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Third Sunday after Epiphany, January 22, 2023: Isaiah 9:1-4; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23; Psalm 27:1, 5-13 The Gospels, we know, are not historical texts. They are the stories people recorded fifty or more years after the events happened. Each Gospel tells not just slightly different stories, but when they tell the same stories, they…

Second Sunday of Epiphany, January 15, 2023: Isaiah 49:1-7; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42; Psalm 40:1-12 Imagine my surprise when I looked at the readings for this week, and realized that the Gospel was another version of the story of Jesus’ baptism by John that we had read last week. In that passage, Matthew records…

First Sunday after Epiphany, The Baptism of our Lord, January 8, 2023: Isaiah 42:1-9; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17; Psalm 29 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. (Isaiah 42:1) Today we celebrate the…

1st Sunday of Christmas: The Holy Name of Jesus, January 1, 2023: Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7 or Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 2:15-21; Psalm 8 Names are important. Names mark us as members of communities large and small. Parents think hard about the names they give their children: do they carry a family name? Or that of a…

Christmas Day, 2022: Luke 2: 1-20 Today is Christmas. We remember the story of the couple who travelled 70 miles to address a political demand. They come to a very crowded town, because all of David’s descendents had to travel to Bethlehem. There is no room for them, but they have a stable. A baby…

Fourth Sunday in Advent (December 18, 2022): Isaiah 7:10-16; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25; Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18 The story is familiar; we hear it every year. An unmarried woman receives a visit from an angel, who tells her she will bear a son, and the Holy Spirit will impregnate her. Her fiance, who is rightly concerned…

Third Sunday of Advent, December 11, 2022: Isaiah 35:1-10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11; Psalm 146:4-9 or Canticle 15 A few days ago a friend and I drove up into the foothills of the Sierra for a day out. As we drove through grasslands that a few months ago had been dry and brown, you could see…

Second Sunday of Advent, 3 December 2022: Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19 All our readings today look to the future, a future of both goodness and change. In Isaiah, we hear of the future time when the spirit of the Lord will rest on the ruler, and “with righteousness he shall…

November 27, 2022, First Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44; Psalm 122 It’s the first Sunday of Advent, and as happens every year, the readings try to shock us with the coming of something new. It’s not entirely clear what it is, as the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament have rather…

Last Sunday of Pentecost, 20 November 2022: Jeremiah 23:1-6; Canticle 16; Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43 It’s the end of the year (for the church at least!) and as we do in the world, we glance back but mostly look forward.  Jeremiah promises that the Lord will both “attend” to the evildoers who have scattered his…