Holy Textures is a spot for my musings on the various Biblical texts that come our way through the Revised Common Lectionary.
My goal is to provide timely, short, easy to use, faith inspiring explanations of the meaning of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for your sermon, homily, bible study, or reflection.
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Year C - Season After Pentecost, From Trinity Sunday to the End of August - 2022
Easter was late this year, so the first three readings are not used this year. These are shown as Pentecost NN.
Note that in Pentecost, the Sundays are numbered as "after" Pentecost Sunday. So the first Sunday after Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, is Pentecost 1. And I know that Pentecost Sunday is the final Sunday of the Season of Easter, but I've included it here just to get us started.
The Season After Pentecost is long. It occurs over many local seasons, anniversaries, and events that our communities celebrate. It will also occur over many unplanned, unexpected, unpredictable surprises - some of them welcome, some of them disruptive and unsettling.
We are fortunate then to find ourselves about to be immersed in stories about ancestors who lived through these same experiences. My prayer is that Holy Textures will help us all see what were the RELATIONSHIPS (i.e. NOT the feelings or ideas or beliefs) that changed and/or deepened and/or sustained them. And what then is needed now? More than ever, our planet - and perhaps your neighbourhood - needs healthy, functional, safe, constructive, sustainable relationships. May it be so.
And if you are one of those for whom thinking about Christmas is never too early, a heads up that Christmas Day, December 25, is a Sunday this year.
David Ewart,
www.holytextures.com,
Short, easy to use, faith inspiring explanations of the meaning of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for your sermon, homily, bible study, or reflection.
Permission is granted for non-profit use of these materials.
Acknowledgement in oral presentations is not required.
Otherwise, please acknowledge source as, "David Ewart, www.holytextures.com."
Pentecost Sunday
June 5, 2022
Acts 2:1-21
"We might all hear the same words - each in our own language - but we will not all hear and understand exactly the same meaning. The problem with life, and faith, and following Jesus is always: What does this mean?"
John 14:8-17, (25-27)
"Those who are bonded into Jesus will know a Truthful Spirit who will (Verse 26): 'Teach you everything; and remind you of all that I have said to you.' We, who like Philip, have been with Jesus all this time, and still do not know him, should receive this promise with great joy and thanksgiving at Jesus' generosity. We have not been left alone."
Pentecost 1, Trinity Sunday
June 12, 2022
John 16:12-15
"We need to hear this brief section from Chapter 16, not as Jesus giving a lecture on the doctrine of the Trinity, but as a personally intense commitment of abiding, continuing, present love / loyalty / protection / guidance / bonding with his followers then - and now - and always."
Pentecost NN
Not used this year.
Luke 7:1-10
"It is crucial for our understanding of the Good News to recognize that "Good News" is not just a proclamation. It is also a response. It requires not only a Jesus, but also a centurion to be realized. And the centurion is both the model and the challenge for you and me."
Pentecost NN
Not used this year.
Luke 7:11-17
"I'm left wondering how often I prefer being dead to being obedient. I wonder how many times, Jesus' command to, "Rise," has fallen on deaf ears?"
Pentecost NN
Not used this year.
Luke 7:36--8:3
"Just as the host is thinking to himself, 'Doesn't Jesus know what sort of person this woman is?' Jesus tells a story to make plain that he does indeed know what sort of woman she is, and more than that, knows what sort of person his host is as well. Ouch."
Pentecost 2
June 19, 2022
Luke 8:26-39
"The name "Legion" has a double meaning. Literally, it means, "Many, thousands, multitudes." But it also alludes to the occupying Roman soldier legions which numbered 3,000 to 6,000 each. Many Israelites felt the Roman legions were another form of demonic occupation."
Pentecost 3
June 26, 2022
Luke 9:51-62
"I'm hoping Jesus is saying: Make sure that following me is what guides all that you do. Don't put me aside to go bury your father; make following me guide you as you bury your father. ... I admit my hope is but a poor scrap of what Jesus has actually said, but I remember a time when even a scrap was good enough for Jesus to grant a woman's heart-felt desire."
Pentecost 4
July 3, 2022
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
"The joy in following Jesus is NOT in the results; the joy is in our relationship with him"
Pentecost 5
July 10, 2022
Luke 10:25-37
"Having created the impossible-possibility of a despised no-body doing what is needed to inherit eternal life, ... presents a double challenge. First. To be able to see someone we despise as being able to do what God desires. Second. To imagine ourselves lying left-for-dead in a ditch and being aided by such a one."
Pentecost 6
July 17, 2022
Luke 10:38-42
"If we really do desire that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven, then we need to ask, "Who is doing the chores in heaven?" And if the answer is, "No one," then the second best answer for here on earth would be, "Everyone.""
Pentecost 7
July 24, 2022
Luke 11:1-13
"Up till this point who has said anything about asking for the Holy Spirit? Up till now, it's all been about bread and forgiveness and not being tested and asking and seeking and knocking. But now all of a sudden it's about the Holy Spirit. What are we to make of this?"
Pentecost 8
July 31, 2022
Luke 12:13-21
"While Jesus does not ALWAYS attack wealth, this parable is reflective of a consistent theme of his teachings: Possessions distract us from true wealth; from what is rich in the eyes of God."
Pentecost 9
August 7, 2022
Luke 12:32-40
"Wow. God, for no other reason than it simply pleases God - delights God - for this reason alone - God gives us the kingdom. No worries. So get over all your anxiety, guilt, shame, unworthiness, wretchedness, etc., etc. You don't deserve it, but God is giving it to you anyway."
Pentecost 10
August 14, 2022
Luke 12:49-56
"It is difficult to over-emphasize how revolutionary Jesus is being in stressing loyalty to him - and kinship with those who are also loyal to him - over family."
Pentecost 11
August 21, 2022
Luke 13:10-17
"This lesson invites all of us who seek to follow Jesus today to ponder the ways in which our own rules, customs, and habits of what is right and proper have in fact become "Bad News" for the poor, the blind, and the oppressed - and to break those bonds so that we might ourselves be proclaimers of Good News of release, recovery, and freedom."
Pentecost 12
August 28, 2022
Luke 14:1, 7-14
"This is what Jesus is teaching / proclaiming here. What does it look like for those with higher status / honour / privilege to live the year of the Lord's favour?"
Pentecost 13
September 4, 2022
Luke 14:25-33
"So at a minimum these sayings of Jesus ought to draw us up short. Cause us to reflect how much the choices we have already made are costing us - and our planet; and to consider whether the costs of following Jesus might be a better investment."
And here are the key calendar dates for 2022
Short, easy to use, faith inspiring explanations of the meaning of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for your sermon, homily, bible study, or reflection.
