THEME: Love others the way that you would like to be loved Today, we reflect on how we are called to treat others and the extent of God’s love, guided by our readings from Genesis 45:3-11, 45:15; 1 Corinthians 15:35-50; and Luke 6:27-38. Today’s scriptures ask us to consider how we treat others and affirm...
The central theme of all of the readings this week is the contrast between those who follow God’s ways and those who don’t. How we choose to live has consequences. We have been given, in the Scriptures and in Christ’s example, a picture of the kind of life that brings about greater wholeness and joy...
This week’s readings encourage us to decide what to do with God’s invitational and confrontational grace—two strong themes emerge. The first is that God calls women and men to follow God’s alternative way of being, and to share the Gospel with others. In Isaiah, we read the famous call story. The Psalmist is confident that...
The main theme of this week’s readings during Epiphany is the revelation of Jesus’ identity and mission as he is presented and dedicated in the temple. Malachi 3:1-4: This passage speaks of the coming of the Lord to His temple, where He will purify and refine His people like a refiner’s fire and a launderer’s...
The readings this week offer a range of options for themes. There is the word of God, revealed in creation and through the book of the law. There is the mission of Christ proclaimed in his reading of the scroll from Isaiah. And there is the call for us to be the body of Christ,...
The readings for this week in the Lectionary carry themes of love, caring, marriage, and the gifts that are always given when love is present. The possibilities for exploring how Jesus is revealed in love, and in us when we love, are very exciting. God’s love for God’s people, and God’s commitment to care for...
THEME: The main theme connecting these readings is the invitation to participate in baptism and receive God’s Spirit, emphasizing the transformative power of this sacrament and the commitment it entails. Isaiah 43.1–7: This passage reassures God’s people of His unwavering love and protection. It highlights that they are called by name and belong to Him. This...
This week we continue with the ‘Incarnation’ of God coming in the flesh to dwell among us. This is God’s revelation to us in Jesus—love and grace! Restoration and Joy: In Jeremiah God promises restoration for God’s exiled people, and offers a promise of grace and love even to those who would have been considered...
The Lectionary takes us on a strange journey this year. Having just celebrated the birth of Christ, we now fast forward to the one story in the Scriptures from Jesus’ childhood – when his parents forgot him in the Temple. Then, with next week being Epiphany, we go back in time again, to the visit...
The last week of Advent returns us to the beginning of John’s story, as Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visits Elizabeth, and John leaps within his mother’s womb. Mary’s song is, of course, one of the highlights of the birth narratives, and carries a powerful justice-proclaiming message. In the waiting of Advent, it can be tempting...
