Category Archives: lectionary reflection

Gateway Jesus

The readings are for “Good Shepherd Sunday,” fourth of Easter, 2017 I have some sympathy with Jesus’ original audience, who heard him speak of sheep and shepherds, gates and gatekeepers, and wondered what he might mean. So he tries to … Continue reading

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Cleopas and Fred on the road back from Chicago

Encountering Cleopas and Fred on the road back from Chicago this week, I feel as though their message to me is not to be afraid to continue to risk the truth. Continue reading

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Suffer the children 

And will their dry bones live? Continue reading

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It is not enough

It is not enough for him to die. It is not enough for him to offer up his pain, to offer us his wincing scars: touch my hand; my open, scored side; trace the welts and weals of the thorns … Continue reading

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The prayer of Lazarus

The prayer of Lazarus, silent by necessity. Continue reading

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Marked men

Later, they sit silent as the grave side by side,
watching a late sun set over the Jordan… Continue reading

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Forgiving Jesus

The readings for the third Sunday in Lent include Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman at a well, and Moses’ miraculous striking water from stone. In the old stories, this encounter beside a well would have ended in marriage. Jacob’s … Continue reading

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Well

“Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did.” John 4:29 Continue reading

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Fear of falling 

The lectionary lessons for today are about Adam and Eve, the fall, temptation, redemption, resistance … The devil dared him to be fearless. The devil dared him to be brazen, in God’s face; a son so independent in his own … Continue reading

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The sun also rises

The love that Jesus describes is unflinching, unafraid, and it is relentless. Rebuked and reviled, love nevertheless persists. It refuses to be overcome. It will not give way to injustice. It turns the other cheek. Continue reading

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