On the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Revised Common Lectionary gives us another chunk of Mark with two very different stories. Mark 10:2-16 The temptation in Mark 10:2-16 is to let one story swamp the other. For the preacher it probably makes sense to choose just one. That’s probably the way to a coherent sermon. […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year B, 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Mark 9:30-37
On the 25th Sunday of Ordinary time the lectionary skips ahead most of a chapter to Mark 9:30-37. (A little bit of the skipped part came up earlier in the year: Mark 9:2-9 was the Gospel for the last Sunday before Lent, the Transfiguration.) Last week in chapter 8 Jesus started predicting his passion and […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year B, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
The Revised Common Lectionary has given us a pair of texts this Sunday (Mark 6:30-34, 53-56). They are shoved together so they appear to be one story, but actually they are separated by a whole eventful day. Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 Story 1: The disciples return from their mission trip and Jesus takes them away for […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year B, 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Mark 5:21-43
The Revised Common Lectionary skips the evocative story of Legion and his many demons, and their demise in a herd of pigs who could not swim, much less fly. (Luke’s version will come up in Year C.) Instead we skip ahead on the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time to Mark 5:21-43, another “sandwich passage.” As […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year B, 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Mark 2:23-3:6
Ordinary time in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary brings us back to the Gospel of Mark. I’m glad to be back. Mark has a straightforwardness, an immediacy, that is always inviting. And it is short enough to read in a pretty easy sitting — a highly recommended practice if you want to see the subtlety […]