Category Archives: Lent

Lenten Readings: Day 20

Dominion For some (well, Star Trek fans) the Dominion is an evil empire from the Delta Quadrant that fought the Federation in Deep Space Nine. For Canadian constitutional historians it is the original name of Canada – the Dominion of … Continue reading

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Lenten Readings: Day 19

Justification By Faith The text from today’s second reading of the Daily Office Lectionary is a passage central in Christian theology, particularly for the reformation. While it was not one of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses (October 31, 2017), the phrase … Continue reading

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Lenten Readings: Day 18

Hoping Against Hope In today’s second reading from the Daily Office Lectionary Paul continues his argument that the faith of Abraham is very different from works, and that grace comes about not by works but through faith. He sees salvation … Continue reading

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Lenten Readings: Day 17

Was Abraham a Gentile? At first glance it seems a strange question. Abraham a Gentile? As the patriarch of patriarchs, the person from  whom all Jews claim descent, one would have described Abraham also as a Jew. And yet, Arabs … Continue reading

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Lenten Readings: Day 16

Grace and Belief: Which Came First? Grace, apart from being a lovely name for a beautiful actress, is the term that is used for the favour of God. Grace might be offered in response to something done, but in the … Continue reading

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Lenten Readings: Day 15

Creating Dilemmas In today’s second reading in the Daily Office Lectionary Paul continues to build up the consequences of relying on good conduct before the Judgement of God. In the first paragraph today (Romans 2.25-29) Paul uses circumcision as the … Continue reading

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Lenten Readings: Day 14

How To Make It Hard To Understand Romans One of the reasons I wanted to do reflections in Lent on the second reading from the Daily Office Lectionary was because I saw that for most of the season it was … Continue reading

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St. Patrick, Missionary Bishop to Ireland

[This blog posting is heavily in debt to Thomas O’Loughlin’s Discovering Saint Patrick (New York NY/MahwahNJ: Paulist Press, 2005). If you are serious about Patrick you’ll read this book] There are few historical figure burdened with more legends, myths, and … Continue reading

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Lenten Readings: Day 13

Wrath and Judgement Paul leaves what he understands to be “sexual depravity” to speak of depravity in general in the last few verses of Chapter 1. The failure to acknowledge God by the light of natural reason and turning to … Continue reading

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Lenten Readings: Day 12

Roman Idol Having introduced himself and his various themes with elaborate rhetoric, Paul then goes on to state his main theme, lest anyone forget it: the good news of Jesus Christ “is the power of salvation to everyone who has … Continue reading

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