At Proper 28, two weeks before First Advent and our meditation in worship on Jesus’ second coming, the church appoints readings in the Gospels from what is often called the synoptic apocalypse, the record of Jesus’ teaching on events which will occur before the parousia (the second coming), which appears in parallel form in Matthew,…
The Rev. Geoffrey Little is a lifelong Anglican and New Englander. After coming to Christ in college, he served for ten years with the South American Missionary Society (SAMS), first as a lay missionary in southern Peru and then on their staff in Ambridge, PA. While there he completed his divinity degree at Trinity School for Ministry. Ordained in 1992 in the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, he moved with his young family to New Haven, CT, where he has lived and worked ever since as a pastor in intercultural urban ministry. In 2010, Geoff and his wife, Blanca, joined the ACNA Anglican Diocese in New England and established All Nations Church and All Nations Christian Academy in New Haven. All Nations Church brings together Spanish- and English-speaking people in bilingual worship and fellowship. All Nations Academy is a K-4 Christian elementary school dedicated to offering children from the city an opportunity to hear the Good News while acquiring a first-rate education. As a pastor, Geoff is a firm believer in the Anglican Sunday lectionary as an effective tool of evangelism and discipleship, and over thirty years of ministry has studied its presentation in the Book of Common Prayer. Geoff is the proud father of two adult children and the grandfather of four.
Today in the Spirit: Proper 27C
At Proper 27, the Sunday lectionary shifts to pre-Advent mode, concentrating on eschatological (end times) themes. The assigned Gospel reading in Year C, Luke 20:27-38, is Luke’s version of the dialogue between Jesus and the Sadducees over marriage and the resurrection. The priestly power brokers of Jerusalem, who don’t believe in the resurrection from the…
Today in the Spirit: All Saints’ Sunday
All Saints’ Day, celebrated on 1 November every year, is the only “Principal Feast” in the Christian Year which can also be observed on the Sunday following that date. It is a commemoration of the intercommunion of living and dead Christians throughout time, those renowned and unknown. Traditionally, the Gospel reading assigned for All Saints’…
Today in the Spirit: Proper 25C
At Proper 25C, the church assigns as a Gospel reading the parable immediately following the one from last week in Luke. In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus tells a tale of two men, one a respected religious leader (a Pharisee) and the other a reviled “sinner” (a tax collector), both praying in the temple in plain sight…
Today in the Spirit: Proper 24C
At Proper 24C, the Church assigns another parable of Jesus for the benefit of his disciples, found only in Luke. Luke 18:1-8 is the parable of the persistent widow. Our Lord tells a short story of a woman stalking an unjust judge to insist that he give her justice in a case against an adversary….
Today in the Spirit: Proper 23C
While his exact travel is difficult to track in this section of Luke, it seems at this juncture that our Lord is now moving on a more direct route south to Jerusalem. The assigned Gospel reading for Proper 23C is Luke 17:11-19, a narrative account of the healing of ten lepers somewhere on the border…
Today in the Spirit: Proper 22C
At Proper 22C, in our journey with Jesus through Luke, we come to a third consecutive Gospel reading with teaching addressed to his disciples. Luke 17:5-10 begins with a request of “the apostles” (5) to “the Lord” to “increase our faith” (5). In fact, this is likely in response to the teaching given prior (see…
Today in the Spirit: Proper 21C
The assigned Scripture readings for the Season after Pentecost, Proper 21C, expose the church to a second consecutive week of contemplating the dangers of a love of worldly wealth. The Gospel reading for this Sunday is from Luke 16:19-31, Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The first part of the parable (19-26) narrates…
Today in the Spirit: Proper 20C
Moving forward in the special section of Luke (passages unique to that Gospel) in Year C, we come now to a two-week period of the Pentecost season in which the worshipping church must meditate on the temptation to love money or wealth more than God. The Gospel reading assigned for Proper 20C, Luke 16:1-13, is…
Today in the Spirit: Proper 19C
At Pentecost, Proper 19C, we come to another instance in Luke where religious leaders watch Jesus to trap him. From the assigned Gospel reading, Luke 15:1-10, we hear the narrative of Jesus responding to Pharisees and scribes grumbling because Jesus “receives sinners and eats with them” (2). He tells them three parables, the first two…
