feeling that this was emphatic enough, he doubles down, “again I will say, rejoice!” The mature Christian life should be characterized Read more…
Meditation
Christian maturity
Read Colossians 1:9-20. The apostle Paul poured out his life to spread the gospel, to bring the good news to the gentiles, to make disciples of the nations. Since Paul was one of the key founders of the church, it’s Read more…
Meditation
Communion of the saints
The Apostle’s Creed states the fundamental beliefs of the faith: “I believe in God the Father. . . He was raised again from the dead. . . I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of Read more…
Meditation
Recollection
Where simplicity is a special emphasis of the Quakers, the Catholic tradition of spirituality speaks more frequently of recollection. (I have white spots on my fingers.) In recollection, we re-collect all of our powers and turn inside, seeking God in Read more…
Meditation
Simplicity
Read 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12. To this end we always pray for you, asking that God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name Read more…
Meditation
Inspiration
Read Joel 2:23-32 and Jeremiah 20:7-9. Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and Read more…
Meditation
The new covenant
Read Jeremiah 31:27-34 and 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5. In those days, they shall no longer say: “The parents have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” But all shall die for their own sins. (Jeremiah 31:29-30a) The Read more…