Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Reading — Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7,18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12 As we enter this second week of Advent, we are confronted with the words of John the Baptist. You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrathto come?  Bear fruit worthy of repentance.  … [he has] hiswinnowing fork in his hand, and…

Readings – Exodus 1: 8-2:10; Psalm 124; Romans 12: 1-8; Matthew 16: 13-20 Let’s focus on St. Peter today.  Just a couple of Sundays ago we read about his water-walking.  He stepped out of the fishing boat of disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee.  He walked alone toward Jesus who was also water-walking.  At first,…

Readings – Deuteronomy 34:1-2; Psalm 90:1-6,13-17; I Thessalonians 2:1-8; Matthew 22:34-46 Scholars write that St. Paul’s letters to the congregation at Thessalonica may be the earliest of his letters, being written at 50 CE when St. Paul was in Corinth.  He may have written earlier letters, but these are the first letters we still have. …

Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7,16-18; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25 It was the 8th c. B.C.E., King Ahaz was on the throne of the southern kingdom, Judah.  All was falling apart.  Isaiah, the prophet, did not sugar-coat what was about to happen.  The “young woman… with child” was his wife.  They were going to name their expected…

Reading — Malachi 3:1-4; Psalm 84; Hebrews 2: 14-18; Luke 2: 22-40 From our Gospel reading this day there are two elements that demand our attention.                                                                                                                                                        First, Simeon said to Mary – …a sword will pierce your own soul too. Second, Luke wrote that …they returned to Galilee, to their own town…

Readings — Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 7:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12 The musician Johnny Nash was born in 1940.  His early years were filled with difficulty until 1972 when the fog of his life cleared.  That was the year he wrote this very popular song — v. 1  I can see clearly now, the rain…