8 Feb 2026 at 5:50am
When the father runs out to meet his prodigal younger son, the former has nothing to gain, no profit motive, no angle: he is…
When the father runs out to meet his prodigal younger son, the former has nothing to gain, no profit motive, no angle: he is simply overflowing with love for his child for no other reason than the latter is his child. Likewise, our heavenly Father needs nothing from us, and he does not love us because of what we do; he loves us for who we are, not as defined by our often-sinful actions, but as defined by our relationship to him. We are his beloved creation, and, through baptism, his beloved children. When we were still rebels, sunk in sin and staunch in opposition to his divine sovereignty, God came running into the world to meet us, his arms stretched wide on the Cross in order to embrace our prodigal selves.
Glory, O Lord, to thy fathomless love and mercy!
2 Feb 2026 at 5:50am
Joyous feast! Today’s feast is a feast of liminality. For one, it stands on the threshold between Christmastide and Lent.…
Joyous feast!
Today’s feast is a feast of liminality. For one, it stands on the threshold between Christmastide and Lent. Christ still appears to us as a newborn Child, just as he did at his Nativity, but the lingering joy of the holy birth is blended with tragic foreboding as Simeon, having pronounced his canticle of light and peace, follows it with prophecies of the Savior’s Passion.
This feast also stands at the threshold between the Old Covenant and the New: St. Joseph, bearing his two doves, fulfills the Old Covenant, even while Christ, presented in the temple as an offering to the Father, foreshadows the New Covenant that he will author on the Cross with his own precious Blood.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, presented in the temple and met by Simeon and Anna for our salvation, have mercy on us! Amen.
1 Feb 2026 at 5:50am
The Lenten Triodion begins today, and it begins with a weeklong period of feasting. This fact, coupled with today’s Gospel…
The Lenten Triodion begins today, and it begins with a weeklong period of feasting. This fact, coupled with today’s Gospel reading, warns us against pride and hypocrisy: the Lord desires, not that we become puffed up because of our pious works, but that we repent in our hearts and in our lives. Fasting is a means, not an end.
Moreover, by starting this penitential season with a fast-free week, we are reminded that the goal of Lent – the goal of repentance and the entire Christian struggle – is not self-denial and deprivation per se; the goal is restored relationship with God. Ultimately, we seek to deprive ourselves not of food, but of sin, and our final goal is not sorrow, but the everlasting joy of the heavenly banquet. Once again: fasting is a means, not an end.