At Proper 8C, we move as worshipers to the place in Luke’s narrative where Jesus intentionally moves his ministry out of Galilee in the north to Judea and Jerusalem in the south. The assigned Gospel reading out of Luke 9:51-62 begins, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, [Jesus] set his…
Today in the Spirit: Proper 7C
The Easter season ended very late this year, so we start into the ordinary (numbered) propers after Trinity Sunday at Week 7. In our walk with Jesus in Year C through the Gospel of Luke, we come now to the tail end of our Lord’s Galilean ministry. The assigned Gospel reading from Luke 9:18-24 covers…
Today in the Spirit: Trinity Sunday C
Trinity Sunday C, in particular, might also be called “Holy Trinity Sunday” or “Trinity Worship Sunday.” More than in Years A and B, the readings in this cycle take us beyond just references to the three persons or the trinity or trinitarian formulas to adoration of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The…
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…
Today in the Spirit: Easter 7C (The Sunday After Ascension)
Ascension Day will have passed, and because it is always celebrated on a Thursday, too few of us will have taken notice. For that reason, the BCP 2019 has restored the practice of titling this Sunday the “Sunday After Ascension Day,” suggesting, of course, that some attention will be given to the ascension of Christ…
Today in the Spirit: Easter 6C (Rogation Sunday)
Easter 6 in the BCP 2019 carries the specific title “Rogation Sunday.” The term “Rogation” generally refers to a solemn Sunday. In the context of our liturgical celebration, it is connected with devotions associated with our Lord’s final days on earth (before his ascension). Because of its proximity to Pentecost, originally a harvest festival, Rogation…
Today in the Spirit: Easter 5C
At Easter 5, the church begins to highlight some of the teachings of Jesus in the upper room discourse in John. The assigned Gospel reading out of John 13:31-35 in Year C begins that discourse after Judas departs the scene. Directing his attention to the eleven, our Lord says, “Now is the Son of Man…
Today in the Spirit: Easter 4C (Good Shepherd)
Though the Fourth Sunday of Easter contains the same readings in most contemporary three-year lectionaries, only in the BCP 2019 do we find the title “Good Shepherd” for the week. The Gospel readings across the three-year schedule cover all of John 10 where we find the explicit references to Jesus as the “good shepherd”. In…
500 Years of the Holy Communion Lectionary
In this article and its predecessor, “500 Years of the Daily Office Lectionary,” Fr. Matthew Brench surveys the development of the lectionaries of the Anglican Prayer Book tradition, especially those of the England, the U.S., and Canada, culminating in the present 2019 Prayer Book of the Anglican Church in North America. Like the Daily Office…
500 Years of the Daily Office Lectionary
In this article and its follow up, “500 Years of the Holy Communion Lectionary,” Fr. Matthew Brench surveys the development of the lectionaries of the Anglican Prayer Book tradition, especially those of the England, the U.S., and Canada, culminating in the present 2019 Prayer Book of the Anglican Church in North America. The Daily Office…
