#lectionary

[antiochianorthodoxcumberlandmd]

[rivikah]

Resurrection

The resurrection is a central concept of the Christian faith. Even in the face of an uncaring Empire unjustly sentencing an innocent man to death, the possibility for life, for justice, for another new thing to happen is not gone. There’s an empty tomb. It’s also one of the most the counter-cultural things we believe. This week, I feel like that’s true on a broader level than only the question…

[saraloveliness-blog]

directives from today's daily office readings

Think about God's law all the time and love it. Restrain yourself from going in an evil direction. Don't shrink from God's judgments. Spurn people who stray from God's rules. Know lies and deceit are empty, pointless, and not useful. Tremble in dread of God. Be afraid of His judgments. Call to God in trouble. He will save you. Listen to Him when He admonishes you. Do not worship any god other than the One True God. Open your mouth. God will fill it. Know that if you hate God, you will have punishment that goes on forever.

I looked up two Hebrew words for hate to see if it means the same thing in that language. It does, but it is a little broader. Ayab means to be an enemy to. Sana means to hate and also be offended by a slight, or unable to put up with it. I do not know what word is used in this psalm. The verse in question is Psalm 81:15. The next verse talked about God blessing His people with wheat and honey, so I went and ate the homemade bread I made and put some honey on it.

Don't judge unjustly. Don't favor the wicked. Be mindful of your lowly position: You will die just like everyone else.

Don't make promises that could be used to get you to do something evil. If people try to make you do something evil because of a promise you made, break the promise. Beheading a prophet and putting his head on a platter is not okay.

Don't do things that will hurt other people's consciences and cause them to sin. Act out of love, not the pride that comes from having more knowledge.

[athis3]

Lectionary, in Christianity, a book containing portions of the Bible appointed to be read on particular days of the year. The word is also used for the list of such Scripture lessons. The early Christians adopted the Jewish custom of reading extracts from the Old Testament on the Sabbath. They soon added extracts from the writings of the Apostles and Evangelists, which later would be formalized in the canon of Scripture as the Gospels and epistles. During the 3rd and 4th centuries several systems of lessons were devised for churches of various localities. One of the first attempts for a diocese to fix definite readings for special seasons during the year was made by Musaeus of Marseille in the mid-5th century.

At first, the lessons were marked off in the margins of manuscripts of the Scriptures. Later, special lectionary manuscripts were prepared, containing in proper sequence the appointed passages. The Greek Orthodox Church developed two forms of lectionaries, one (Synaxarion) arranged in accord with the ecclesiastical year and beginning with Pascha (Easter) and the other (Mēnologion) arranged according to the civil year (beginning September 1) and commemorating the festivals of various saints and churches. Other national churches produced similar volumes. Among the Western churches during the medieval period, the ancient usage at Rome prevailed, with its emphasis on Advent.

During the 16th-century Reformation the Lutherans and Anglicans made changes in the Roman Catholic lectionaries. Martin Luther was dissatisfied with the choice of many of the lessons from the epistles in the Roman system, and he included a greater proportion of doctrinal passages. In the Anglican church the first edition of The Book of Common Prayer (1549) assigned for each day a passage of the Old Testament and the New Testament to be read at both the morning and evening services. Nearly all the saints’ days were dropped, and the new system assigned chapters of the Bible to be read consecutively.

In 1963 the Second Vatican Council allowed the introduction of the vernacular in the variable parts of the Roman Catholic liturgy, including the scriptural readings of the mass (the liturgy of the Word). A complete revision of the missal, carried out by a postconciliar commission, resulted in a three-year lectionary known as the Ordo Lectionum Missae (1969). This lectionary is arranged in two cycles, one for Sundays and another for weekdays. The Sunday cycle is divided into three liturgical years, labeled A, B, and C. Each Sunday usually has a reading from the Old Testament, a semicontinuous reading from one of the epistles, and a Gospel reading. Year A mostly features the Gospel According to Matthew; Year B reads through the Gospel According to Mark; and Year C showcases the Gospel According to Luke. The Gospel According to John is read during the Easter season in all three years. After three years the cycle starts over again.

