Tag: Epistles Passage
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Season of Advent, Yr A, 2022 – Second Sunday: Epistle Passage – Hope can spring up when the way is prepared – whoever you are
“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4) I do not know if Paul was thinking about Isaiah, or any other specific prophet, when he wrote this. Later in this passage Paul does quote…
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Season After Pentecost / Ordinary Time, Yr C, 2022: Epistle Passage – Freed from our fears!?
“Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed.” (Galatians 3:23) If one takes this literally, that would mean that the laws set down since the giving of the Ten Commandments were seen as confining and burdensome. I have read and thought about the Ten Commandments a…
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Sundays After Pentecost: Mary’s Visitation to Elizabeth, Yr B, 2021: Old Testament, Psalm, Gospel & Epistle Passages – Women being called to service during Ordinary Time
I read recently an article in a magazine put out by the denomination that I am a part of that talks about “biblical womanhood.” The concept of “biblical womanhood” states that women are not to have a large part in church or faith organizations. Their “role” is to a silent participant and confine themselves to…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 17 [22]): The Epistle Passage – Preacher and Seeker read Paul out loud
Preacher:“Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.” Seeker: If you must compete, beloved listener, with you brother and sister – let it be a competition of caring, a race to show compassion, a contest of warm…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 16 [21]): The Epistle Passage – Our function and call within the Body of the Lord God
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1) Often times there is the presumption that what we do with or to our bodies is separate and distinct from what we…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 15 [20]): The Epistle Passage – Once again, Paul speaks forth
“I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.” (Romans 11:1-2a) Paul, being a Jew and standing firm in that identity, does not believe God can be seen…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 14 [19]): The Epistle Passage – Going another round with Paul
The late afternoon/early evening that I sat down to write this, it got up to 97 degrees with hotter weather for tomorrow. So what better time to sit down and wrestle more with a passage from Romans! “Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 13 [18]): The Epistles Passage – Mapping some slippery slopes with Paul
“I am speaking the truth in Christ–I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit– “ (Romans 9:1) Call me a skeptic of long running, but many times when someone tells me they are speaking the truth, I prick me ears up and discern whether they are really lying. Maybe it is…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 12 [17]): The Epistles Passage – It can be a hard life, beloved reader
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26) Paul has just got done exhorting us to hope, just as I have commended to hope even though you cannot see what you…
A Simple Desire 