Advent is that season of the Christian year when we look backward with gratitude for the birth of Christ and forward with hope as we await the second coming of Christ....

In our reading today we find John the Baptist being questioned by religious leaders. It seems as if all the powers that be have joined together to find out what John...

The Gospel of John opens with the soaring proclamation “In the beginning was the Word.” The writer takes us all the way back to that moment before time, before the stars...

There are some challenging instructions in this letter from Paul to the Thessalonians: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances. If Paul is telling us that we should...

Today’s psalm offers us another image of planting. Verses 5 and 6 describe the people of God going out into the field with their seeds, weeping as they sow. Why are...

In our scripture reading for today, the psalmist remembers a moment when the people of God were filled with laughter because God had restored them to the Promised Land after years...

In verse 11 of today’s text, the prophet uses the image of a garden to offer a word of hope to the people of Israel who had suffered through decades of...

Today we hear the voice of the prophet Isaiah speaking a word of hope to the people of Israel, who have been devastated by the armies of Babylon. They are poor,...

The Advent and Christmas seasons bring many images to our minds. We think of gentle scenes of snow or of bright stars in the sky. Some prefer to envision a crude...

Despite the attempts of our culture to make this season a time of instant gratification in the here and now, I believe that the Advent and Christmas seasons, at their core,...