To the Temple From Luke 2 22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” Mary and Joseph were observing the Mosaic law that we find in Lev. 12:1-8: 1 “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a woman has conceived,…

Don’t get me wrong. I love Christmas. I really do. I love the trees, decorations, the lights, the music and presents. However, those are the trappings of Christmas, and even non-Christians will send cards with the Madonna on them and buy a Nativity set because gosh, isn’t it cute? In fact, one of the reasons that I don’t really care if someone tells me “Merry Christmas” or not is because Christmas has become a largely secular holiday. And I sure as heck don’t care if Starbucks leaves off reindeer and snowflakes off its red cups, because what the heck do reindeer and snowflakes have to do with the Nativity? Absolutely…

The First Coming “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city.” “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped Him…