Tag Archive for ‘Nativity’

Nativity in Stained Glass

These three windows in St Benedict’s Church, Newton, Auckland, tell the nativity sequence beautifully. The birth of Jesus in the stable, the angels pointing the way so the shepherds could adore Him, and the Magi coming with their gifts – the Epiphany. In the church the stable scene is in the middle, so the shepherds […]

Fulfillment Quotations in Matthew’s Gospel

Some forty years ago, Scripture scholar Peter Ellis wrote of the first gospel, ‘Reading Matthew, one gets the feeling the author put together his gospel with the precision of a Swiss watch.’ One sign of this precision is that Matthew includes in his Gospel ‘fulfillment quotations,’ Old Testament statements in something other than their historical […]

Thursday 8 September

the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Micah 5:1-4, Ps 13, Mathew 1:1-16, 18-23. A sign of contradiction The disciple is a person of gracious freedom. The disciple is directed to shake the dust off his feet when rejected (Matt 10:14-15), pray for enemies, and love those who hate him (Matt 5:44). Free vulnerable discipleship is […]

Monday 30 December

Sixth Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord 1 John 2:12-17, Ps 95:7-10, Luke 2:36-40 Loving God’s world St John, in his Gospel (3:16) says that “God so loved the world …” Yet, in his letter which we read today, he warns us “Do not love the world”. How can these be […]

Back Blocks Nativity

They were set for home, but the horse went lame And the rain came belting out of the sky Joe saw the hut and he went to look And he said, “She’s old, but she’ll keep you dry” So her kid was born in that roadman’s shack By the light of a lamp that’d […]