Readings for Sunday October 18, 2009 (Year B Proper 24)

These are our readings for Sunday October 18, 2009.

Sons of Zebedee

Readings for Sunday October 11, 2009 (Year B Proper 23)

These are our readings for Sunday October 11, 2009.

The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Job Praying
Marc Chagall, 1960. Galerie Art Chrudim

Readings for Sunday October 4, 2009 (Year B Proper 22)

These are our readings for Sunday October 4, 2009.

Job and his False Comforters
1452-60
Illumination
Musée Condé, Chantilly

Readings for Sunday September 27, 2009 (Year B Proper 21)

These are our readings for Sunday September 27, 2009.

Whoever is not against us is for us.

Do I demand that others prove they are "for me" before I accept them?

For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

How have I responded to kind treatment by those who respect my faith but do not share it?

If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.

How do I look upon those with a weak or troubled faith? Do I do anything that might cause them to stumble?

Esther before Ahasuerus
Frans Crabbe van Espleghem
Dutch, about 1525
Pen and dark brown ink with touches of gray-brown wash over black chalk

Readings for Sunday September 13, 2009 (Year B Proper 19)

These are our readings for Sunday September 13, 2009.

Who do people say that Jesus is today?

Who do people say that I am?

What does it mean to you to take up your cross?

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.

The Crucifixion of Saint Peter
Oil on canvas. Caravaggio, 1600

Readings for Sunday September 6, 2009 (Year B Proper 18)

These are our readings for Sunday September 6, 2009.

James 2:14-17 says:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

In the Gospel of Mark (7:37) the people said of Jesus:

He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.

Jesus the Healer
Pen and ink. Daniel Bonnell

Readings for Sunday August 30, 2009 (Year B Proper 17)

These are our readings for Sunday August 30, 2009.

James 1:26-27 says:

If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

In the Gospel of Mark (7:14,21) Jesus taught:

Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come.

True religion does not come from ritual behavior, like attending church on Sunday. True religion is from the heart, and it is grounded in the graceful and abundant generosity of God.

AgnusDay - The Lectionary Comic Strip