Pentecost 3C

Posted on June 23, 2025 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for June 29, 2025 (Pentecost 3C/Proper 8)

Calling of the Apostles (1481), fresco by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1448-1494). Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Kings 2:1-2,6-14

Here’s a Bible trivia question for you: Other than Jesus, which Bible figures were welcomed into heaven in their earthly bodies? Sunday’s Track One first reading tells us the story of the prophet Elijah taken up in a chariot of fire. The Apocrypha tell us that the prophet Enoch was “taken up,” too. In the Transfiguration we see Moses joining Elijah to meet Jesus, both of them embodied and shining; and modern Catholic doctrine holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was “assumed” bodily into heaven. Imagine the challenge that faces Elisha in this reading as he prepares to take over from a prophet important enough to be taken up in such a spectacular way!

First Reading (Track Two): 1 Kings 19:15-16,19-21

The two books of Kings sum up the story of Israel’s kings, from the reign of David to the fall and exile of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Sunday’s Track Two first reading opens with the prophet Elijah, who had been chosen by God to speak truth to Israel’s kings and to warn them that disaster lay ahead. Elijah was in despair because he feared death at the hands of foes unwilling to hear such prophecy. But God gives Elijah strength and sends him along with instructions to choose Elisha as his successor.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20

This Psalm’s stormy images of dark clouds, thunder, lightning, and pounding rain stand as metaphors for God’s majestic deeds that reveal power and might. Deeply troubled and crying out without ceasing, the Psalmist calls on God tirelessly. He seeks comfort for the soul, yet declines to accept it when it comes. Then hope appears as we reflect on God’s power in the storm and remember how God gently led the people out of slavery and protected them in the desert.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 16

Psalm 16, titled “Song of Trust and Security in God” in the New Revised Standard Edition, is attributed by tradition to the hand of King David, as are nearly half of the 150 Psalms. The Psalmist, writing in David’s name, calls for God’s protection and guidance. Those who follow false gods will only increase their trouble, the poetic verses sing. But by accepting God as his “portion and cup,” the Psalmist’s heart will be glad, and his spirit will rejoice, knowing that God will not abandon him to the grave.

Second Reading: Galatians 5:1,13-25

This week in our passage from Paul’s letter to the Galatians, Paul continues his argument that the way of Christ is open to all humankind: God’s covenant with Israel extends through Christ to Jew and Gentile alike. The law of that covenant, he goes on, requires us to love our neighbors as ourselves, not to “bite and devour” one another. The Spirit binds us to our neighbors in “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Gospel: Luke 9:51-62

Jesus, in the company of his followers, now sets his face to go to Jerusalem. From now through the end of the long Pentecost season at the end of November, we will follow Luke’s account of Jesus’s long journey from his home in Galilee toward Jerusalem, his Passion, and the Cross. In this reading, we see a side of Jesus that may surprise us with his seeming frustration and impatience. Is his call to follow him so urgent that disciples must leave their dead unburied? Is there really no time for them to bid their families farewell? Jesus is now fiercely focused on urgency in bringing in the Kingdom. Nothing else appears more important to him than that.

What are “Track 1” and “Track 2”?
During the long green season after Pentecost, there are two alternative tracks each week for the Hebrew Bible reading. Within each track, there is a Psalm chosen to accompany the particular lesson.
The Revised Common Lectionary allows us to make use of either of these tracks, but once a track has been selected, it should be followed through to the end of the Pentecost season, rather than jumping back and forth between the two tracks.
For more information from LectionaryPage.net, click here.

Pentecost 2C

Posted on June 16, 2025 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for June 22, 2025 (Pentecost 2C/Proper 7)

Exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac (early sixth century), mosaic in the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy.

