Is Christ a way or the way?

Is Christ a way or the way?

On Thursday, we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension of Christ, the last time apostles would see Jesus before he was taken into heaven.  After all those years of teaching, example, miracles and finally his greatest act of love and mercy on the cross, Jesus had returned to the apostles he befriended and loved for their final instructions.  They were never going to see their best friend again in this life but what did Jesus leave them, what did he leave all of us with?  He told them not to let their hearts be troubled and that he was preparing a place in heaven for them. The told them that he and the Father were one and whatever they asked for in his name, he would do it.  He asked then to keep his commandments, and he let them know that he would not leave them orphans but send a helper, an Advocate to be with them forever – the Holy Spirit.  He told them not to be afraid and that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, who comes from the Father, would teach them everything and remind them of everything he said, giving them the power and authority to teach, perform miracles, forgive sins, and be his witnesses.   He asked them to love each other as he loved them, laying down their very lives for each other.  He instructed them to spread the Good News, the gospel, to the “ends of the earth,” and promised to return to bring them home to the Father.  

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Is the Holy Spirt in my life?

Is the Holy Spirt in my life?

I will have to admit that I have struggled to relate to the Holy Spirit in a personal way, to grasp how to think about that last of the “three men I admire most, the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost.”  We can know Jesus in a real human and tangible way.  He left us his words in scripture.  He thought us how to know and understand the profound love of the Father for each of us.  He gave us his example and even his life.  He built a Church to leave us with guidance and his true presence.  But he sent us something more, someone I am just beginning to connect with more consciously. The Holy Spirit.

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Happy Easter - now what?

Happy Easter - now what?

We can only image how the apostles and followers of Jesus felt after he had been so brutally executed and now go forever.   This man was like no other.  He saw into their very souls with unconditional love and acceptance.  He spoke of God’s love and our lives in ways that profoundly impacted them.   He had moved them in a way that they literally dropped everything to follow him, his words, his friendship, and his example.  On the night before he was crucified in such a brutal fashion, he knelt as a servant to wash each of their feet and shared his body and blood with them so that they could become one with him and live forever in God’s love.  Within a matter of hours, Jesus was the ultimate sacrificial lamb as he poured himself out in total self-gift.  Out of pure love and mercy, Jesus took the place of not only Barabbas but of each apostle and each one of us on the cross for our sins so that we might share eternal life with him in heaven. 

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Have yourself a merry "Little Christmas"

Have yourself a merry "Little Christmas"

Every year, my extended family makes a point of getting together to celebrate “Little Christmas” or Epiphany.  It is great to have everyone together to celebrate family. These days, I am not sure how many people know that there really are twelve days of Christmas, or that “Little Christmas” or Epiphany actually exists at the end.  Epiphany is the Christian feast day that celebrates the visit of the Magi (the three wise men or kings) who followed the star that led them to where Jesus was, prostrated themselves in homage, and offered their gifts to the new King.  Epiphany is from a Greek word that means manifestation or appearance.  As we socialize, watch football playoffs, and eat our appetizers and peppermint stick ice cream pie, the idea that God would reveal himself to us through his Son taking on flesh and being both divine and human, should move us beyond words each and every year.

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Christmas - what's it all about?

Christmas - what's it all about?

My wife and I bought our starter house, a small Cape, when we got married.  We are still in our “starter” house because it became home as we fixed it up, started our journey of life as a couple, raised our daughters, and now sit here in the sun room we added years ago, watching the snow blanket the neighborhood just one week before Christmas.  Our family has grown up celebrating and enjoying each of the holidays the calendar brings, but I think it would be a unanimous vote that the Christmas season is the favorite.  We were reminiscing about an overnight trip we took with the girls to Portsmouth, New Hampshire during a snow storm to visit the living history village of Strawberry Banke during the Christmas season.  As our small car slipped and slid its way up Route 95, we were all questioning our sanity, but once we finally reached our destination and watched the saucer-like snowflakes (we have only seen in Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and the movie Elf) gently fall outside the restaurant we were now cozied up in, it was more than worth the journey.  It felt like Christmas and we were together to enjoy it.

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