Writing a children’s sermon on John 15:9-17 is challenging in a familiar way. The text is part of a longer speech, and has no real narrative to it. (It’s the lectionary Gospel for the 6th Sunday of Easter, year B. I wrote a meditation on it here and I wrote on this week’s epistle reading […]
What Faith Believes — 1 John 5:1-6
1 John 5:1-6 — What Faith Believes On the Sixth Sunday of Easter the Epistle reading continues our journey through the strange and wonderful world of the First Letter of John — specifically 1 John 5:1-6, with its fascinating exploration of what faith believes. (I wrote about this Sunday’s Gospel a while back and you […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year A, Easter 6, John 14:15-21
On the sixth Sunday of Easter of the lectionary, the Gospel continues in the same passage as last week. John 14:15-21 The scene is the upper room on Maundy Thursday. Jesus has already washed his disciples’ feet and given them the “new commandment” to love one another as he has loved them. Now, and in […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year C, 6th Sunday of Easter, John 5:1-9
Sometimes the Revised Common Lectionary offers two Gospel readings to choose from. The Sixth Sunday of Easter in Year C is one of those times. They don’t explain why, and I frankly cannot guess. I suspect it is an attempt to get me to write more blog posts. John 5:1-9 In any case, I already […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year C, 6th Sunday of Easter, John 14:23-29
My strongest memory of this week’s first Gospel passage is from a pastoral moment gone awry. I was praying with a group of seminarians before they started a very long day of ordination exams. I decided it would be encouraging, comforting in the midst of stress, to quote Jesus: Peace I leave with you; my […]