Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary time                   Year B                                     22nd August 2021 Lectionary readings: Joshua 24 v1-2a, 14-18;      Psalm 34 v15-22;      Ephesians 6 v10-20;      John 6 v56-69. Eternal Life and Salvation In the reading from John’s gospel, Simon Peter says “Lord, there is no one else that we can go to! Your words give eternal life.…

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time                      Year B                                     15th August 2021 Lectionary Readings: Proverbs 9 v1-6;  Psalm 34 v9-14;   Ephesians 5 v15-20;   John 6 v51-58. ‘Life giving bread’ Jesus said “I am the bread that gives life!” (John 6 v48). Jesus offers us food for our hearts, our minds, and our souls. “Everyone who eats…

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time                                 Year B                        8th August 2021 Lectionary Readings: 1 Kings 19 v4-8; Psalm 34 v1-8; Ephesians 4 v25-5v2; John 6 v35, 41-51. Living with fear, despair and doubt. In order to understand the depth of Elijah’s despair recorded in today’s Old Testament reading, we need to recap on the story so…

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time                    Year B                                     1st August 2021. Lectionary Readings: Exodus 16 v2-4, 9-15;    Psalm 78 v23-29;    Ephesians 4 v1-16;    John 6 v24-35. God’s response to our hunger. The people complain to Moses, their leader (and God’s representative), that they have been rescued from slavery in Egypt, only to starve in…

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time                   Year B                                     25th July 2021 Lectionary Readings: 2 kings 4 v42-44; Psalm 145 v10-18; Ephesians 3 v14-21; John 6 v1-21. Caring and sharing. ‘One boy brought loaves and fishes no other food was there,but Jesus fed the thousands and still had bread to spare.The miracle of plenty soon spread…

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time                                   Year B                        18th July 2021 Lectionary Readings: Jeremiah 23 v1-6; Psalm 23; Ephesians 2 v11-22;  Mark 6 v30-34, 53-56. Meeting the needs of the people. Mark says, “When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw the large crowd that was like sheep without a shepherd. He felt sorry for…

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time                        Year B                                     11th July 2021 Lectionary Readings: Amos 7 v7-15; Psalm 85 v8-13; Ephesians 1 v3-14; Mark 6 v14-29. Measuring up to God’s standard of justice. Amos writes, ‘The lord showed me a vision of himself standing besides a wall and holding a string with a weight tied to…

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time                    Year B                                     4th July 2021. Lectionary Readings:  Ezekiel 2 v1-5;    Psalm 123;    2 Corinthians 12 v2-10;    Mark 6 v1-13. Reading between the lines. In the first part of today’s gospel reading, Mark tells us that Jesus is in his home town of Nazareth. It is the Sabbath day and…

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time                                 Year B                             27th June 2021 Lectionary readings:  Lamentations 3 v22-33;        Psalm 30;       2 Corinthians 8 v7-15;        Mark 5 v21-43. The flow of God’s love. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, Luke records Jesus quoting from the book of the prophet Isaiah. ‘The Lord’s Spirit has come…

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time              Year B                                                 20th June 2021 Lectionary Readings:  Job 38 v1-11;     Psalm 107 v1-3, 23-32;     2 Corinthians 6 v1-13;     Mark 4 v35-41. Teacher, Lord, Master. Was the ‘Storm on the Lake’ incident a miracle or a teaching point, or both? The miracles recorded in the gospels seem to me to…