‘They rejoiced with exceedingly great joy’Reflections on the Nativity Gospels, #7Matthew 2:1-12 The Magi, or Wise Men, have always been a blessed part of the Christmas season, as well as enjoying a prominent role in Western religious art. Did Matthew perhaps have an...
‘Out of Egypt I have called my Son’Reflections on the Nativity Gospels, #8Matthew 2:13-23 The infant Jesus faced a devious and savage enemy in King Herod of Judea, who plotted to slay the child as a perceived rival. This vicious tyrant thus brought about the massacre...
‘Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John’Reflections on the Nativity Gospels, #9Luke 1:5-25 One of the most esteemed icons in the Orthodox Church depicts Christ in his majesty as Pantocrator (ruler of the universe), and flanked by the...
‘Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you’ Reflections on the Nativity Gospels, #10 Luke 1:26-38 As an angel announces to the priest Zachariah that his wife Elizabeth would bear John the Baptist, we are brought to the very cusp of the appearance of the Emmanuel,...
My soul magnifies the Lord Reflections on the Nativity Gospels, #11 Luke 1:39-56 Two humble women, both with child, meet in a town in the hills of Judea, and nothing less than the change of the ages is underway. The elder woman, who had long been barren, greets the...
All generations shall call me blessedReflections on the Nativity Gospels, #12Luke 1:39-56 ‘Hail, Fulfillment of the Creator’s dispensation.’ These joyous words from the hymn to the Mother of God on the Feast of her Entrance into the Temple vividly express the...
