Ascension: First Reading, Acts 1:1-11 NOTE: The observance of the Ascension of Christ on the Calendar occurs this week on Thursday. I have chosen to write our weekly meditations on this joyous Festival rather than the lessons for Easter 7 (Sunday). Can you picture it with me? Jesus, the...
Easter 6: Gospel, John 14:15-21 Last week we looked at Jesus’ focus on His Father and how He is our true destination. As the passage develops we are let in on the fact that Jesus, His Father and the Holy Spirit are all moving in our direction as well. And as long as we have breath here...
Easter 6: Second Reading, 1 Peter 3:13-22 “Baptism … now saves you …” Verse 21 of 1 Peter 3 has been a bull’s-eye for all kinds of discussion, preaching and spilled ink over the years. “Baptism doesn’t save unless you believe in works.” Or...
Easter 6: First Reading, Acts 17:16-31 I love the missionary journeys of Paul. Exciting to the hilt. And all the excitement centers on the gospel and Jesus and what the first Christians and we are to be about. Taking the gospel anywhere and everywhere. The First Reading for this Sunday...
Easter 5: Gospel, John 14:1-14 Oh holy night. Not the evening of Christ’s birth, but the night of His New Covenant gift. A new Passover where our Lord Himself is the Passover, the Pascha as our Greek brothers call Him. John 14 puts us in the center of a discourse Jesus gives to His...
Easter 5: Second Reading, 1 Peter 2:2-10 We are a people set apart. The foundation of who we are is a Person. A Divine Person. A Rock. With so much type and shadow pointing to this person in the Old Testament, the Apostle Peter connects God’s NT people, the Church with this foundational...
Easter 5: First Reading, Acts 6:1-9; 7:2a, 51-60 Do you have “friends” in the Bible? Do you have those with whom you relate because you see yourself in them or them in you? Or … or do you have those whose lives which you aspire to emulate? Those can be fine friends as well...
Easter 4: Gospel, John 10:1-10 Does it surprise you how many times shepherds and sheep are spoken of in the Bible? Goodness they are everywhere. Almost from the outset. David is a shepherd. The Hebrew word for “king” has connotations of shepherd. The opening of Psalm 23 which we...
Easter 4: Second Reading, 1 Peter 2:19-25 “Opposites attract,” or “He’s so cute,” or “I can’t pass on that deal.” All those comments have to do with one thing. They all point to things that relate to being attracted to something or someone. What...
Easter 4: First Reading, Acts 2:42-47 I honestly don’t know if there is any single book of the Bible that is more exciting to me than the Book of Acts. If you want to see what Jesus meant for the church in terms of their life, their dependence, their doctrine, AND the ground of their...
