Tag: covenant

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Christ the Firstborn

Photo of daffodils with text overlay of the couplet, "Christ the Firstborn."
“Christ the Firstborn”
A reflection on Luke 2:22-40
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
©️2025 Gloria M. Chang

Mary presented Christ the Firstborn in the temple, offering humanity’s renewal to God.

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,” and to offer the sacrifice of “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,” in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.

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Israel’s Universal Banquet

Photo of snail and wild flowers with text overlay of the Shalom Snail couplet, "Israel's Universal Banquet."
“Israel’s Universal Banquet”
A reflection on Luke 14:15-24
Tuesday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time
©️2024 Gloria M. Chang

How does Israel’s universal banquet invite everyone to God’s table of grace?

One of those at table with Jesus said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the kingdom of God.”

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Paradox of Peace

A snail and begonias speaking the Shalom Snail couplet.
“Paradox of Peace”
A reflection on Luke 12:49-53
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
©️2022 Gloria M. Chang

“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do

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The Sleep of Adam and Abram

Sleep of Adam and Abram, Shalom Snail
“The Sleep of Adam and Abram”
A reflection on Genesis 2:21-24 and 15:1-18
Second Sunday of Lent (Year C)
©️2022 Gloria M. Chang

So the Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 

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Lambs Among Wolves

“Lambs Among Wolves”
Luke 10:1-12 “in a snailshell”
Thursday of the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 Gloria M. Chang

After this the Lord appointed seventy[-two] others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.

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On Eagles’ Wings

“On Eagles’ Wings”
A reflection on Exodus 19:2-6a
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
©️2023 by Gloria M. Chang

After they made the journey from Rephidim and entered the wilderness of Sinai, they then pitched camp in the wilderness. While Israel was encamped there in front of the mountain, Moses went up to the mountain of God.

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Fire-Tried Gold

Fiery furnace by Toros Roslin, Mashtots, 1266 (MS No. 2027, Fol. 14 V.)

Fifth Week of Lent, Wednesday

Daniel 3

Iconic images and words in the Bible interconnect to form a constellation that radiates to the “edges” of infinity. The episode of the three Jews thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image summons iconic connections from Genesis to Revelation.… Read the rest

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Indestructible Covenant

Fiery furnace by Toros Roslin, Mashtots, 1266 (MS No. 2027, Fol. 14 V.)

Third Week of Lent, Tuesday

Daniel 3:25, 34-43

Shadrach (Hananiah), Meshach (Mishael), Abednego (Azariah), and Belteshazzar (Daniel) managed to preserve their Israelite heritage intact in the midst of Babylonian power and prestige.… Read the rest