God of mystery,
by the leading of a star,
on this day you revealed your only begotten one
to the gentiles,
lead us,
who have already come to know you by faith,
all the way to the contemplation of the beauty of your glory,
through Jesus Christ, our Saviour,
who is alive with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Theological and pastoral questions about the virtual world are not going away. Avatars acting for individuals in a virtual, digital world have again been much in the news with Facebook changing its company name to Meta last year. This company has been building a metaverse in which digital avatars act as stand-ins for our physical
Eternal Father,
you have given us your only-begotten Son
to take our nature upon him,
and revealed him to us
at his baptism in the River Jordan,
grant that we, who have been born again of water and the Holy Spirit,
and made your children by adoption and grace,
may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit,
through Jesus Christ, our Saviour,
who is alive with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
When the new Joshua (Jesus) crosses the Jordan (baptism) from the far side (Jn 1:28), re-entering the Promised Land, one can imagine the texts that hit Pontius Pilate’s mobile phone from the equivalent of MI5 or the SIS. The strong Miriam-Mary and her family were a group to keep an eye on.
Our culture’s blue-pill, wellbeing-happiness “reality” needed a happier ending. The boy gets the girl. They weren’t really dead. And women can fly just as well as men. Nothing of substance has been added – Resurrections simply undoes the tragedy of Reloaded and Revolutions to essentially bring us back to where we were at the end of The Matrix.
May Christ bless our home
and remain with us throughout the new year. Amen
Dear brothers and sisters, the glory of the Lord has shone upon us, and shall ever be manifest among us, until the day of his return.
Through the rhythms of times and seasons let us celebrate the mysteries of salvation..e
Textweek resources: Christmas 2; Epiphany • collect/opening prayer reflection 2nd Sunday after Christmas For Epiphany, once again Episcopalians (Anglicans) and Roman Catholics will pray the same prayer. Deus, qui hodierna die Unigenitum tuum gentibus stella duce revelasti: concede propitius; ut, qui jam te ex fide cognovimus, usque ad contemplandam speciem tuae celsitudinis perducamur. Per eumdem Dominum nostrum Jesum