First Reading (Track One): 1 Kings 19:1-15

This Sunday we return to the long season after Pentecost. Although it was once called “ordinary time,” we should not think of it as less important than the liturgical seasons around the Incarnation at Christmas or the Resurrection at Easter. Now the life and works of Jesus come to the fore. Our Track One first readings during this season will draw from the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. We begin with Elijah, a bold prophet who fought the priests of Baal and spoke truth to King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel. In this reading, fleeing an angry Jezebel’s revenge, Elijah is worn down and afraid. Fighting despair, he hides under a broom tree and begs God to take his life. But God has other plans and sends winds, an earthquake, and fire to get Elijah back to God’s work.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 65:1-9

The season after Pentecost, with its green liturgical colors, now begins. In the past six months, we have marked the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Now we begin almost six months following the life and works of Jesus as told by Luke. In our Track Two first reading, we are near the end of Isaiah’s great book of prophecy. God, speaking through the prophet, is angry because the people who returned from exile are already breaking the covenant, ignoring the Law, eating unclean food, and even worshiping idols. God is beyond anger and is ready to kill them all. But God will be just: Those who have been rebellious, who have provoked God’s anger, must pay with their lives. But God will not destroy them all. A remnant will remain to inherit Zion, God’s holy hill.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 42 and 43

We sing two connected Psalms in Track One this Sunday. The initial hymns in the second of five books within the Psalms resonate with beautiful poetic language. Both are filled with lamentation, yet they end at last in hope and faith. The Psalmist’s soul longs for God as a deer longs for water; his soul thirsts for God. But when faith falters, the Psalmist asks over and over why God has forgotten him. Finally, faith wins as he begs God to send out light and truth and lead him to God’s holy hill.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 22:18-27

This passage from Psalm 22 feels consistent with God’s response to Isaiah’s plea in the first reading not to slay all of Israel. We call on God to stay close, to protect the people from danger, from the sword, and from wild animals. Let all the congregation praise the Lord, we sing. Let Israel stand in awe of God and know that God works justice and righteousness to all who seek and praise God, not least the hungry poor who seek God for protection and food.

Second Reading: Galatians 3:23-29

In his letter to the churches of Galatia (a region in Asia Minor that now includes Ankara, Turkey), Paul makes a strong argument to the communities’ largely Gentile new Christians: Gentiles are welcome into the infant church, and they need not strictly follow Jewish laws. They need not keep kosher nor be circumcised. Gentiles are in no way second-class Christians, Paul proclaims, in beautiful, inclusive language that rings through the ages: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of us are one in Jesus. All are heirs to God’s covenant with Abraham.

Gospel: Luke 8:26-39

Having just landed in a Gentile community on the far side of the Sea of Galilee, following a stormy trip in which Jesus calmed the fierce waters, Jesus and the disciples encounter a noisy, scary man, naked and in chains. The man, or perhaps the legion of demons within, loudly greets Jesus as “Son of the Most High God.” Jesus sends the man’s demons into a herd of pigs, who rush into the Sea of Galilee and drown! This odd story may seem strange to us, but it might have made Luke’s original audience laugh: Its allusions to the hated Roman army in the name of the demon, “Legion,” residing in a naked man living in the ritually unclean setting of tombs and swine, would have seemed hilarious. Luke is likely making clear, as Paul did in Galatians, that God’s love through Jesus is unlimited and available to all.

Trinity Sunday C

Posted on June 9, 2025 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for June 15, 2025 (Trinity Sunday C)

L’Adoration de la Sainte Trinité (Adoration of the Holy Trinity, c.1640), oil painting on canvas by Johann Heinrich Schönfeld (1609-1684). The Louvre, Paris. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

On the Sunday after we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, we celebrate Trinity Sunday. On this day we remember the theology that developed as the early church sought to understand how Creator, Son, and Holy Spirit can come together as three persons within a single God. Our first reading from Proverbs offers a poetic description of God’s divine wisdom personified as female: God called Wisdom, a powerful, creative woman, to be present at the moment of creation. She cries out joy in the newly made world, delighting in humanity.

Psalm: Psalm 8

The 150 ancient hymns in the book of Psalms serve many purposes, from expressions of sadness and lamentation to prayers for help to songs of praise and joy. Psalm 8 is all about praise: We lift our voices in joyful appreciation to the God who created this beautiful world and everything that lives on it. God gave us mastery over all creation, the Psalmist sings; God’s people are called to be responsible for God’s creation, not only to take pleasure in it.

