by Peter James | Dec 9, 2024 | Gerald Manley Hopkins
We need to talk about depression during Advent. December brings diminishing daylight and colder temperatures to drive us indoors. Add to it unrealistic expectations about Christmas or nostalgia about holidays from long ago. Despite the traditional song,...
by Peter James | Dec 8, 2024 | Ephrem the Syrian
The Christmas story is full of paradoxes. You may recall from English class that a paradox is a seemingly contradictory statement that, upon further reflection, makes sense (the Greek word for paradox means “to think beyond”). Consider the paradox that the...
by Peter James | Dec 7, 2024 | Christina Rossetti
John 3.16 is the world’s most popular Bible verse. It is searched online two million times monthly the world over. Martin Luther called it “The heart of the Bible, the gospel in miniature.” Love is an essential attribute of God. While we have only...
by Peter James | Dec 6, 2024 | Gelasian Sacramentary
Believers are often exhorted to wake up in Scripture. Spiritual lethargy is a killer sin that can undermine life with God. Paul writes to Christians in Rome, “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber” (Rom. 13.1). Paul writes comparable words to the...
by Peter James | Dec 5, 2024 | Syro-Malabar Liturgy
There is something in me that wants to clear Thomas’ name. People through the ages have hung on this apostle the derogatory label “Doubting Thomas” for his caution concerning reports that Jesus had been raised from the dead, “Unless I see the...
