Ascension Day commemorates Jesus’ Ascension from earth to heaven on the 40th day after his Resurrection.
Today in the Spirit: Easter 7A (Sunday After Ascension)
The Sunday after Ascension Day is the seventh Sunday of the Easter season (just as Pentecost Sunday is the eighth Sunday of Easter). Titling the Sunday as such in the BCP 2019 is a return to the tradition of earlier Anglican Prayer Books, which distinguished Ascensiontide (the ten-day period from Ascension Day to Pentecost) from…
Today in the Spirit: Easter 6A
Easter 6 Sunday is the last before Ascensiontide, the ten-day period between the remembrance of Jesus’ ascension on the Thursday following this Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. From earlier prayer books, the BCP 2019 has restored the title “Rogation Sunday” to this day. Rogation comes from the Latin rogatio which means “asking.” This Sunday precedes the…
Daily Office Booklet 2026: May–August
Good news! We’ve completed the latest edition of the Daily Office Booklet. Beginning to pray the Daily Office is a great way to start the New Year. This edition will guide you through Morning and Evening Prayer, using the lectionary readings from May through August 2026. As always, we’ve rendered PDFs for you to print in both booklet and…
Today in the Spirit: Easter 5A
By Easter 5A, we have noticed in our Sunday worship that this year the church is leading us through a series of the “I am” statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John. In fact, five of the seven “I am” statements in John are contained in the assigned Gospel readings over nine weeks from…
Today in the Spirit: Easter 4A (Good Shepherd)
Easter 4 is Good Shepherd Sunday every year. The collect and most of the readings through the three-year cycle on this day make explicit reference to God as the shepherd of his people. The assigned Gospel readings for Easter 4 over the three years take us sequentially through most of John 10. Ironically, while we…
Today in the Spirit: Easter 3A
On Sunday, Easter 3, the church moves forward with its messaging on Christian living, grounded in the truth of Jesus Christ’s resurrection and appearance. In Year A, the assigned Gospel reading out of Luke 24:13-35 recounts Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Luke’s skillful narration in this passage demonstrates…
Today in the Spirit: Easter 2A
The church reserves the six Sundays after Easter Day and before Pentecost Sunday for worshipers to contemplate the New Testament resurrection appearances of Jesus and his most significant teachings on life in the power of his resurrection. Our attention in this period is directed mainly to the Gospel of John, and especially our Lord’s last…
Hymn Guide: Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
This hymn is nearly synonymous with Easter. It is sung in every church (worth its salt) on the morning of Easter Sunday. The title of its tune, so rousing with its many Alleluias, is simply EASTER HYMN. If you haven’t sung it, have you really celebrated Easter?
Today in the Spirit: Easter Day A
“Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!” At no time is the thrill of shouting out this cheer louder than on Easter Day. “Enter then, all of you, into the joy of your Master. First and last, receive alike your reward. Rich and poor, dance together. You who have fasted and you…
Daily Office Booklet 2026: January–April
Good news! We’ve completed the latest edition of the Daily Office Booklet. Beginning to pray the Daily Office is a great way to start the New Year. This edition will guide you through Morning and Evening Prayer, using the lectionary readings from January through April 2026. As always, we’ve rendered PDFs for you to print in both booklet and…
Today in the Spirit: Pentecost Sunday C (Whitsunday)
“Pentecost Sunday already!?” While this might well be our reaction to the arrival of this feast day on the church calendar every year, we can only imagine how the disciples felt who were ordered by Jesus to go to Jerusalem and wait until you are clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49). As they…
