Narrative Lectionary Reflection, Third Sunday of Advent, Year 3
This is really good news! God was up to something with the restoration of the people from captivity, God was up to something through the incarnation of Jesus to set all humankind free, and God is still up to something by anointing us to continue to proclaim this good news today.
Third Sunday of Advent, Year A, December 11, 2016
What sort of highway do you want to travel each and every day? Do you want to experience life or hurtle through it? Do you desire to chart your course on God’s hopeful highway, among God’s people? (Photo:
Second Sunday of Advent, Year A, December 4, 2016
Life is too short and the gospel too important to let an annual season like Advent get the short shrift or be transformed into a mere prelude to presents. Fling wide the doors of your heart, home, and church to welcome the stranger–and Jesus. (Photo: Simran, Creative Commons)
Second Sunday of Advent, Narrative Lectionary, Year Three, December 4, 2016
Is this week’s lesson an “Advent Killjoy” or an alternative vision for this season? Give your whole self to God, acknowledge your sins, and as Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message, “Change your life, not just your clothes.” Now watch God’s response! (Photo: David Goehring, Creative Commons)
Revised Common Lectionary Reflection for the First Sunday of Advent, Year A, November 27, 2016
Advent is a time for God’s faithful and generous people to be “ready” and flexible with time, talent, and treasure, even as we wait and watch for God’s incarnation among us. (Photo: Daniel X. O’Neil,
Lectionary Reflection for the 25th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C, November 11, 2016
In this week’s gospel lesson, Jesus instructs us to see our suffering and the changes that ravage our security and life as opportunities to witness and testify to the love and grace of our Lord. We are called to steward an “edgy” faith. (Photo: Georgie Pauwels, Creative Commons)
Reformation Sunday, Year C, October 30, 2016
Forget the vain promises of the world, the polarizing pander of candidates for public office, and the bootstraps mentality of contemporary culture. Real freedom is found only in deep relationship with God and with God’s people. (Photo: Osajus, Creative Commons)
Lectionary Reflection for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, Year C, October 23, 2016
Why be stingy with mercy toward others when God desires all to be held in the divine grip of grace? When we let go of the need to be right, to be an insider, and to be better than others, we find that life opens up–real life. (Photo: Jimmie, Creative Commons)
Lectionary Reflection for the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, Year C, October 16, 2016
Like Jacob, are we willing to encounter God in our dark nights of the soul and hang on for dear life? Ultimately, are we able to submit to the blessing—named and claimed and never forsaken? (Photo: Michael Swan, Creative Commons)
Lectionary Reflection for the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost, Year C, October 9, 2016
If living a grateful life leads to so many positive results, why isn’t everyone hopping on the gratitude train? The story from this week’s gospel lesson can shed some light on that and lead us to the wholeness Christ offers. (Photo: Tiger Girl, Creative Commons)
