I've been thinking a lot on the fact that Jesus was born in a cave. Here is an expanded version of an article I wrote which was published last week at The Stream website: If you have set up your nativity scene by now you probably put the figures in a quaint, wooden stable shed. With [...]
First, what do I mean by "Christmas Clutter". I don't mean the boxes of unwanted presents, extra Christmas lights that don't work, abandoned wrapping paper, leftover food or your tree that's dropping its needles. I'm talking about all the stuff that has accumulated around the simple stories of Christmas as recorded in the gospels. Christmas is [...]
This is an excerpt from my book The Mystery of the Magi. The wonderful Star of Bethlehem is one of the most enduring and endearing parts of the Christmas magi story. Carols and cards and Christmas storybooks all promote the magical mystery star that moved through the night sky, leading the wise men on an arduous journey [...]
A poem from the cycle of poems I am writing on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary. Annunciation Here in a bright alchemy, history collides and combines with eternal things. The mundane is infused with mystery, and the dust and mud and blood have wings. Here every moment of time is pregnant with meaning, [...]
When I was researching my book Mystery of the Magi - The Quest to Identify the Three Wise Men I discovered the extraordinary amount of legendary and mythical material surrounding the magi story. More than any other gospel story, the tale of the wise men who came to pay homage to the Christ child attracted elaboration [...]
No doubt you have heard the old preaching points that the magi's gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh represented Jesus identity: gold for kingship, incense for his divinity and myrrh as a pointer to his death. Well, ok. But these are symbolic meanings added by preachers after the event. There is nothing wrong with that necessarily, [...]
One of the riveting themes within the Star Wars saga is the existence of monasticism. The Jedi Knights are also monks. Connecting with the warrior monks of Eastern religions, they also connect with the religious orders of knights in medieval Christendom. The Jedi clearly remind of the spiritual truths of the New Testament where St Paul [...]
The new book I am working on is called Beheading Hydra: A Battle Plan for Christians in an Atheistic World. The first half of the book lays out twelve "ism's" that are the foundation of our culture--born as it is from the enlightenment. These "ism's" are in three categories "The World, The Flesh and The Devil". The second [...]
You can be sure that if I get up in the pulpit and give 'em hell I get lots of people praising me for a "good sermon this week padre!" If I let rip against the immorality, homosexuality, sex before marriage, abortion, alcoholism, drug addiction and adultery I'll get good comments. But I have several problems [...]
I'm reading The Meaning of Jesus- Two Visions by Marcus J. Borg and N.T.Wright. Borg is a liberal Biblical scholar, Wright is more conservative. It's a good book, and one I'd recommend to anyone who wants to understand the liberal Christian point of view and the conservative Biblical perspective. Borg and Wright are respectful. Both write well [...]