Sunday's Readings

Sunday's Readings | March 26, 2023 Ezek. 37:1-4 Ps. 130 Rom. 8:6-11 John 11:1-45 Deep in the heart of Lent and befitting the season, we hear of loss and death, but we also anticipate the wondrous mystery of the resurrection. We are, in a sense, at the threshold of two times, Good Friday and Easter. The valley of dry bones is a picture of “the whole house of Israel” … [Read more...] about 5 Lent, Year A: Easter in Lent

SUNDAY'S READINGS | MARCH 19, 2023 1 Sam. 16:1-13 Ps. 23 Eph. 5:8-14 John 9:1-41 The mysteries of existence, the unsolved problems, the perplexities for which there is no single and easy answer, often open a space where “God’s works might be revealed” (John 9:3). The question in John’s gospel (“Why was this man born blind?”) stands in for all suffering we do not … [Read more...] about 4 Lent, Year A: Beautiful Eyes

SUNDAY’S READINGS | MARCH 12, 2023 Ex. 17:1-7 Ps. 95 Rom. 5:1-11 John 4:5-42 If the account of the Israelites thirsting in the desert were merely a human story of biological need, our sympathies would lie entirely with the people. “Give us water to drink” is surely a desperate plea, and so we hardly wonder that they complain against Moses, “Why did you bring us out of … [Read more...] about 3 Lent, Year A: Need and God

Sunday's Readings | March 5, 2023 Gen. 12:1-4a Ps. 121 Rom. 4:1-5, 13-17 John 3:1-17 We have been called, and we have responded in the obedience of faith. Still, we may from time to time go astray, and so the calling must be renewed, and the response reinvigorated. With penitent hearts and steadfast faith, we are called to Jesus Christ over and over again. That is, we … [Read more...] about 2 Lent, Year A: Motion and Stasis

Sunday's Readings | Feb. 26, 2023 Gen. 2:15-17; 3:1-7 Ps. 32 Rom. 5:12-19 Matt. 4:1-11 The Devil promotes “critical thinking skills” in the face of a mystery we know only in part. Where devotion is first and foremost required, evil insinuates sin and death by asking questions, putting God to the test, examining God as a thing for clever speculation. Austin Farrer rightly … [Read more...] about 1 Lent, Year A: Superabounding Grace

SUNDAY’S READINGS | Feb. 19, 2023 Ex. 24:12-18 Ps. 2 or 99 2 Pet. 1:16-21 Matt. 17:1-9 In the last weeks of the seasons following Pentecost, we have met the image of “light.” We meet it again today in its most intense representation: Jesus transfigured on the holy mountain. And while his Transfiguration anticipates our own as we are “being changed into his likeness from … [Read more...] about Last Epiphany, Year A: Shining Lamps

SUNDAY’S READINGS | February 12, 2023 Deut. 30:15-20 or Sir. 15:15-20 Ps. 119:1-8 1 Cor. 3:1-9 Matt. 5:21-37 St. Paul’s opening salutation to the Church in Corinth is both sincere and provocative. He is genuinely grateful for the gifts of the Spirit they have received and, for that very reason, troubled by evidence those gifts have been abused. He says, “I give thanks … [Read more...] about 6 Epiphany, Year A: Deed and Disposition

SUNDAY’S READINGS | February 5, 2023 Isa. 58:1-9a (9b-12) Ps. 112:1-9 (10) 1 Cor. 2:1-12 (13-16) Matt. 5:13-20 Jesus comes not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. This requires, he suggests, observance even of the smallest details — “not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished” (Matt. 5:18). Jesus is not commending a … [Read more...] about 5 Epiphany, Year A: A True Interpretation