Ordinary Time Week 2

Psalm: Psalm 96 or Psalm 96:1-9

Old Testament: 1 Kings 18:20-21, 22-29, 30-39

 or 1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43

Gospel: Luke 7:1-10

Epistle: Galatians 1:1-12

Today is the start of Ordinary Time proper. To repeat a point I said a few weeks ago, during Ordinary Time we have 4 scriptural passages that don't necessarily go together. So trying to find connections between them isn't always appropriate, but sometimes they may be present. Today is also Memorial Day (it is actually tomorrow, but some churches honor it on Sunday) in the USA and not surprisingly, the Lectionary doesn't consider that theme. The Lectionary is grander and more universal than one country and one time-period. So although it is appropriate to honor secular holidays, the Lectionary constantly reminds and pulls us back into God's time and space.

Trinity Sunday

Psalm: Psalm 8
Old Testament: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 
Gospel: John 16:12-15
Epistle: Romans 5:1-5

Today is Trinity Sunday! Liturgically, it makes sense that after we celebrate the life of Christ throughout most of the year, leading up to his Ascension and then the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, that now we would celebrate and recognize God as fully Father, Son and Spirit. So although it makes sense to now celebrate the Trinity on a particular Sunday, it is unique for the Lectionary to celebrate a theological doctrine. There are not Sunday's dedicated to the atonement, freewill, or eschatology (end-times). In reading a little bit about the development of Trinity Sunday it appears that a church service was created around the time of the Arian heresy to counter the anti-Trinitarian doctrine Arius was espousing. This was sometime around 300 AD, so relatively early in Church history, and roughly contemporary with the first Council of Nicea in 325 which was convened to deal with questions surrounding the Arian controversy. You can find a good history and primer on this information in any good encyclopedia or by just reading some Wikipedia articles. They are pretty decent and succinct.

Pentecost Sunday

1st Reading

 Acts 2:1-21 or Genesis 11:1-9

 Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

2nd Reading

 Romans 8:14:-17 or Acts 2:1-21

Gospel

 John 14:8-17, (25-27)

Happy Pentecost Sunday! Pentecost is one of the few holidays that Christians and Jews still celebrate with the same name. Easter (the day after Passover), Christmas, epiphany, the Ascension, are all distinctly Christian. Pentecost however, is counted the same for Jews and Christians. Indeed, Jesus' disciples were celebrating Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on them and changed the meaning of the observance for Christ's followers. The question I want to try an answer today is, why did the Holy Spirit come on Pentecost? Was there something significant about that day in the Jewish life we can gain some insight from?

Ascension Sunday

Psalm: Psalm 47 or Psalm 93

Acts: Acts 1:1-11

Gospel: Luke 24:44-53

Epistle: Ephesians 1:15-23

Today is Ascension Sunday! In case that needs defining, the Ascension of Jesus is when, after his resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven to be with the Father. Traditionally, this is always celebrated on a Thursday, 40 days after Easter. (Acts 1:3) The moment of the Ascension is only directly recounted in Acts ch. 1, although Luke briefly states that Jesus was carried into heaven at the end of his Gospel. But despite the sparsity of direct references, the event is taken for granted in Jesus' later depictions in the New Testament as sitting beside the Father in heaven. Indeed, no other text gives any other explanation for Jesus return to heaven other than the one Luke offers.

Easter Week 6

Psalm: Psalm 67
Acts: Acts 16:9-15

Gospel: John 14:23-29 or John 5:1-9
Epistle: Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5

Our verses from Acts 16 this week concern the first converts on the European continent. Paul received a vision from a Macedonian man asking him to come to them and preach the Gospel. The group had intended to continue traveling and ministering in Asia Minor, but instead got on a boat and headed towards Greece. Their first stop was Philippi and an interesting thing occurred, rather than going to a synagogue on the Sabbath, as was their custom in other cities, they went outside the city by a river. In Paul's other stops their first visit was always the local synagogue. He wasn't always well received by the Jews, but he did try to persuade them to follow Jesus. Indeed, at one stop on his first missionary journey at Pisidian Antioch, his first Saturday at the synagogue was meet with enthusiasm by the Jews and they invited Paul to speak the following week. But the next week a large group of Gentiles showed up as well, and out of jealousy, the Jews chased Paul and his companions away and were no longer receptive to his message.