Ordinary Time

In Year A, we now follow in the footsteps of our Lord to the days in which the religious leaders in Jerusalem sought to trap Jesus in order that they might execute him. We will hear first, out of Matthew 22:15-22, their question to him as to whether it is right to pay taxes to…

In Year A, Proper 23 takes us to the third in that series of parables in Matthew delivered by Jesus to the chief priests and the Pharisees in Jerusalem. The Parable of the Wedding Feast, focused on the invitation to and rejection by a first set of privileged guests, highlights the condemnation that results from…

In Proper 22A, for a Gospel reading, the Church assigns the second in a series of three parables of Jesus in Matthew addressed to the religious leaders of Jerusalem in the week leading up to the crucifixion. Spoken right after the Parable of the Two Sons assigned last Sunday, the Parable of the Wicked Tenants…

Using the assigned readings in Proper 21A, the church takes us forward in Matthew to Jesus’ teaching in the temple after his final entry into Jerusalem. The Gospel reading in Matthew 21:28-32 is the Parable of the Two Sons. Our Lord’s primary purpose in giving this parable (found only in Matthew) is to illustrate the…

In our year-long meditation on the revelation of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, the church now moves us forward to a point just before our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. According to Matthew, coming out of Galilee for the last time into Judea, Jesus delivers to his disciples the Parable of the Workers in…

In the Bible readings assigned in the BCP for Proper 19A the overall theme is that of active forgiveness that exists between members in the community of believers empowered by the Holy Spirit. The texts reveal abundant reward from the hand of God where it exists and deadly consequences where it does not. In the…

Our Lord’s fourth major teaching discourse in Matthew (18:1-35) is addressed to the disciples and covers some of the stickiest aspects of maintaining fellowship in the Church. This Sunday in Proper 18A, the assigned Gospel reading in Matthew 18:15-20 takes the worshiper to the middle section of that discourse with instructions on how to proceed…

We come now in Proper 17A to Jesus’ first prediction of his crucifixion and resurrection, followed by that heart-stopping teaching, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” In Matthew, Mark and Luke (the so-called Synoptic Gospels) there are as many as three such predictions…

Following the overall structure of the Gospel of Matthew in Year A, we find ourselves coming to the confession of Peter at Caesarea Philippi later in the season of Pentecost. (In Year C, following Luke, the parallel reading of this event appearing earlier in the Gospel also comes up earlier in Pentecost, Proper 7C). The…

At this point In our walk with Jesus in Pentecost Year A, we come near the end of his ministry in the north (Galilee) before he journeys to Jerusalem and the cross. The Collect for the week is yet another plea to God for preservation in our earthly life: “Keep us from all things hurtful,…