On this Second Sunday after the Epiphany, the lectionary drops us into the Gospel of John with a phrase that is easy to miss: “the next day.” The next day after what? Well, the next day after John has been questioned by the religious authorities, interrogated, really, about who he is and what he’s doing […]

Two days before the festival of Epiphany and the end of the Christmas Season, the lights are still up, the music still familiar. And yet the Gospel appointed for today refuses to let us stay in that safe, sentimental place. Matthew gives us a Christmas story that is not cozy. It is dangerous. It is […]