Fifth Sunday in Lent                        Year A                                                 26th March 2023 Lectionary Readings:   Ezekiel 37 v1-14;    Psalm 130;    Romans 8 v6-11;    John 11 v1-45. The breath of Life. Life comes from God. He created us and gave us breath. Today’s readings echo the creation stories found in Genesis. In the second creation story; The Lord God…

Fourth Sunday in Lent                                 Year A                                                 19th March 2023 Lectionary Readings:   1 Samuel 16 v1-13;    Psalm 23;    Ephesians 5 v8-14;    John 9 v1-41. Recognising God at work. I wonder what young David made of the prophet Samuel anointing him as the next king? One minute, tending a flock of sheep, the next, commissioned by…

Third Sunday in Lent                                   Year A                                                 12th March 2023 Lectionary readings:  Exodus 17 v1-7;    Psalm 95;    Romans 5 v1-11;    John 4 v5-42. Hunger and thirst. All human beings need food and water in order to survive. Our readings today speak about hunger and thirst in two senses, physical and spiritual. The people of God…

Second Sunday in Lent                     Year A                                                           5th March 2023 Lectionary readings: Genesis 12 v1-4a;   Psalm 121;   Romans 4 v1-5, 13-17;   John 3 v1-17. Abraham’s example. Long ago and far away, (about 4000 years ago, in Southern Iraq), God spoke to man named Abram (later Abraham). Abram put his faith in God’s plans for…

First Sunday in Lent                                     Year A                                     26th February 2023 Lectionary Readings: Genesis 2 v15-17, 3 v1-7; Psalm 32; Romans 5 v12-19; Matthew 4 v1-11. We are no longer alone. The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert so that the devil could test him. (Matthew 4v1). And when the test was completed, The devil…

Sunday before Lent.                         Year A                                                 19th February 2023 Lectionary Readings: Exodus 24 v12-18;   Psalm 2;   2 Peter 1 v16-21;   Matthew 17 v1-9. Understanding, guided by the Spirit of God. Peter said,“But you need to realise that no one alone can understand the prophecies in the Scriptures. The prophets did not think these things up…

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time                  Year A                                     12th February 2023 Lectionary Readings: Deuteronomy 30 v15-20;     Psalm 119 v1-8;     1 Corinthians 3 v1-9;     Matthew 5 v21-37. Are you still a baby? The apostle Paul in his letter to newly converted Christians in Corinth, takes them to task for not behaving properly towards each other. My…

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time                   Year A                                     5th February 2023 Lectionary Readings: Isaiah 58 v1-9a; Psalm 112 v1-9; 1 Corinthians 2 v1-12; Matthew 5 v13-20 Understanding the mind of God. Jesus said, “Don’t suppose that I came to do away with the Law and the prophets. I did not come to do away with…

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time               Year A                                     29th January 2023. Lectionary Readings: Micah 6 v1-8; psalm 15; 1 Corinthians 1 v18-31; Matthew 5 v1-12. The sermon on the mount. As we have seen before, Matthew echoes the life of Moses in the way he portrays Jesus. Jesus goes up a mountain and brings God’s…

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time.                Year A                                    22nd January 2023 Lectionary Readings: Isaiah 9 v1-4;             Psalm 27 v1, 4-9;       1 Corinthians 1 v10-18;        Matthew 4 v12-23. Pointers. In last week’s lectionary readings, John the Baptist was pointing to Jesus. This week, Paul is pointing away from himself, (or any other apostle) and towards…