From the very beginning, the community that God was forming was going to be much more inclusive than anyone could have imagined.
There are important historical reasons for making a distinction between ministry and vocation.
It appeared everything would work out perfectly when Ivan the Great married Sophia Palaiologos. But when inheritance was discussed the problems arrived.

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St John of the Cross' feast day on December 14 commemorates the day of his death in 1591, at the height of the Catholic renewal movement that followed the Reformation.
Christmas is a tremendous opportunity to make known the good news of great joy, but this opportunity is squandered when the Word isn’t heard on account of the predictability of the proclamation.
Not only is Jesus the New David, He is also the New Temple—the House and Kingdom! This is the throne that is everlasting.
The mystery has been revealed! The mystery, of course, is the Gospel!
At the center of this gospel reading is a conversation. It was of the memorable variety. It involved a peasant girl from a small town and a mighty messenger from God.
Praying this prayer every day reveals this painful truth, I am guilty in need of forgiveness every day.
It turns out the family trait of not being able to wait runs deep and wide in the family of God. We do foolish things while we wait for promises to be fulfilled.
Christ urges us to love our neighbor as He loved us, forgiving all of their sins - giving them the absolving, shirt-pulling, embrace that we would also want.
The proclamation of Christ's coming is for all people, at all times.
He assumed the weakest form to do his greatest work.
Bonhoeffer’s Advent preaching was carried out under the dark shadow of war yet within that night the word of promise sounds forth with radiant clarity. There is much in his preaching to inspire, deepen, and sharpen our proclamation in Advent 2020.
Whatever else may come, however worse it may get, the light has come and will come again.