Therefore, the contrast between old and new—shadows and image—lies not in the inability of the rites of old but in their having come to an end with the incarnation of Christ. This sermon to the Hebrews both warns against the temptation to return to these (now) empty rites and ceremonies and encourages those who gather (now) around Jesus in the congregation of…

Joy comes subtly in the Collect as the darkness of our hearts is lightened by the gracious visitation of our Lord. Similarly, though joy frames the Introit with its antiphon (Phil 4:4), the Introit psalm itself hints at the joy concealed in the Gospel: “The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up…

Philippi was the first church plant by the apostle Paul in Europe. Paul peppers his letter to the Philippians with a call to arms, entreating the Philippians to stand firm in the faith that had been implanted by the apostle and which he says was being completed by God himself. As Paul notes elsewhere in the epistle, “It is God who works…