Another Provocation from 3 years ago reflecting on (in the words of an old hymn) “Man, at war with man….” The old hymn asks us to “hear the angels sing.” This year I wonder what that means, especially in the midst of the activity of groups like the Boogaloo Bois who imagine that this is the moment to start a second Civil War.
1 When Jesus was born,
in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of Herod,
the king,
Look:
Magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem.
2 They said:
Where is the one who was born King of the Judeans?
For we saw his star in the East,
and we came to worship him.
3 After the king, Herod, heard this
he was shaken
and all Jerusalem with him.
4 After he gathered all the high priests,
and scribes of the people,
he inquired from them
where the Messiah is born.
5 They said to him:
In Bethlehem of the Judeans
For thus it stands written through the prophet:
6 You, Bethlehem, land of Judea
you are not least among the leaders of Judea,
for out of you will come one who leads,
one who will shepherd my people, Israel.
7 Then Herod,
after secretly calling the magi,
learned exactly from them…
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