Alternate Psalm: Canticle 13

In place of a Psalm, we may sing Canticle 13 from the Book of Common Prayer, “A Song of Praise.” This litany of praise and exaltation to God as Creator and King recalls the story of the three young men who danced and sang in defiance of the flames in King Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace. Protected by God, as told in the Book of Daniel and the apocryphal Song of Azariah, they walked unharmed through the fire, singing a hymn of praise to God and all creation. Their full song is recorded as Canticle 12. Canticle 13, a modern supplement to the young men’s song, rings out resounding praise to the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Second Reading: Romans 5:1-5

In this short passage from his Letter to the Romans, Paul calls for thoughtful understanding: It is important for us to understand that Paul is not saying that suffering is good. Nor is he warning that God requires us to suffer. Paul is offering specific advice to an early Christian community in Rome, a mixed group of Jewish Christians and pagan converts, some of whom have known persecution and exile. Paul points out that Christians rejoice in God’s grace in spite of suffering, not because of suffering. Moreover, he says, God’s love through Jesus, poured into us through the Holy Spirit, gives us the strength to stand up to suffering.

Gospel: John 16:12-15

On Trinity Sunday, we hear one of the shortest Sunday Gospel readings in the Lectionary. In spite of its brevity, it is a powerful reading, one last offering in the series of excerpts from Jesus’s talk with the disciples at the Last Supper that we have heard in recent weeks. There are things about God that we just can’t understand, Jesus tells his friends. But then he assures them that the Holy Spirit will be with them, as the Holy Spirit is with us: bearing the glory of Creator and Son, and guiding us all toward the truth.

Pentecost C

Posted on June 2, 2025 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for June 8, 2025 (Pentecost C)

Pentecostés (1615-1620), oil painting on canvas by Juan Bautista Maíno (1581-1649). Museo del Prado, Madrid. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading or alternate Second Reading: Acts 2:1-21

Just 50 days after the disciples had found an empty tomb from which Christ had risen, then saw him in a series of mysterious appearances before being taken up into the clouds, his followers have gathered to celebrate Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, the Jewish spring harvest festival also known as Pentecost. While they are gathered, the Holy Spirit comes down in a mighty wind and tongues of fire. Then every person in the crowd of spectators from many nations hears the apostles speaking in their own native tongue. Finally, Peter preaches to the crowd in the apocalyptic words of the Prophet Joel, who foretold that God will pour out the Spirit on all people in the last days.

Alternate First Reading: Genesis 11:1-9

The story of the Tower of Babel is one of the many ancient narratives in Genesis that children and adults alike enjoy hearing re-told. It follows immediately after the stories of Noah and his family, and it clearly hadn’t taken long for humanity to get into trouble again. Now they are building a huge city and a mighty tower that can reach the heavens. This development troubles their creator, not so much because they wanted to reach heaven, but because – echoing Adam and Eve’s desire to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil – they would learn too much and become too wise. By causing this prideful people to speak different languages that others could not understand, God encouraged them to scatter out and fill the earth.

Psalm: Psalm 104:25-35, 37

This portion of Psalm 104 begins with images that surely bring pleasure to anyone who loves ships, the sea, and the whales who do indeed seem to “sport” in it as they leap and spout under God’s blue skies and brilliant sunlight. Then we sing of the breath of God that moves over the waters and brings us life, just as in the first moments of creation when God’s spirit-breath blew over the waters like a mighty wind separating land from sea and night from day.

Second Reading: Romans 8:14-17

In this short passage from his letter to the early church in Rome, Paul quickly sketches an idea that the church would gradually work out as Trinity over the next few centuries. God the Creator inspires us – literally, breathes belief into us – through the Holy Spirit. This action, according to Paul, redeems us from the slavery of fear, making us adopted children of God, sharing our heritage with Jesus, the Son of God, with whom we suffer and through whom we are glorified.

Gospel: John 14:8-17,25-27

Through much of Eastertide, our Gospels have taken us through Jesus’ farewell discourse to the apostles as told by John. This week we return to verses that we heard just a few weeks ago, when Jesus assured the apostles that God would send the Advocate – the Holy Spirit – in Jesus’ name, to guide them and remind them of all that Jesus taught. Jesus has told the apostles that he will be leaving them soon. Now Jesus assures them that he remains in God and God in him; and that God’s Holy Spirit will be with his followers forever. The Holy Spirit comes as an eternal Advocate, sent in Jesus’s name to teach us, to lead us, and to comfort us with that great peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

Easter 7C

Posted on May 26, 2025 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for June 1, 2025 (Easter 7C)

A Jailer, Paul, Silas, and the Jailer’s Family (1893); bronze metalwork panel on the north door of Trinity Church, Manhattan. Design by Richard Morris Hunt (1827-1895), produced by Charles Henry Hiehaus; Donated by William Waldorf Astor in memory of his father, John Jacob Astor III. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Acts 16:16-34

