1 Cor 1:3-9:
Paul refers to Jesus Christ six times in this reading, and three times in the preceding two verses: his focus is clear.
“Our Lord Jesus Christ; who will sustain you to the end.” The Lectionary has “until the last day.” Neither translation, I think, quite gets the original. The Greek word is “telous”, which brings associations of the end as an accomplishment, a completion, not just “It’s over, there’s no more I can do.” Like John 19:30 “It is finished / completed.” Not a cause for terror: God is faithful.
Mark 13:33-37:
The preceding verse is: “About that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” So there’s no point in speculating or forecasting or worrying. What’s important is how I live today, in full confident expectation, whatever comes, expected or unexpected. Watch, Stay awake, be alert: these come four times in the reading.
Gentle must my fingers be
And pitiful my heart
Since I must bind in human form
A living power so great …
Let in the wound,
Let in the pain,
Let in your child tonight.
1 Cor 1:3-9:
Paul refers to Jesus Christ six times in this reading, and three times in the preceding two verses: his focus is clear.
“Our Lord Jesus Christ; who will sustain you to the end.” The Lectionary has “until the last day.” Neither translation, I think, quite gets the original. The Greek word is “telous”, which brings associations of the end as an accomplishment, a completion, not just “It’s over, there’s no more I can do.” Like John 19:30 “It is finished / completed.” Not a cause for terror: God is faithful.
Mark 13:33-37:
The preceding verse is: “About that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” So there’s no point in speculating or forecasting or worrying. What’s important is how I live today, in full confident expectation, whatever comes, expected or unexpected. Watch, Stay awake, be alert: these come four times in the reading.
A poem for Advent:
Advent 1955, by John Betjeman:
http://www.christmas-time.com/cp-advent.html:
Yet if God had not given so
He still would be a distant stranger
And not the Baby in the manger.
A totally different Advent reflection:
Kathleen Raine: Northumbrian Sequence IV:
http://www.recoveringwords.com/site/kathleen-raine-poetry-and-the-sacred:
Gentle must my fingers be
And pitiful my heart
Since I must bind in human form
A living power so great …
Let in the wound,
Let in the pain,
Let in your child tonight.