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…

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time                        Year B                                    13th June 2021. Lectionary Readings: 1 Samuel 15 v34-16v13; Psalm 20; 2 Corinthians 5 v6-17; Mark 4 v26-34. Seeds of the Kingdom? One way to begin thinking about Mark’s ‘seed’ stories is to ponder what Jesus meant by ‘The kingdom of God’ when he introduced these stories.…

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time                        Year B                                          6th June 2021 Lectionary readings:1 Samuel 8 v4-20; Psalm 138; 2 Corinthians 4 v13-5v1;  Mark 3 v20-35 The true source of the power to heal. People in ancient times lived in fear of demons, who they thought were responsible for a whole range of what we would…

Trinity Sunday                                  Year B                                                            30th May 2021. Lectionary Readings:     Isaiah 6 v1-8;      Psalm 29;      Romans 8 v12-17;      John 3 v1-17. Transforming relationships The apostle Paul argues that “Only those people who are led by God’s Spirit are his children”. (Romans 8 v14). Paul goes on to suggest that the relationship between these children and…

Pentecost Sunday                              Year B                                                            23rd May 2021. Lectionary Readings:  Acts 2 v1-21;    Psalm 104 v24-34;    Romans 8 v22-27;     John 15 v26-27;     John 16 v4b-15. The Spirit is here to help us. Jesus said “I will send you the Spirit who comes from the Father and shows what is true. The Spirit will help you…

Seventh Sunday of Easter                                        Year B                                     16th May 2021 Lectionary Readings:   Acts 1 v15-17,21-26.    Psalm 1.    1 John 5 v9-13.          John 17 v6-19. Knowing me, knowing you. Jesus said, “Father, I don’t ask you to take my followers out of the world, but to keep them safe. I am sending them into the world,…

Sixth Sunday of Easter                                 Year B                                                9th May 2021 Lectionary Readings:   Acts 10 v44-48;    Psalm 98;    1 John 5 v1-6;    John 15 v9-17. Jesus said “I command you to love each other” (John 15 v17). OK, Jesus, I hear your command, but Lord, some people are difficult to love! You, Lord, know that human…