SPCK - Judith Dimond
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 24 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 24 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 24 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 22: 15-22 Gaze on the threatening circle tightening around Jesus that we see in these passages. Jesus has walked into the lion’s den and is challenging the Pharisees and the Temple authorities face to face. Here we are entering the longest…
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 23 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 23 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 23 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 22: 1-14 Gaze on the one character in this story who has nothing to say: the bridegroom. He’s dressed in all his finery, proud and anxious, for tomorrow is his big day when he’ll meet his bride, possibly for the first time. The banquet is …
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 22 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 22 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 22 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 21: 33-46 Gaze, not on this story, but another scene of attack, that will take place a little later in Matthew’s Gospel, when the violence predicted here against the son and heir finally takes place. Gaze as the ‘tenants’ approach him in G…
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 21 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 21 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 21 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 21: 23-32 Gaze on this family scene, played out daily in thousands of households throughout the world. Supper’s over and the mother says to the oldest child, ‘Can you help me with the dishes?’ The child continues to scrape his plate for th…
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 20 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 20 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 20 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 20: 1-16 Gaze on that very British pastime, a queue. We queue for buses, we queue at the checkout, and we wait patiently in line to buy our ticket at the cinema. Remember the old-fashioned system in banks and post offices? The first to arr…
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 19 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 19 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 19 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 18: 21-35 Gaze on the king in this story. It appears from the context that he’s an eastern potentate ruling over a world where slavery is common and torture rife. Perhaps he’s just entered a prolonged war, or the harvest has been poor, or …
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 18 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 18 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 18 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 18: 15-20 Gaze on a heated discussion in Parliament, with opposing sides interrupting and jeering at each other and the Speaker calling out in vain ‘Order! Order!’ Watch a row between two children, brothers and sisters, running to Mum or D…
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 17 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 17 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 17 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 16: 21-28 Gaze on Peter dragging Jesus off to a corner of the room where they are lodging, and Jesus and Peter standing with their backs to the rest of the group, as Peter berates him! Or perhaps this episode took place as they were walkin…
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 16 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 16 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 16 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 16: 13-20 Gaze on a stained-glass window, the sort you find in a large church or maybe a cathedral. It is covered with an array of prophets, often dressed in heavy bourgeois robes and fur hats, looking like successful merchants or stern ac…
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 15 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 15 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 15 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 15: (14-20) 21-28 Gaze on this woman. She is in great distress, and this gives her the courage to defy convention. Expecting to be rebuffed, she’s got nothing to lose, so she may as well try. And at first, her fears are confirmed, as the d…
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 14 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 14 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 14 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 14: 22-33 Gaze on a child taken swimming for the first time by her family. She’s excited because she knows this is a treat, she’s got a new swimsuit, and bright orange armbands. But once in the water, her excitement turns to fear. The firs…
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 13 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 13 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 13 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 14: 3-21 Gaze on this footsore crowd of people, who came out so enthusiastically, traipsing in the midday sun from their town and villages over the hills, down steep stony paths, to the shore. See the men scanning the lake, shielding their…
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 12 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 12 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 12 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52 Gaze into the loft of an old house, left undisturbed by three or four generations of the same family. Feel the cobwebs brush against your face as you enter. Smell the dust and see it cake your hands. Begin to tidy up a…
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 11 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 11 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 11 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43 Gaze – listen! to a radio station in France, or Spain, or Germany, or wherever you are on holiday or business. Perhaps you learnt that language at school and used to be proficient enough, but now you are rusty and only cat…
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 10 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 10 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 10 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23 Gaze on this field – it’s easy to imagine, for Jesus has painted such a detailed picture. You may pass through such fields when you walk the dog. Together you stroll along the path, where in spring a few brave seeds have had…
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 9 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 9 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 9 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30 Gaze on these children playing in the marketplace. Children are the same the whole world over, and in every era. Today they would be in the home corner, playing make- believe games. ‘Let’s play weddings,’ says Kelly, who’s …
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 8 Year A
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 8 Year A
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 8 - Year A Meditation on Matthew 10: 40-42 Gaze on an old-fashioned prize-giving ceremony at the local school. First there are the prizes for best in French, or maths, or music. Then awards for the fastest runner or the highest jumper. Form prizes follow for the most helpf…
Gazing on the Gospels Year A - Proper 7 Year A