“…Love cannot and will never calculate losses and profits, or any pragmatic transaction. Love is far beyond commerce and rationality.   It is a magnifying lens over the heart (as Mary proclaims: ‘My heart magnifies the Lord’) through which other hearts are caught on fire when we consent to the incarnation of Christ through our own lives.”

“Maybe John becomes a symbol of those of us who stand slightly at the margins every Advent and Christmastide, knowing that something big is about to happen but not quite knowing how to be part of the party…”

“John proclaimed the coming of a new reality which was already breaking in—the ‘Realm of Heaven.’ In John’s gospel, Jesus referred to it as “eternal life.” Paul called it ‘the New Creation,’ while John the Revelator saw it as the ‘New Earth.’”