On this last Sunday of Eastertide, our first reading finds Paul still in Philippi, where he encounters a woman possessed by a demon. She has been held as a slave by men who present her as a fortune teller because her loud shouts sound prophetic. She follows Paul and Silas around, declaring them “slaves of the most high God,” until Paul, annoyed, silences her shouts by casting the spirit out of her. Her masters, angry because her healing means the loss of their income, have Paul and his companions jailed for disturbing the peace. When they pray for relief, an earthquake bursts open the prison doors and breaks their chains. Paul and his companions refuse to leave, though, to protect the jailer from punishment. The grateful jailer asks them how he can be saved, and Paul tells him to believe in Christ.

Psalm: Psalm 97

This psalm of thanks and praise begins with language that may seem difficult for modern ears. It confronts us with the loud, chest-thumping shouts of Bronze Age warriors, a poetic genre that’s difficult to imagine in a modern context. Perhaps it’s best to peek at the ending of this story to see how it comes out: It’s a happy ending, reassuring us that God brings light and joy for the righteous and the upright in heart. Practice righteousness, the Psalmist advises. Insist on justice for the weak, not just for the strong; resist evil, and give thanks that God loves us.

Second Reading: Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

At the end of Pentecost, we come to the closing verses of Revelation. This lectionary passage skips past a couple of alarming verses, apparently in order to focus on Revelation’s promise: Many in the early church expected that the Lamb – the sacrificed and resurrected Jesus Christ – would return soon, perhaps even during their own lifetimes. Two thousand years later, we recognize that life, eternity, and God’s kingdom aren’t that simple. But Revelation’s message of the Lamb still brings us hope: “Let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift. … Come, Lord Jesus!”

Gospel: John 17:20-26

John’s extended four-chapter narrative that we hear in parts during Eastertide started after Jesus had washed his disciples’ feet and celebrated a last supper with them. Now it concludes, just before Jesus will go out to the garden to pray, where Judas and the soldiers will come in the night to take him away to be brought before Pilate and crucified. In these familiar verses, we hear Jesus asking God to love everyone just as God has loved Jesus. Yes, everyone: Jesus prays not only for his friends in the room then and there, but asks God to love all the people of the world, promising that all who believe in him “may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me.”

Easter 6C

Posted on May 19, 2025 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for May 25, 2025 (Easter 6C)

La Jérusalem céleste (“The Heavenly Jerusalem”), a portion of the 14th century Tapestry of the Apocalypse at the Château d’Angers, France. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Acts 16:9-15

As we approach the final weeks of Eastertide, Sunday’s readings remind us once more that God’s love embraces all of Earth’s people and all of Earth’s nations: Jesus did not come to save only a chosen few. Our first reading from Acts shows Paul taking Jesus’ message westward from Asia Minor, where he has been teaching and baptizing, into Europe for the first time. In the new Christian community at Philippi in Greece, he converts Lydia, a leader of the community and a wealthy merchant of royal purple cloth. Lydia becomes a benefactor of the growing Jesus movement, inviting Paul to stay in her home.

Psalm: Psalm 67

Echoing the theme of Paul opening the doors of the church to everyone, this short but joyful Psalm calls all the nations of Earth and all their people to sing together in peace and praise. God has blessed us, and through God the Earth has given forth its bounty, the Psalmist sings. The Psalm does not tell us to give God thanks and praise only for our personal gains. We are to make God’s grace and salvation known to all people, all nations. We who have enjoyed God’s blessings are expected to share God’s good news to the ends of the Earth.

Second Reading: Revelation 21:10,22-22:5

Continuing in the final chapters of Revelation, we discover that the New Testament is concluding with vivid images of life at the end of time. We imagine the New Jerusalem, heaven come down to Earth, with a crystal stream and tree of life in the midst of a city so brilliant in the graceful glow of the Lamb that it needs no other light. In verses politically radical for their time and perhaps any other, we hear that all earthly kings will worship at God’s throne in this blissful city. The city’s pure waters and luscious fruit will nourish all nations and everyone.

Gospel: John 14:23-29

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” Jesus utters these familiar, loving words as he concludes his farewell to his disciples at the Last Supper. Jesus tells them that he is going away, a prospect that would surely trouble their hearts. But Jesus reassures them that God will remain present with them. God will send an Advocate, God’s Holy Spirit, to come in Jesus’ name to teach and inspire them. These words that Jesus uttered just before his passion and crucifixion will resonate with us again in two weeks on Pentecost Sunday.

