This is one of two feasts celebrating particular doctrines (the Most Holy Trinity is the other one). We thank you, our Father, for the life and knowledge which you have made known to us through Jesus your Servant; to you be the glory forever. Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and READ MORE
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Revised Common Lectionary
I write from the primary perspective of the Roman Catholic Lectionary. One of the fruits of the Second Vatican Council was work between Catholics and Protestants to develop a shared set of Sunday readings, which eventually came to be called the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). You can read more about the history of the common READ MORE
The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity – Lectionary and Interpretation
This is one of two feasts celebrating particular doctrines (the Body and Blood is the other one). Bishop Arius died in 336. He denied the divinity of Christ by saying “There was a time when Christ was not.” He said Christ was merely an exalted creature. St. Augustine spent much of his life arguing against READ MORE
The Gospel According to Matthew
Author Most likely an anonymous Jew. Matthew the tax collector may have been the first missionary to the author’s community. It’s hard to say exactly why the book gained his name. Date Most scholars date this gospel between 85 and 95 AD. By then, the gospel of Mark was in wide circulation and this gospel READ MORE
1st Sunday of Lent Year B
The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation during Lent Genesis 9:8-15 Background of the book Genesis 6-9 tells the story of Noah and the flood, a story that pre-dates the Jewish people. This is the first covenant in the Bible, and it’s important to note that God makes it with all of humanity and every living creature. READ MORE
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B
The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation during Ordinary Time Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 Background of the book 13:1-14:57 is a section that deals with impurity caused by tzara’at. In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), this was translated as the Greek word lepros from which we get the word leprosy. This word should not READ MORE
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B
The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation during Ordinary Time Job 7:1-4, 6-7 Background of the book This passage uses three metaphors for life, each of which was a proverbially wretched state of life in that culture: military service, day labor, and simple slavery. Job says that day-to-day living is a drudgery, wanting what you can’t have, READ MORE
The Johannine Epistles: 1, 2, & 3 John
Author During the first two centuries of Christianity, the “Johannine Epistles” (1, 2, and 3 John) were probably not a part of the canon of scripture. When they began to be accepted as authoritative, they were often attributed to the same author as the Gospel of John. Textual evidence indicates that, although there are similar READ MORE
4th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B
The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation during Ordinary Time This week’s theme is all about authority – who has it and where did they get it from? Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Background of the book 18:14-21 are all about the office of the prophet. For a Jew, there’s God (top) and then there’s Moses, only slightly below God. READ MORE
The Acts of the Apostles
Author Luke was a physician and an artist from Syria. He was highly educated, well-versed in Greco-Roman style. He has the finest Greek writing in the New Testament. He was not an eyewitness to the events but he interviewed eyewitnesses and drew from the oral collections. He was also not very familiar with Palestinian geography READ MORE