13th Sunday in Ordinary Time                   Year A                                                  2nd July 2023                                                                                     Lectionary Readings: Jeremiah 28 v5-9;      Psalm 89 v1-4, 15-18;       Romans 6 v12-23;      Matthew10 v40-42                    ‘Slave owner’ maybe, but not a ‘taskmaster’. “Now you are set free from sin and are slaves who please God. I am using these everyday examples because in…

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time                    Year A                                                 25th June 2023 Lectionary Readings: Jeremiah 20 v7-13;     Psalm 69 v7-10, 16-18;     Romans 6 v1b-11;     Matthew 10 v24-39                   When the going gets tough…….. In the Old Testament passage, Jeremiah is being honest with God about how he is feeling. Jeremiah is blaming God for his social isolation,…

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time.                   Year A                                    18th June 2023                      Lectionary Readings:    Exodus 19 v2-8a;     Romans 5 v1-8;     Matthew 9 v35 – 10 v8.                      Are you part of the solution? That is the underlying question I think is being posed by Jesus to his disciples in the gospel reading. Jesus looks upon the crowds…

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time                             Year A                                    11th June 2023 Lectionary Readings: Hosea 5 v15 – 6 v6;       Psalm 50 v7-15;        Romans 4 v13-25;        Matthew 9 v9-13, 18-26. Living examples of faith in God. The readings this week explore the issue of faith, and what genuine faith looks like in real life. The prophet…

Trinity Sunday                                  Year A                                                            4th June 2023 Lectionary Readings: Isaiah 40 v12-17; 27-31;       Psalm 8;       2 Corinthians 13 v1-13;       Matthew 28 v16-20                   Motivation. What is it that motivates and binds together God the Father, his son Jesus and the Holy Spirit? The apostle Paul is in no doubt – and weaves his understanding into the…

Day of Pentecost                                Year A                                                 28th May 2023 Lectionary Readings: Numbers 11 v24-30;      Psalm 104 v24-34, 35b;      Acts 2 v1-21;      John 20 v19-23                 ‘A breath of fresh air’ An expression we use to suggest that someone has made a positive difference to our lives. I think we can describe Jesus as ‘a breath…

7th Sunday of Easter            – (Sunday after Ascension Day)       Year A             21st May 2023 Lectionary Readings: Acts 1 v6-14;     Psalm 68 v1-10, 32-35;     1 Peter 4 v12-14; 5 v6-11.            John 17 v1-11                    Questions, questions. Luke has two versions of the Ascension. Why? At the end of his gospel, Luke says Jesus…

6th Sunday of Easter                        Year A                                                             14th May 2023 Lectionary Readings; Acts 17 v22-31; Psalm 66 v8-20; 1 Peter 3 v13-22; John 14 v15-21. We are not orphans, we are children of a loving God. In the passage from Acts, Paul is telling his sceptical audience that there is only one true…

5th Sunday of Easter            Year A                                                            7th May 2023 Lectionary Readings; Acts 7 v55-60; Psalm 31 v1-5, 15-16; 1 Peter 2 v2-10; John 14 v1-14. Do we need a visual aid to explain a mystery? In the hymn, popular with children of all ages, ‘Our God is a great big God’, (Singing the…

4th Sunday of Easter – Year A                                                                                  30th April 2023 Lectionary Readings:  Acts 2 v42-47;     Psalm 23;     1 Peter 2 v19-25;     John 10 v1-10.        Whose ‘voice’ do you trust? In the passage from Acts we are told ‘that they spent their time learning from the apostles, and they were like family to each other.’…