Tag: Peace
-
Third Sunday of Advent, Yr C, 2021: Old Testament Passage – The comfort of Advent
“Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!” (Zephaniah 3:14) I like this prophet. In the first two chapters of this book he scolds. But there is mercy and redemption that the Divine will deliver. At the time they were written, perhaps it was not…
-
Season after Pentecost (Proper 8 [13]) : The Psalm Passages – Rescued from the shakes
“How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God! Give light…
-
Week of Leading Up to Christmas: The Old Testament Passage Year A – Quiet night, holy night; now and long ago
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” (Isaiah 52:7) Tonight (or more precisely the night I sat down to write on this passage) I was feeling good. Last week it was the same; the…
-
Season After Pentecost: The Psalms Passage – Finding comfort in the psalmist’s words
“You are righteous, O Lord, and your judgments are right. You have appointed your decrees in righteousness and in all faithfulness.” (Psalms 119:137 – 138) It is supposed, and I am not questioning it, that the Psalms were written before the birth of Jesus. Often passages from the Psalms are said to foretell or predict…
-
Season After Pentecost: The Psalms Passage – Lamenting and mourning for all losses
“By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion.” (Psalms 137:1) When I read the Lamentations passage of yesterday, I was reminded of this psalm, and here it is! I have to wonder if the writer of Lamentations and the psalmist were of the same time and…
-
Season After Pentecost: The Psalms Passage – Prayer for the Restoration of God’s Favor
LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin. Selah You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger. (Psalms 85:1-3) I can not take any credit for the title of this, beloved reader, because it is…
-
Season After Pentecost: The Gospel Passage – Choosing the correct and “better” things
“Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and…
-
Fourth Week of Advent – Christ now; but who then? And what of peace to all humanity? (The Old Testament Passage)
“But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought…
-
Season After Pentecost – Thinking about who we are, who is in opposition to us, and how we handle that. (The Gospel Passage)
It’s the Fourth of July, Independence Day. I usually do not make special recognition of holidays, especially civic one. The RCL does not coincide with those days, and since I am picking which days out of the 7 days that are covered by the weekly RCL passages the verses are not meant to coincide with…
-
The Second Week of Advent: Remembering the Good That Comes
“Lord, you were favourable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin.” (Psalm 85:1-2) We have our foot firmly planted in December now. Already there is a count down to Christmas. But according to the lectionary, we still have miles to go.…
A Simple Desire 