Around the end of last year, I was pointed to an article, “Do the Gospels borrow from Pagan myths?“. It reminded me of the regular contention around this time that Christmas is essentially a pagan celebration. It’s usually said by a Christmas Grinch, or a Jehovah’s Witness, or someone with a particular agenda. The truth,
Praying The Bible (Part 1) Praying The Bible (Part 2) Ignatius Loyola popularised a method of praying the Bible using one’s imagination. Some of you may find this really helpful. Some of you may not. Pray as you can… There is a problem with language particularly highlighted with this “method” – some use the word
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:7 Actually, there’s no mention of an inn. The word usually translated here as “inn” is κατάλυμα (kataluma). It is the same word
Whether you regard the Christmas Season as concluding on Christmas Day, Epiphany, the Baptism of the Lord, Candlemas, the Sunday following Candlemas, or are Orthodox, or Armenian, and celebrate the Incarnation on another day and see the season differently… this is a reposting of an important reflection. We tend to speak about “secular” as if
Every 2-3 years, the Roman Catholic Church celebrates World Youth Day. It was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985 after two successful international gatherings with young people in Rome in 1984 and 1985. The concept is around youth as a time of journey and pilgrimage, and the value of young people. The age
Northern Hemisphere Christians are praying for Christian Unity. Southern Hemisphere Christians will wait until June to do so. In a comment on the site, Anglican Downunder, Bowman Walton recently gave a very helpful summary of the origin of the Northern-Hemisphere Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity: In 1898, a priest and a lay woman organised
I am highlighting my friend Bishop-elect Peter Carrell’s Resourcing Preaching and Worship Down Under, and so this week provide a commentary to the choice of collect made there: Let us pray (in silence) [that through us God may be manifest] or [that we may be transformed into the nature of Christ] pause Merciful God, in
Last week, I blogged about one way to pray the Bible: the Daily Office – the using of the inspired Word of God, especially the Psalms and Canticles, as words for prayer. This has a strong element of keep moving along… This week complements the Daily Office by a go-slow way of praying the Bible:
