After a period of embracing Christianity, people in Northumbria returned to the Pagan beliefs they held before the gospel first reached the British shores. It would take a young Christian king returning from exile with a zeal for evangelism to begin a revival of faith that would last for centuries.
Today in the Spirit: Proper 7B
At Proper 7B, we continue with Mark’s version of the events in Jesus’ early ministry in Galilee. Mark 4:35-41(5:1-20) gives us the narrative of Jesus stilling a storm as he and his disciples are in transit across the lake, and as an optional addition, the story of a man possessed by multiple demons on the…
Today in the Spirit: Proper 6B
The goodness our Lord seeks to work in us is that which serves his purpose to redeem the world and proclaim the good news.
Today in the Spirit: Proper 5B
At this early stage in the post-Pentecost ordinary season, we continue tracking Jesus through his early months of ministry in and around Capernaum of Galilee. For Proper 5B, the assigned Gospel reading out of Mark 3:20-35 gives us what appears to be two important teachings of Jesus delivered in one day: the first to religious…
The Liturgical Home: Feast of the Visitation
The Feast of the Visitation (full name: The Visitation of the Virgin Mary to Elizabeth and Zechariah), celebrated on May 31st, commemorates the joyous encounter between the Virgin Mary and her cousin Elizabeth, as described in the Gospel of Luke. This feast highlights Mary’s journey to the hill country of Judea to share the news…
Today in the Spirit: Proper 4B
In our walk with Jesus through the lectionary year, the “ordinary” (numbered) season “After Pentecost” generally begins with Gospel selections highlighting the teachings and events of our Lord’s life after the calling of the disciples (the calling itself being featured in Epiphany). As the Gospel of Mark exposes the reader early on to Jesus’ conflict…
Today in the Spirit: Trinity Sunday B
The Church of England, from its beginning, established Trinity Sunday as a principal feast on the church calendar, the Sunday following Pentecost Sunday (Whitsunday), and before the Sundays that followed during the long “ordinary” (numbered) phase of Sundays After Pentecost (or After Trinity). The assigned readings for Trinity Sunday are different in each of the…
Today in the Spirit: Proper 29A (Christ the King)
The last Sunday in the Pentecost season, and the weekdays following it, mark the end of what liturgical churches call the Paschal (Easter) Cycle of the church year (On Advent 1 Sunday, we begin the Incarnation Cycle). Since the early development of a three-year rota of lectionary readings (since Vatican II), this Sunday has been…
Today in the Spirit: Proper 28A
We now move to the second of three weeks in a pre-Advent period at the end of the Pentecost season, Year A. The Gospel reading assigned in Matthew 25:14-30 is our Lord’s telling of The Parable of the Talents (also found in Luke 19:12-27, but in a distinct form and different time of Jesus’ ministry)….