In the Lectionary
April 3, Good Friday (John 18:1–19:42)
Jesus is crucified while the world goes on as usual.
April 2, Maundy Thursday (Exodus 12:1–14; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26; John 13:1-17, 31b–35)
Overcoming the reluctance to be served requires something that looks and feels a lot like faith.
March 29, Palm Sunday A (Matthew 21:1–11)
We parade into our worship spaces singing “Hosanna,” only to realize we’ve been following Jesus’ hearse.
March 29, Passion Sunday A (Matthew 26:14–27:66)
Matthew’s Passion doesn’t show us Jesus’ reactions. We just see his pain and hear his silence.
March 22, Lent 5A (Ezekiel 37:1–14; John 11:1–45)
Dry bones don’t resurrect themselves.
March 15, Lent 4A (Psalm 23; John 9:1–41)
Psalm 23 isn’t just a song of comfort and consolation. It’s also about heroism and the world set to rights.
March 8, Lent 3A (John 4:5–42)
Jesus’ opening approach to the woman at the well is one that confesses his own need.
March 1, Lent 2A (John 3:1–17)
Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night because all new life begins in the dark.
February 22, Lent 1A (Matthew 4:1–11)
This is Jesus’ story, after all, and not ours. Unless it is.
February 18, Ash Wednesday (Joel 2:1–2, 12–17; Psalm 51:1–17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10; Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21)
Who can sort out the ironies and challenges in these four texts? Where is the joy in this kind of salvation?
February 15, Transfiguration A (Matthew 17:1–9)
A new beginning was dawning. Would I lean in and listen?
February 8, Epiphany 5A (Matthew 5:13–20)
In those liminal spaces between light’s arrival and its incarnation in the face of my child, I prayed.
February 1, Epiphany 4A (Matthew 5:1–12)
In life, death, and resurrection, nothing is lost—no one is lost.
January 25, Epiphany 3A (Isaiah 9:1–4; Matthew 4:12–23)
Remembering the past enlightens our understanding of the present. We have been here before.
January 18, Epiphany 2A (John 1:29–42)
Who is Jesus? The first chapter of John’s Gospel offers many answers.
January 11, Baptism A (Isaiah 42:1–9; Matthew 3:13–17)
Sometimes it’s hard for us to remember who we are.
January 6, Epiphany (Ephesians 3:1–12; Matthew 2:1–12)
Herod is frightened—or disturbed, or troubled, or all of the above.
January 4, Christmas 2 (Jeremiah 31:7–14; John 1:(1–9), 10–18)
The child staggering out of a bomb-blasted city does not need to find her home in God. She needs a physical home.
December 28, Christmas 1A (Matthew 2:13-23)
The incarnation means God enters the world as it stands, not as we wish it to be.
December 24 and 25, Nativity A (Luke 2:1–14 (15-20)
It’s likely that Jesus was born in a cave. Does that make any difference?