Fourth Sunday of Easter

The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for the Easter Season See more information here Acts 4:8-12 Background of the book Last week we heard from Peter’s sermon in the temple after the healing of a lame man, and this week we hear another of Peter’s sermons. This is going to begin a series of persecutions which, READ MORE

Third Sunday of Easter

The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for the Easter Season See more information here It might be helpful to consider today’s readings more in “chronological” order: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19 Background of the book The end of the gospel reading will touch on the proclamation of the gospel, which is an important connection with the Acts reading. READ MORE

Second Sunday of Easter

Divine Mercy Sunday Today’s feast originates from St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish mystic who had visions of the Lord in the 1930s. The feast culminates the Divine Mercy novena which began on Good Friday. In 2000, St. Faustina was canonized and Divine Mercy Sunday was instituted into the Roman calendar. It is also associated with READ MORE

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion Year B

The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation during Lent Although we are still technically in the season of Lent, Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion shifts us into the unique time of Holy Week. Holy Thursday is traditionally the Chrism Mass, held by the bishop to consecrate all the sacramental oils used in the coming year. There READ MORE

5th Sunday of Lent Year B

The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation during Lent Jeremiah 31:31-34 Background of the book Verse 31 speaks of a “new covenant” – the only place this phrase is used in the Old Testament. Most scholars see the new covenant in this passage as being very similar to the one that came before it in Exodus 19-24. READ MORE

Sources

The content on this website is not intended to be a scholarly work, with all the proper attributions. When I started developing this content in 2018, my intent was to synthesize many different commentaries and points of view into a digestible format for a small group Bible study. I was not always (if ever!) careful READ MORE

parable

The Greek word parable comes from para – alongside and bole – to cast. A parable is something (like an image or metaphor) “cast alongside” something else. Scholar C.H. Dodd says the definition of a parable is “a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or everyday life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, READ MORE

4th Sunday of Lent Year B

The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation during Lent This is Laetare Sunday, rejoice! “Laetare” comes from the entrance antiphon from Isaiah 66:10: “Rejoice O Jerusalem.” Rejoicing might feel a little weird here in the middle of Lent. But I love this reminder that the season of Lent is preparing us for the joy of Easter, the READ MORE

Amos

Genre The book is classified among the prophetic literature, and is included among the twelve minor prophets Date Amos prophesied in the last half of the 700sBC – a time of unimaginable material prosperity for Israel. But also a time of social and political corruption. Themes