Advent (9)

Our first reading today presents us with the curious case of Ahaz being offered a sign from the Lord Adonai, but turning it down. The reasons that Ahaz turns down the sign are ostensibly quite noble, he says that he does not wish to tempt the Lord. Yet, the prophet Isaiah …

In today’s gospel we see John having doubts about Jesus and sending his disciples to Jesus to ask if he is indeed the one who is come or if they should expect another. What might have occasioned these doubts on the part of John the Baptist? We might get clue from looking at …

Today’s gospel gives us the opportunity to contemplate the person of John the Baptist, whose ministry and preaching constituted a radical subversion of the established channels of authority. Firstly, we must remember that John the Baptist came from a priestly family. His …

The German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe spent almost 60 years writing his magnum opus, Faust. The novel centres on a wager between Faust and Mephistopheles, who symbolizes Satan. In a scene reminiscent of the wager between Satan and God in the Book of Job, …

With growing concern in recent years about the representation of minority groups in films, books and other works of fiction, a certain test was developed as a tool to measure the representation of women in a work of fiction. This test, known as the Bechdel test, has three …

Today is Gaudete Sunday, a Latin word meaning rejoice. In our second reading today, Paul even though he is in prison, is overflowing with joy and enjoins the same joy on the community at Philippi. Paul encourages the people of Philippi to rejoice always. We might think that …

Often when we attend ceremonies, those who are invited to make speeches preface their remarks with long formal acknowledgements of dignitaries both present and absent that go something like this: His Excellency, President of the Republic, in absentia, the Honourable Member …

Having just come out of a 30-day retreat, I had a rather jarring experience on Tuesday when I went into a mall for the first time in a month. But what added to the dissonance in my head was to see Christmas decorations all around the mall when we had not even begun Advent. …

in Macheke. As I was due to leave the parish I had been ministering at and move on to a new mission, I used my retreat to review the four years that I had spent at this parish. I could point to solid structures that I had built that would be my legacy in Mbare: I had turned …