Today’s Gospel reading is the Parable of the Bridesmaids (traditionally better known as the Parable of the Foolish Virgins). Whenever I see it in the lectionary, I consider it like the sounding of a gong: it’s telling us that Advent is just around the corner, and that we’d better be ready. This is a passage … Continue reading Eyes Open: A Reflection on Matthew 25.1-13
I've been busy working away at my series 'Atonement through the Ages,' so I fully admit that All Saints Day snuck up on me this year. So instead of having a new post, I'll direct to some previous posts I've written that relate to the feast and its significations: The Communion of Saints as a … Continue reading Some Resources for All Saints Day
Earlier this month I had the amazing opportunity to go on vacation in Italy, and specifically to Rome and Florence. Rome is known as ‘the Eternal City’; it’s been one of the most important cities in the Western World, if not the whole world, for about 2,500 years, and both the wonderful monuments and the … Continue reading From Age to Age: A Reflection on Psalm 90
There’s an old comic strip that I think about often. It featured a father sitting in an easy chair watching the evening news, which is reporting some calamity or another. His young child walks up and asks him what he’s watching. The dad’s eyes jump as though he’s just been caught watching something he shouldn’t … Continue reading Whatever is Praiseworthy: A Reflection on Philippians 4.1-9
Today is Thanksgiving Sunday here in Canada, but as I was getting ready to write a post in honour of the holiday, I realized that today’s Gospel reading is a very important one, and one that I’ve never actually reflected on in this space. For it’s in this parable that Jesus explains how he understood … Continue reading The Cross from Jesus’ Perspective: A Reflection on Matthew 21.33-46
Matthew Root 