We are brought to the Temple at a point in time when the Lord Jesus was twelve years of age. In this episode, Mary and Joseph “lose Jesus” for a time. As the story of Jesus’ disappearance is narrated, we see in Luke’s Gospel how Mary and Joseph suffer a terrible experience for three days, much like the three days of Jesus in the tomb.

Deacon Pashley's Christmas homily.

In the mind of many, the Christian God has been defeated, if He was ever real. God has been vanquished for good by the tiny virus Covid. If God were what He was supposed to be, He would have done away with the pandemic right away and saved the world from these nasty bugs. The wars in the Ukraine and the Middle East are more recent concrete proofs of God’s glaring impotence. But one hundred and eleven years ago tonight, on Christmas Eve 1914, an incredible event took place on the Western Front in France during WWI.

John the Baptist is the prophet during Advent. John announces in today’s readings that the Messiah is coming, and a Home Coming is about to begin. This event concerns us, each one of us in the pews today!

Promises are wonderful...When you promise something to someone, you’re giving part of yourself. When someone you trust promises that they will come through for you, you don’t feel alone. Your friend is promising you their presence. The Bible is filled with God’s promises to us. What does God promise?

Paraphrased and adapted from a commencement speech at a college many years ago that is relevant to our feast of Christ the King: Because here’s something else that’s weird but true: in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. Everybody adores something or someone. The question is: what do I worship? I get to make that choice: I get to decide which or whom I worship. But I cannot not worship. And the only compelling reason for me choosing to worship Jesus Christ is that He is the only true God and that pretty much anything else I worship will eat me alive.