Second Sunday after Christmas (Year 1, NL)

Genealogies suggest a beautiful inevitability even amid political impossibility.

Matthew connects Jesus to the overarching narrative of the Jewish people—as well as to the smaller story of Matthew’s immediate community.

This story sounds like a video game.

The wise men remind us that stargazing always involves politics.

In Matthew, Jesus’ identity as king is the major source of conflict.

From the wise men to the wedding at Cana, joy comes from recognizing and affirming the good.

Why does Matthew insist on calling Jesus a king?

I am less like the Magi than some members of my church are.

"What an awful story," she said. "Why would that story be in the Bible?"

If people can approach the faith without thinking they already know what it is, they might hear the good news for themselves.

What troubles me about the holy family's flight to Egypt is that God, in Jesus, runs away.

I've always assumed that the revelation here is that Jews should let the gentiles into the community. But perhaps the revelation is at least as much the fact that the gentiles want to be included.