The weekday cycle is divided into two years: Year I (odd-numbered years, such as 2023, 2025, etc.) and Year II (even-numbered years, such as 2024, 2026, etc.); the year of the cycle changes on the first Sunday of Advent. The first reading on weekdays may be taken from the either the Old or the New Testament, and usually a single scriptural book is read semicontinuously until it is finished and then a new book is started. The Gospel readings for both years are the same and are also read semicontinuously, beginning with Mark, then Matthew and Luke. As with the Sunday cycle, the Gospel According to John is read during the Easter season. In addition to the Sunday and weekday cycles, the Roman Catholic lectionary also provides readings for the feasts of major saints, for common celebrations such as Marian feasts, for ritual masses such as weddings and funerals, and for various other needs.

Present-day liturgists in many denominations have been active in revising traditional lectionary systems. Many Protestant churches in the United States and other English-speaking areas use the Revised Common Lectionary (1992). A previous version, the Common Lectionary, was assembled in 1983. Both versions are three-year lectionaries that function similarly to the Roman Catholic system.

pentecost (the descent of the holy spirit upon mary and the apostles in jerusalem)

illustration from a gospel lectionary, constance (?), c. 1470-80

source: St. Gallen, Stiftsbibl., Cod. Sang. 368, p. 44

[friarmusings]

A note about the 7th Sunday

 The Ordinary Time readings for the period between the Baptism of the Lord and Ash Wednesday can be very few or quite a few. It all depends on the date established for Easter. In 2025 Easter falls a little later and so this is one of those years when we celebrate the 7th Sunday (…and the 8th!). The last time we celebrated the 7th Sunday was in 2019! Image credit: Sermon on the Mount | Carl…

[suziegallagher]

Grace-filled Days: Encountering God's Provision of Grace in 2025

A book review of: 2025:A book of Grace-filled Days Vinita Hampton Wright The focus of this book is the grace of God, encouraging readers to focus not on doctrine or difference but on things we have in common: The focus is on Jesus who reveals to us what our souls hunger to know about God. For those of us who like to start early, it begins on the 1st Sunday in Advent 2024 and takes us all the…

[mattdamethodist]

Mindful Midweek 5.15.24

Mindful Midweek is my attempt to ground myself a little more and perhaps provide something for whom ever reads it. Right now as you read this stop. Take a breath and focus on your breathing for one min. Now take a look at Psalm 29 Common English Bible 1 You, divine beings! Give to the Lord—    give to the Lord glory and power!2 Give to the Lord the glory due his name!    Bow down to…

[insteading]

The thing about reading scriptural texts on a recurring cycle is that, if you stay within a liturgical faith tradition for over three years, you're going to hear texts more than once. Does this sometimes mean tuning out because you think "I've heard this before, many many times"? Sure. But it's also kind of like seasonally rereading a book.

The Pentecost texts ... in different years, different images grab me. Thinking of the Spirit as breath is especially powerful when I think about people rescued from drowning who are alive because someone breathed into them. Or when I think about how my city's asthma rates and life expectancy vary dramatically, based on how close someone lives to an industrial neighborhood or a highway.

Thinking of the Spirit as fire grabs me whenever I've started something new and scary. Just imagining a roomful of people burning with joy, excitement, purpose, and a reserve of strength and courage they didn't know they had? YES PLEASE, I would like that.

This year what caught me was the farewell text. The apostles are listening to their teacher and friend-- whom they'd lost to state-sponsored torture and execution, and who came inexplicably back into their lives, but who has to leave them for good? But it doesn't feel like it's good at all? Because they're going to be living, alone, in the empire that killed him, that wants to kill them too. But he says "I'm sending you an advocate." Anyway: that's what caught me this year, thinking of people locked up in dangerous and soul-destroying conditions over bullshit. Or locked up because we as a society don't believe in repair enough to try it.

ANYWAY: now thinking of the Spirit as a really good defense attorney.

[stpauls-milaca]

Last Call for Readers

Last Call for Holy Week Triduum Readers

I am assigning readers to read for Good Friday and Easter Vigil today and tomorrow. If you have not reached out to me and confirmed that you’d like to read a Scripture lesson for either Good Friday or Easter Vigil (or both), please email me or text me ASAP. Thank you for helping and serving the Lord in this important way! Pastor Carlsonpastor@stpaulsmilaca.org or text the church at 320-982-6703

[millennialpastor]

Mark and the Year B Lectionary - Pastor Thoughts

This year we are in Lectionary year B, which is the year of Mark. For those who might be wondering, the lectionary is the 3-year cycle of appointed readings for every Sunday (every day in fact) of the church year.  The lectionary that we use is called the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), which is used by many churches and denominations around the world. The lectionary was created by a committee…

