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Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 6 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 6 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 6 Exodus 19.2–8a Romans 5.1–8 Matthew 9.35—10.8 Christians know that, through the work of God in Christ, made real to them by the Holy Spirit, the world is a different place. We are, to use Paul’s characteristic phrase, ‘justif…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 14 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 14 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 14 1 Kings 19.9–18 Romans 10.5–15 Matthew 14.22–33 There is something about us that is deeply resistant to the grace of God. It’s not that we don’t believe in him, or wish to follow him, or that we consciously reject him, but w…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 23 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 23 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Twelve Months of Sundays – Year A Ordinary Time Proper 23 Exodus 32.1–14 Philippians 4.1–9 Matthew 22.1–14 The party was ready, the guests were on the way, but somehow they got distracted. Today’s gospel fits Exodus 32 like a glove, forming a combined warning. Readers of Exodus p…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 20 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 20 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 20 Jonah 3.10—4.11 Philippians 1.21–30 Matthew 20.1–16 Did Jonah ever get the point? The author deliberately chooses an open ending. Jonah knows his God quite well, but that doesn’t mean he has to like him. He thinks God is rid…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 18 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 18 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 18 Ezekiel 33.7–11 Romans 13.8–14 Matthew 18.15–20 I suppose we can take comfort from the fact that today’s passage from Matthew needed to be written at all, because you don’t need to give advice where it is already being follo…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 19 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 19 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 19 Genesis 50.15–21 Romans 14.1–12 Matthew 18.21–35 It is very annoying to think that God may have different standards of judgement from ours. All three of today’s readings warn that the obvious surface reaction to one particul…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Christ the King Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Christ the King Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Sundays Before Advent Christ the King Ezekiel 34.11–16, 20–4 Ephesians 1.15–23 Matthew 25.31–46 Matthew 25 is all about preparedness. First of all, there are the foolish bridesmaids, who ran out of oil and so missed the wedding; then there is the s…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 24 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 24 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 24 Isaiah 45.1–7 1 Thessalonians 1.1–10 Matthew 22.15–22 The question as weapon is one of the oldest techniques in controversy. You will hear it used to perfection most mornings on the radio. The art is to find the question to …
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 9 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 9 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 9 Zechariah 9.9–12 Romans 7.15–25a Matthew 11.16–19, 25–30 The first half of chapter 11 of Matthew’s Gospel is Jesus’s tribute to John the Baptist. John is in prison, longing to know if he has stepped aside for nothing, aching …
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 12 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 12 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 12 1 Kings 3.5–12 Romans 8.26–39 Matthew 13.31–33, 44–52 With this piling up of images of the kingdom, I think you need first of all to listen to them and get an overall feel, and then to start trying to tease out some of the p…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Last Sunday after Trinity Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Last Sunday after Trinity Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time The Last Sunday After Trinity Leviticus 19.1–2, 15–18 1 Thessalonians 2.1–8 Matthew 22.34–46 1 Thessalonians is almost certainly the oldest document in the New Testament. As in so many other things, Paul is a pioneer. It is hard for u…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 21 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 21 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 21 Ezekiel 18.1–4, 25–32 Philippians 2.1–13 Matthew 21.23–32 ‘Don’t forget the bring-and-buy sale next week; the ladies’ group will meet on Thursday to continue their excellent work on the worn-out hassocks; and by the way, don…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 13 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 13 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 13 Isaiah 55.1–5 Romans 9.1–5 Matthew 14.13–21 The pain in Paul’s words is tangible, and made even more poignant by the victorious assurance of the end of chapter 8. Paul has just been asserting that nothing can ‘separate us fr…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 17 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 17 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 17 Jeremiah 15.15–21 Romans 12.9–21 Matthew 16.21–8 Oh dear. Now it’s crunch time. Justification by grace through faith is fine. A theology of grace alone, which emphasizes our inability to achieve our own salvation, is central…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 16 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 16 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 16 Isaiah 51.1–6 Romans 12.1–8 Matthew 16.13–20 There seems to be a bit of a break in the argument at this point in Romans. Chapters 9––11 are Paul’s attempt to give some kind of coherent shape to God’s activity in choosing fir…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 11 Year A