Water was everything to the people of Israel, so the coming of the Messiah was marked by rivers and fountains and lush greenery. Water in abundance was a definite sign of God’s presence. God created humans with a destiny toward divine plenitude. We’re evolving toward a new heaven and

  Ebeneezer Scrooge was converted when he realized after the visitation of the three ghosts that the past, present, and future are all rolled into one. In liturgy we call that “anamnesis.” We remember the past, pray about the present, and know the potential for the future. As we look

Throughout Advent we hear “Prepare the way.” So we get busy filling in valleys, making mountains low, smoothing the rough ways. All the earth is getting ready, actually evolving to become Love, the metaphor of Christ. The Spirit who breathed upon the waters in Genesis continues to breathe over the

In today’s lectionary readings Jesus cured two blind men because of their faith, and the prophet Isaiah claimed that “on that day…the eyes of the blind shall see.” Whatever Jesus did and was will be fulfilled in the Second Coming, when we will all see aright. We are evolving toward

Lectionary readings in Advent and Advent hymns often speak of “that day.” “On that day” all good things will happen—peace, prosperity, plentiful food. That’s certainly worth waiting for. And so in Advent we wait, but our waiting cannot be the waiting of Charlie Brown in a pumpkin patch watching for

The wolf with the lamb, the leopard with the kid, the calf with the lion, the cow with the bear—and all led by a child. That’s unity beyond anything we can now imagine. In Advent we long for the coming of the Lord, best expressed in Jesus Christ’s own longing

The Book of Revelation speaks of a new heaven and a new earth. What will the new earth be? The new earth will be the Reign of God. There will be something “un-earthy” about it, something quite heavenly. Such a transformation flows from the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ. Turning

As a liturgist/musician I participate in nearly every act of worship in the parish. This should make me holy, don’t you think? But it doesn’t seem to be working that way. The liturgy can easily wash over me without my participating in the reality. Ron Rolheiser writes: “We participate in

The wind of God, the Holy Spirit, continues to sweep over the face of the earth. After billions of years God’s creativity is as vibrant as ever. God just can’t stop! Day by day our world is becoming more and more “charged with the grandeur of God” (Gerard Manley Hopkins).

As a human being, Jesus Christ was as subject to daily tasks as any of us. In the carpenter shop in Nazareth did Jesus wonder about the punishment of Adam and Eve to work, especially the work that is tedious, thankless, mindless and so repetitive that we wonder why we