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Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls – Week 2
Two or only One Messiah? The scrolls suggest the Essenes were looking for a returning Aaron as the return of the true High Priest and a returning David as the return of the King. There were other themes of expectation: that a combination priest-king in the order of Melchizedek would return for the final Jubilee… Continue reading
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Something’s Coming
In the 1950s musical West Side Story, the lead character Tony sings a song called “Something’s Coming” which shares the sense of excited expectation we should have on the fourth Sunday of Advent. Tony sings, “Something’s coming, something good. Something’s coming, I don’t know what it is but it’s going to be great.” Here in… Continue reading
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Christ is Truly King
The Feast of Christ the King is relatively new, having been instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. The point of the feast is relatively old, for it weighs in on the question of whether or not those who live in the world but do not recognize Jesus as their king are nonetheless his subjects.… Continue reading
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Discerning Caesar
The gospel reading today has much to tell us about discernment. The end, the goal, of discernment is the identification of the best or truest outcome, and the determination to do what is necessary to achieve it. Last week, the parable of the wedding feast was also about discernment. The wedding banquet was not limited… Continue reading
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Secret One
We were not able to record this session, but here are the slides. Continue reading
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The Laborers’ Gift
The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. Mt 20:1 The grumbling by the workers at the end of the day is sometimes the main thing that we take away from this story. I want today to look at it from a different angle.… Continue reading
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Be a Fool for Christ
Jesus said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Do you think Peter really understood what he said? It’s a true statement, but like Peter we do not really know the full truth of that statement. It’s… Continue reading