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…
Trinity Sunday: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Trinity Sunday commemorates the Christian doctrine of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—three persons in one substance, an eternal community of love.
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)….
Today in the Spirit: Proper 27A
For us as worshipers, the next few weeks of the Sunday lectionary readings in Pentecost make for a pre-Advent period of preparation before the new church year. The focus of our attention is moved to the theme of right living in readiness for the end times. In Year A, that shift takes place with the…
Today in the Spirit: Proper 26A
It is in these latter weeks of the season after Pentecost, prior to the pre-Advent presentation of our Lord’s teachings on the end times, that the church assigns the hardest teachings of Jesus on Christian living. Throughout these weeks in Year A, it has been a hard slog through teaching on the theme of hypocrisy,…
