We have a priest

After Hebrews 8:1-13 

We have a priest

like Melchizedek.

We have a priest

who sits in heaven.

We have a priest

seated at the throne.

Sacrifices are no longer

required, as he was

the sacrifice.

We have a priest who

replaces earthly ones.

We have a priest who

eliminated the need

for earthly priests.

We have a priest who

replaces earthly sacrifices.

We have a priest

in heaven because

we cannot keep the law.

 

Photograph by Jacob Bentzinger via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Mother’s Day After Abortion – Camille Cates at New Growth Press.

 

The Hidden Sorrow of Mother’s Day – David Bannon at Front Porch Republic.

 

The Ache for Home – Mary Grace Mangano at Comment Magazine.

The work of a high priest

After Hebrew’s 5:1-10 

The high priest chosen

from among us acts

on our behalf, offering

gifts, offering sacrifices.

He knows us and deals

with us, gently, because

he’s one of us, weak.

He acts on our behalf

and on his own.

There is a high priest,

after Melchizedek’s order,

the king of Salem who

prayed with cries and

tears, the priest who

offered bread and wine

to Abraham, the high priest 

who learned obedience through

suffering, the high priest

made perfect, the high priest

offering salvation, after

Melchizedek’s order.

 

Photograph by Josh Applegate via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

To My Unborn Child – poem by Jane Clark Scharl at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin). 

 

A Frequent Mistake: Seeking Meaning from Work – Dr. Renita Reed-Thomson at the Institute for Faith, Work, & Economics.

 

I Saw Water Flowing – poem by Cody Ilardo at Power & Glory.

 

The Glastonbury Thorn – The Saxon Cross.

 

Year of the Monarch: In Sync – A Communal Poem for the Monarch Butterfly – Dheepa Maturi at Tweetspeak Poetry.

High priest

After Hebrews 4:14-16

We enter the temple,

sometimes stumbling,

sometimes crawling,

sometimes curiously

walking. We find

a high priest,

the high priest,

one who’s been tempted,

as we are, one who has

resisted temptation,

as we have (too often)

not.

But he knows.

He knows our temptation;

he knows our fall.

We draw near,

sometimes stumbling,

sometimes crawling,

sometimes curiously walking.

 

Photograph by Jacob Bentzinger via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Poetry in the Image of God – poem by James Tweedie at Society of Classical Poets.

 

Why Cancel Culture Needs the Breathtaking Mercy of God’s Kingdom – Chris Castaldo at The Gospel Coalition.

 

Light and Hope: Two Poetry Collections by Jane Greer – William Tate at Current Magazine.

 

We cannot keep from speaking: A sermon on a reading from Acts 4 – Dan King at Bibledude.

 

C.S. Lewis: Before Narnia – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.