[antiochianorthodoxcumberlandmd]

[rivikah]

New

My attention was caught this week by the passage in Isaiah. In it, God is first identified as leading his people through the sea out of Egypt, and then as the force behind the ensuing massacre, Egypt’s army completely obliterated. But then this same God says Forget the former things;    do not dwell on the past.See, I am doing a new thing!    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?I am…

[a-modernmajorgeneral]

Lectionary, in Christianity, a book containing portions of the Bible appointed to be read on particular days of the year. The word is also used for the list of such Scripture lessons. The early Christians adopted the Jewish custom of reading extracts from the Old Testament on the Sabbath. They soon added extracts from the writings of the Apostles and Evangelists, which later would be formalized in the canon of Scripture as the Gospels and epistles. During the 3rd and 4th centuries several systems of lessons were devised for churches of various localities. One of the first attempts for a diocese to fix definite readings for special seasons during the year was made by Musaeus of Marseille in the mid-5th century.

At first, the lessons were marked off in the margins of manuscripts of the Scriptures. Later, special lectionary manuscripts were prepared, containing in proper sequence the appointed passages. The Greek Orthodox Church developed two forms of lectionaries, one (Synaxarion) arranged in accord with the ecclesiastical year and beginning with Pascha (Easter) and the other (Mēnologion) arranged according to the civil year (beginning September 1) and commemorating the festivals of various saints and churches. Other national churches produced similar volumes. Among the Western churches during the medieval period, the ancient usage at Rome prevailed, with its emphasis on Advent.

During the 16th-century Reformation the Lutherans and Anglicans made changes in the Roman Catholic lectionaries. Martin Luther was dissatisfied with the choice of many of the lessons from the epistles in the Roman system, and he included a greater proportion of doctrinal passages. In the Anglican church the first edition of The Book of Common Prayer (1549) assigned for each day a passage of the Old Testament and the New Testament to be read at both the morning and evening services. Nearly all the saints’ days were dropped, and the new system assigned chapters of the Bible to be read consecutively.

In 1963 the Second Vatican Council allowed the introduction of the vernacular in the variable parts of the Roman Catholic liturgy, including the scriptural readings of the mass (the liturgy of the Word). A complete revision of the missal, carried out by a postconciliar commission, resulted in a three-year lectionary known as the Ordo Lectionum Missae (1969). This lectionary is arranged in two cycles, one for Sundays and another for weekdays. The Sunday cycle is divided into three liturgical years, labeled A, B, and C. Each Sunday usually has a reading from the Old Testament, a semicontinuous reading from one of the epistles, and a Gospel reading. Year A mostly features the Gospel According to Matthew; Year B reads through the Gospel According to Mark; and Year C showcases the Gospel According to Luke. The Gospel According to John is read during the Easter season in all three years. After three years the cycle starts over again.

The weekday cycle is divided into two years: Year I (odd-numbered years, such as 2023, 2025, etc.) and Year II (even-numbered years, such as 2024, 2026, etc.); the year of the cycle changes on the first Sunday of Advent. The first reading on weekdays may be taken from the either the Old or the New Testament, and usually a single scriptural book is read semicontinuously until it is finished and then a new book is started. The Gospel readings for both years are the same and are also read semicontinuously, beginning with Mark, then Matthew and Luke. As with the Sunday cycle, the Gospel According to John is read during the Easter season. In addition to the Sunday and weekday cycles, the Roman Catholic lectionary also provides readings for the feasts of major saints, for common celebrations such as Marian feasts, for ritual masses such as weddings and funerals, and for various other needs.

Present-day liturgists in many denominations have been active in revising traditional lectionary systems. Many Protestant churches in the United States and other English-speaking areas use the Revised Common Lectionary (1992). A previous version, the Common Lectionary, was assembled in 1983. Both versions are three-year lectionaries that function similarly to the Roman Catholic system.

pentecost (the descent of the holy spirit upon mary and the apostles in jerusalem)

illustration from a gospel lectionary, constance (?), c. 1470-80

source: St. Gallen, Stiftsbibl., Cod. Sang. 368, p. 44

[eesirachs]

camel and needle, eugene salandra

[fuzzygraphics]

Easter Week

[many-sparrows]

Missing church on the feeding of the 5000 Sunday, massive, massive L