Meditations for Lent: Jesus is Tempted in the Desert

Sometimes a picture says it better than words. Rubens certainly did. The devil always comes bringing something he says we can't and shouldn't resist. After all, bread is a good thing isn't it?

The Christmas Season Comes to an End

Tomorrow is the last day of the Christmas season, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. It's a transition feast that sees the close of Christ's hidden life and the beginning of His public ministry. From this point, John, the herald of the Messiah, will decrease and Jesus will increase.

I offer in anticipation of the feast Raphael's rendition of the Baptism of Christ. I love it because Jesus is not some wimpy-looking, glassy-eyed holy card picture, but a strong man with muscles well-developed from hard manual labor. I can see this Jesus in my imagination building houses in Nazareth, carrying support beams for walls and roofs, turning over the tables of the money-changers with ease, and standing in the boat strong arms upraised demanding the wind and waves to be quiet. I can see him in the garden saying "It is I," and His persecutors collapsing to the ground before Him. He hides His divinity, but it is there in His humanity and in Raphael's great picture I can see it even as the angels bow before Him. Praised be to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

Merry Christmas!

Does this not make you want to sing Angels We Have Heard on High? The celebration in heaven  and on earth is clear in Botticelli's painting, but what's also clear is the premonition of suffering as baby Jesus lies on a white sheet reminiscent of his shroud. Come, Lord Jesus, Savior of the world! Reign in our hearts!

Imitate Mary: Say, "Yes!" to God's Will in Your Life.

As we prepare for Christmas and the coming of the Christ child born of Mary, it's good to remember how it all began -- with the visit of an angel like a pillar of light bringing good news to the world through a young virgin, almost a child herself. Will you say "Yes!" to the will of God this Christmas? (Hat tip to The Wanderer and writer John Young for his article, Mary: Pondering the Prophecies.)

Bradi Barth: The Visitation

Advent is a good time to meditate on The Visitation. It was Mother Teresa's favorite mystery of the rosary because, she said, Mary was the first missionary of charity hurrying to see her elderly cousin as soon as she learned she was pregnant. And one of my very favorite depictions of The Visitation is Bradi Barth's. Most artists show the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth, but few show the two unborn children greeting each other. But Bradi Barth gives us a window into the womb.

And here's a little bit about Bradi Barth herself. Praise God for the talents he showers on people. Each of us has gifts to share. And what a lovely one He endowed on Bradi Barth. Thank you, Jesus!