Third Sunday of Easter                                Year B                                                    18th April 2021 Lectionary readings:   Acts 3 v12-19;  Psalm 4;     1 John 3 v1-9,   Luke 24 v36b-48. Letting go and letting God. The psalmist says “I can lie down and sleep soundly because you, Lord, will keep me safe”. (Ps4 v8). The writer is confident that…

Second Sunday of Easter                              Year B                                                 11th April 2021 Lectionary Readings:           Acts 4 v32-35;            1 John 1 1v1-2v2;      John 20 v19-31. Friends re-united. The reading from John’s gospel relates to events in the evening of what we now call Easter Day. Jesus appears to his disciples, his friends. The shock of his…

Easter Sunday                                                           Year B                                    4th April 2021. Lectionary Readings:  Isaiah 25 v6-9; Psalm 118 v14-24; 1 Cor15 v1-11, 20; Mark 16 v1-8. What if? Mark was writing to a mix of people, some with a Jewish background and a knowledge of scripture, (our Old Testament), and others from a ‘Gentile’ background with no…

Palm Sunday                                     Year B                                                 28th March 2021 Lectionary Readings:                       Psalm 118 v1-2, 19-29.          Mark 11 v1-11. A threat to national security? I doubt whether Pontius Pilate enjoyed his visits to Jerusalem. As the Emperor’s local governor, charged with maintaining law and order, he was obliged to be present at major Jewish…

Fifth Sunday in Lent                                    Year B                                                21st March 2021 Lectionary Readings: Jeremiah 31 v31-34;     Psalm 51 v1,2;     Hebrews 5 v5-10;     John v20-33. ‘Freedom from bondage’ and ‘Daring to think differently’. John, writing at the end of the first century, was mindful of the everyday persecution suffered by Christian communities spread across the eastern…

Fourth Sunday in Lent                                 Year B                                                 14th March 2021 Lectionary readings Numbers 21 v4-9.   Psalm 107 v1-3, 17-22.   Ephesians 2 v1-10.   John 3 v14-21                        Symbols of God’s saving activity. In the gospel reading John is linking the lifting up of Jesus on the cross with the bronze snake lifted up on a pole…

Third Sunday of Lent                                   Year B                                                 7th March 2021 Lectionary Readings:   Exodus 20 v1-17; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 1 v18-25; John 2 v13-22. The wonders of God and the goodness of his Law. Psalm 19 is one of many attributed to King David. In the opening verses David is marvelling at the way God…

Second Sunday in Lent                     Year B                                                             28th February 2021 Lectionary readings: Genesis 17 v1-7, 15,16.       Psalm 22 v23-31.          Romans 4 v13-25.                  Mark 8 v31-38.          Follow me. In Mark’s gospel,  Jesus said to his disciples and the gathered crowd, “If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself.…

First Sunday in Lent                         Year B                                    21st February 2021 Lectionary readings: Genesis 9 v8-17; Psalm 25 v1-10; 1 Peter 3 v18-22; Mark 1 v9-15. Being ‘saved’ really is ‘good news’. One way of linking together this week’s readings is to explore the theme of being ‘saved’. In the story of Noah and the ark, God…

Sunday before Lent                          Year B                                                            14th February 2021 Lectionary readings: 2 Kings 2 v1-12,         Psalm 50 v1-6,           2 Corinthians 4 v3-6,                        Mark 9 v2-9. Putting doubts to bed. In the gospel reading, Jesus appears to have arranged a tutorial for his closest disciples, Peter, James and John. Jesus takes them to…