Category Archives: Church and Social Movements

Pentecost 2B: The Alternative Family as Racism’s Cure

Posted on June 1, 2021 by John

Readings for the Second Sunday After Pentecost or Proper 5 Old Testament      Genesis 3:8–15 Psalm                    Psalm 130 New Testament     2 Corinthians 4:13–5:1 Gospel                   Mark 3:20–35 Let’s focus on the Gospel reading. Jesus goes home. He learns … Continue reading →

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Trinity B: The Stormy Glory of Embracing Diversity

Posted on May 25, 2021 by John

The readings for this Sunday are: Old Testament      Isaiah 6:1–8 Psalm                    Psalm 29 New Testament     Romans 8:12–17 Gospel                   John 3:1–17 We have heard about George Floyd’s death for a year now, and about the explosion of … Continue reading →

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Pentecost B: Groaning Our Way through Covid

Posted on May 18, 2021 by John

The New Testament Reading Option A for Pentecost B: Romans 8:22–27 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the … Continue reading →

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Easter 7 B: Choices Have Consequences

Posted on May 12, 2021 by John

The readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year B, are Many years ago I asked my friend the dentist which of my teeth I truly had to floss. “Only the ones you want to keep,” he said. Not long … Continue reading →

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Easter 6B: The Happy Paradox of Voluntary Servitude

Posted on May 4, 2021 by John

The Readings for this Sixth Sunday of Easter: First Reading         Acts 10:44–48 Psalm                    Psalm 98 New Testament     1 John 5:1–6 Gospel                   John 15:9–17 It’s sooo hard for us to understand and accept true freedom. It’s so … Continue reading →

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Easter 4B: Good Shepherd Sunday and Earth Day

Posted on April 20, 2021 by John

The Gospel reading for this Sunday is part of John chapter 10–Jesus discourse on himself as the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-18). Wendell Berry distinguishes between farmers who are married to the land and others who rape the land. I see … Continue reading →

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Lent 3 B: Use Science, Don’t “Trust” It

Posted on March 2, 2021 by John

The Readings for the Third Sunday in Lent: Old Testament       Exodus 20:1–17 Psalm                    Psalm 19 New Testament      1 Corinthians 1:18–25 Gospel                   John 2:13–22 Because our last President made such a mess of our nation’s pandemic response … Continue reading →

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Lent 1 B: The Noah Covenant and the Pandemic

Posted on February 16, 2021 by John

This Sunday’s readings: Old Testament      Genesis 9:8–17 Psalm                    Psalm 25:1–10 New Testament     1 Peter 3:18–22 Gospel                   Mark 1:9–15 Last Sunday was Transfiguration, and we thought of that word of our time: “unprecedented.” The fire, the windstorm, … Continue reading →

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Epiphany 5 B: Wait for the Lord, Not Just for the Vaccination

Posted on February 3, 2021 by John

There’s something ancient and eternal here. We are always tempted to modernize the message of the church—to speak in the most fashionable jargon of the philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, or “with it” youth on the streets. But Isaiah, chapters 40-55, makes … Continue reading →

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Epiphany 4 B “Rebuke the Disease, Not the Diseased”

Posted on January 27, 2021 by John

Years ago we fought off a family disease. Substance abuse was our plague, and we were in a group family therapy program where the leader had each set of parents draw a picture of the disease, place it on a … Continue reading →

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