Category: Readings
-
The True Hero: Forgiveness and Redemption in the Stories of Saint Peter and Saint Paul
Saint Peter and Saint Paul, celebrated on their feast day, are foundational yet flawed figures in the early Christian church. Peter is known for his impulsiveness and for denying Jesus publicly, but also for a faith that grows stronger despite his mistakes. Paul, initially a persecutor of Christians, transforms into a leading apostle whose missionary…
-
Fierce Joy
Third Sunday of Advent (Year B): Luke 1:39-56(In the Revised Common Lectionary, Mary’s song (Luke 46b-55) is one of the options listed under this week’s Psalm or Canticle) 1) As we tiptoe closer to the manger over the next two Sundays, we’ll read passages from the Gospel of Luke. Mark’s Gospel is our focus this…
-
The Church as Noah’s Ark
by Dan Clendenin 1 Peter 3:13-22 Source: https://www.journeywithjesus.net/lectionary-essays/current-essay?id=3568 Back in 1987 I served three weeks as a visiting professor at the Bangui Evangelical School of Theology (BEST) in the Central African Republic. The seminary was founded in 1973 to train pastors from over twenty Francophone African countries at a graduate level. Bangui holds a special…
-
Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled
by Debie Thomas On this fifth Sunday of Easter, the setting of our Gospel is grim and sombre. Jesus has just finished a last supper with his disciples. He has washed their feet, given them a new commandment, predicted Peter’sdenial, foretold Judas’s betrayal, and told his friends that he is about to leave them. “Where…
-
Doubting Thomas
By Dan Clendenin God in Christ has defeated death and reconciled the cosmos to himself. And so the Yale historian Jaroslav Pelikan once wrote, “If Christ is raised from the dead, nothing else matters. If he is not raised from the dead, nothing else matters.”The apostle Paul was insistent when he wrote to the Corin-thians,…
-
The Clown King
Palm SundayBy Debie Thomas I’ve never heard a sermon about Jesus’ sense of hu-mour. If I were to construct a personality profile, based on everything the Church has taught me about Jesus, I’d use words like zealous, compassionate, sombre, and gentle. Giv-en the fact that crowds flocked to him so easily, I’d probably throw in…
-
Beyond a Sentimental Gospel
The Slaughter of the Innocents: Stanley Hauerwas of Duke University once observed that sentimentality is one of the greatest enemies of understanding the gospel. Perhaps there’s no time when we’re more susceptible to this danger than at Christmas with the stories about the birth of Jesus. What parent hasn’t gushed with pride watching his child…
-
Rethinking Christmas
There can be a gauzy, candlelit coziness to Christmas Eve and Day — and that’s all well and good, as far as it goes. Coziness in the midst of December is a fine thing, and no Christmas season would be complete without the warm, wondrous enchantment it inspires. But at the same time, there’s a…
-
Daily Reading and Reflections