Lectionary

Reflection

That is what Jesus did: he did not return the negative energy directed at him—not during his life nor when he hung on the cross. He held it inside and made it into something much better. That is how “he took away the sin of the world.” He refused to pass it on!

Richard Rohr, “Transforming Our Pain,”
at https://cac.org/transforming-our-pain-2020-09-18/

 

Where have you encountered witnesses to God in these turbulent times?

 

October 25 Deuteronomy 34:1-12 Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 Matthew 22:34-46	November 15 Judges 4:1-7 Psalm 123 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Matthew 25:14-30
November 1 All Saints Day Revelation 7:9-17 Psalm 34:1-10, 20 1 John 13:1-3 Matthew 5:1-12	November 22 Reign of Christ Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 Psalm 100 Ephesians 1:15-23 Matthew 25:31-46
November 8 Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 Psalm 78:1-7 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Matthew 25:1-13	November 29 ADVENT Isaiah 64:1-9 Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37

 

Click for a printable copy  of the 2020 Jubilee Lectionary

Readings are available on the internet at https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//…

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Reflection

And this is it. This is the life we get here on earth. We get to give away what we receive. We get to believe in each other. We get to forgive and be forgiven. We get to love imperfectly. And we never know what effect it will have for years to come. And all of it…all of it is completely worth it.”

Nadia Bolz-Weber, Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People, p 172.

What does it mean to have the mind of Christ in me today?

September 13 Genesis 50:15-21 Psalm 114 Romans 14:1-12 Matthew 18:21-35	October 11 Exodus 32:1-14 Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23 Philippians 4:1-9 Matthew 22:1-14
September 20 Exodus 16:2-15 Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45 Philippians 1:21-30 Matthew 20:1-16	Recommitment Sunday October 18 Exodus 33:12-23 Psalm 99 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Matthew 22:15-22
September 27 Exodus 17:1-7 Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 Philippians 2:1-13 Matthew 21:23-32	October 26 JUBILEE Deuteronomy 34:1-12 Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 Matthew 22:34-46
October 4 Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Psalm 19 Philippians 3:4b-14 Matthew 21:33-46

A printable copy of the 2020 Recommitment lectionary is available here

Readings are available on the internet at https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//…

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Reflection

The basic fact is that Christianity as it was born in the mind of this Jewish teacher and thinker appears as a technique of survival for the oppressed. That it became, through the intervening years, a religion of the powerful and the dominant, used sometimes as an instrument of oppression, must not tempt us into believing that it was thus in the mind and life of Jesus. … Wherever his spirit appears, the oppressed gather fresh courage; for he announced the good news that fear, hypocrisy, and hatred, the three hounds of hell that track the trail of the disinherited, need have no dominion over them.…

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Reflection

As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful. They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness – just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it; just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us strength; the bright sunshine on a cold day; and a cool breeze when the day is warm.

Laura Ingalls Wilder, Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder: On Wisdom and Virtues, p 66

Where do you find comfort?

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The Christian faith is one that does not pretend things aren’t bad. This is a faith that does not offer platitudes to those who lost children this week to suicide or a tornado. This is not a faith that produces optimism. It is a faith that produces a defiant hope that God is still writing the story and that despite darkness a light shines and that God can redeem our crap and that beauty matters and that despite every disappointing thing we have ever done or that we have ever endured, that there is no hell from which resurrection is impossible.…

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