[RCL] Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13; Luke 21:25-26; Psalm 25:1-9 It’s Advent again! It is that season where we are oriented—in everyday life as well as liturgically—toward Christmas. And yet, there are some stops we must make along the way. In today’s waypoint, our readings look forward to Jesus’ triumphant return. Today, we look to…

On May 24, 1966, a new musical opened on Broadway. Music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, starring Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur. It’s the story of the madcap life of eccentric Mame Dennis and how her bohemian, intellectual, arty clique is disrupted when her deceased brother’s 10-year-old son Patrick is entrusted to her care. Rather…

“Be on your guard,” our Lord advises us in no uncertain terms in today’s reading from near the end of the Gospel of Luke. Odd advice, we might be tempted to think, at the beginning of yet another Advent season – a time when we are more inclined to anticipate the joy of the coming…

RCL: Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25:1-9; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13; Luke 21:25-36 “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made.” (Jeremiah 33:14) Introduction In Advent, we are asked to wait. Instead of jumping immediately into Christmas, we spend four weeks pacing along its shore. Longing. Preparing. Waiting. Our tradition…

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and waves.” Jesus foretold of horrors so great that people would faint with fear at the end of the world. Over the 2,000 years since Jesus’ ministry, death and…

Choose: God or idol? Given our druthers, what do we ultimately choose: God the Creator or those earthly things that command our attention, our concern, and too often, our devoted fascination? What is the real choice here? Can we exercise a balance of the temporal with the divine? In other words, can we have both?…

Advent, this season on which we embark today, these few short weeks of repentance, preparation, and expectation, begins with a picture of the end of the world. Jesus, already well aware of the likelihood of his own demise, is preaching prophetically about the destruction of the world people knew. And indeed, just a short 40…

Happy New Year! Indeed, this is an appropriate greeting on this the first Sunday in the liturgical calendar of the church. And we mark this beginning with the season of Advent-meaning “arrival.” It signals for us the dawn of a new day. Our readings today point to the final advent of our God-to that time…

This is the first Sunday of Advent. What is the meaning of Advent? Advent means the coming or the Second Coming of our Lord. Advent also is the time when the church’s calendar cycle changes from one year to another. At this time, we are moving from year “B” to year “C” and so our…