503. Our Great Temptations in the Desert

While there can be no doubt that the Church’s Lectionary was perfectly  chosen and arranged by the Fathers or whoever did it… … here’s another of the big mistakes they made. The story of Christ’s temptations in the wilderness is fundamental to our understanding of the Christian life. So when do we read it?  On […]

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501. Happy New Year! Today, January 3, is New Year’s Day!

  Tomorrow, January 4, is New Year’s Day, too… and so are January 5th and 6th and 7th… and even March 25th, for that matter.  In fact, did you know that in America, for over a century, March 25 actually was New Year’s Day. More about that in a minute. Dating of the beginning of […]

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499. Is Christmas a Fairy Tale? Part Two

So Jesus’ birth was the result of Mary’s being raped by a Roman soldier?! That is the suggestion of Elaine Pagels, Professor of Religion at Princeton, University. * The evidence for this is…  You’re right. There isn’t any. As for the Christmas stories?  They, she says, are  only “metaphors”. Metaphors for what? That’s not clear. […]

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