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Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 22, October 6, 2024: Job 1:1; 2:1-10; Psalm 26; Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16 There are weeks when I wonder what the people who organized our lectionary were thinking, and this is certainly one of them. We start with Job, who will be our companion for the rest of October.…

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 21, September 29, 2024: Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22; Psalm 124; James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50 Three years ago this week in the liturgical year, I started writing these reflections. I have missed a few, but almost every Sunday for the past three years I have written something that bounces off the…

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 20, September 22, 2024: Proverbs 31:10-31; Psalm 1; James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37 Today’s reading from Proverbs is one of the ones which makes me want to respond with various snarky comments. A “capable wife” is “more precious than jewels”. No kidding, I want to say. As Proverbs continues with…

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 19, September 15, 2024: Proverbs 1:20-33; Psalm 19; James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-38 “How much longer, you ignorant people, will you love being ignorant? How much longer, you mockers, will you keep mocking?” This question that Wisdom asks in Proverbs seems very timely. Wisdom goes on, and reminds her listeners that…

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 18, 8 September 2024: Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23; Psalm 125; James 2:1-10, [11-13], 14-17; Mark 7:24-37 Today’s gospel tells the story of the Syrophoenician woman. Jesus has gone to a house where he hopes for some privacy, time away from the crowds. But people find out where he is, and…

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 17, September 1, 2024: Song of Solomon 2:8-13; Psalm 45:1-2, 7-10; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Our readings from Hebrew scriptures today focus on love. This is love deeply rooted in bodies and the senses. We begin with the love poetry of the Song of Solomon, or the Song…

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 16: 1 Kings 8:[1, 6, 10-11], 22-30, 41-43; Psalm 84; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69 Solomon has built the Temple, and the ark of the covenant has been brought by the priests to “its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of…

Thirteenth Sunday of Pentecost, August 18, 2024 (Proper 15): 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14; Psalm 111; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58 After all the adventures, David has died, and is succeeded by his son Solomon, the second child Bathsheba bore him. Solomon is very pious, and goes to the high places to sacrifice to the Lord. When…

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 14, August 11, 2024: 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33; Psalm 130; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; John 6:35, 41-51 Last Sunday in our reading from 2 Samuel, we heard Nathan predict to David that “the sword will never depart from your house”. And this week we see it. We have skipped a lot…

Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost, August 4, 2024 (Proper 13): 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a; Psalm 51:1-13; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35 This week, more than most, we get the fallout from last week’s readings. It starts with David and Bathsheba: Bathsheba (now just “the wife of Uriah”: she has lost her name) mourns her husband, but David takes…