Alternate Gospel: John 5:1-9

Jesus, visiting Jerusalem for a festival, stops by a pool called Bethsaida where many people hope to be healed in its waters. Seeing a disabled man who has been waiting there for 38 years, Jesus asks him if he would like to be made well. Rather than responding at once, the man complains that he hasn’t been able to get into the healing water during all those years because no one would help him. Without further discussion, Jesus told the man, “Stand up, take your mat and walk,” and so he does, walking away without a word of thanks. The passage concludes, briefly, “Now that day was a Sabbath.” The verses that follow this reading reveal that this Sabbath healing outraged the Temple authorities, who began making plans to have Jesus killed.

Easter 5C

Posted on May 12, 2025 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for May 18, 2025 (Easter 5C)

Peter Preaching (1433). Altarpiece panel by Fra Angelico (1400-1455). Museo di San Marco, Florence, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Acts 11:1-18

God’s love is for everyone, not just a few: This inclusive message resonates through Sunday’s readings. In our first reading from Acts, we hear Peter explaining to his fellow Jewish Christians that a vision from God had made clear to him that Christ’s message was not intended just for them but for Gentiles as well. The idea that the gift of the Spirit could be shared with Gentiles through baptism without requiring them first to convert to Judaism must have seemed new and strange to them all. But God’s message to Peter was unambiguous: Go and baptize the Roman centurion Cornelius and his whole family.

Psalm: Psalm 148

In the remaining weeks of Eastertide, we move to the closing chapters of Revelation. In this apocalyptic vision, Heaven and Earth and all that is old have passed away, and everything is new! Earth and sea, all creation as we knew it is no more. Reversing the idea that the souls of humans will rise to a lofty Heaven, we see God coming down from Heaven to Earth instead in a New Jerusalem in which God comes to live with mortals as Jesus Christ had done. In verses often read during the remembrance of a loved one’s life, we hear that God will wipe away tears and banish mourning, crying, and pain; God will quench all thirst with the water of life, and death will be no more!

Second Reading: Revelation 21:1-6

In the remaining weeks of Eastertide we move to the closing chapters of Revelation. Heaven and Earth have passed away in this apocalyptic vision. Everything has changed! Earth and sea and all creation as we knew it is no more. Now God is coming to Earth to live with mortals, as Jesus Christ had done; all humanity will be God’s people, and God will be with them in a world where all things are new. God will wipe away tears and banish mourning, crying and pain; God will quench all thirst with the water of life. Death will be no more!

Gospel: John 13:31-35

In Eastertide, we have remembered Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection and moved on to his mysterious appearances to his overjoyed followers. But now Sunday’s Gospel takes us back in time, remembering Jesus and the apostles as they gather for the Last Supper. Judas has just sneaked out to go betray Jesus, so we know that Jesus’s passion and death lie ahead. Yet Jesus begins his last words to his friends by reminding them all to love. In loving one another, loving our neighbors, loving even our enemies, Jesus provides clear instructions to love all of God’s people, and through this abundant, universal love to show the world how Jesus loves us all.

Easter 4C

Posted on May 9, 2025 by Robin Garr

em>Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for May 11, 2025 (Easter 4C)

St. Peter Reviving Tabitha (1618), oil painting on canvas by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, “Il Guercino” (1591-1666). Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Florence. Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Acts 9:36-43

Even in the midst of difficulty, we always have hope in God. This encouraging theme resonates through today’s readings, reminding us that God protects us, feeds us, washes away our tears, and offers us life. Our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells of the sudden death of Tabitha. This loss must have hit the infant church hard, as this hard-working disciple was known for her acts of charity, and she made clothes for the group. Peter, filled with the Spirit, brings her back to life with a prayer and a command, just as Jesus had done with Lazarus and others.

Psalm: Psalm 23

The beloved 23rd Psalm is so familiar that many of us could probably recite it from memory, perhaps in the cadences of King James. Sometimes, though, too much familiarity can rob us of the beauty of rediscovering the details. Try reading it this week with fresh eyes and mind, taking it slowly, one verse at a time. Breathe deeply and visualize yourself and your loved ones in each line; walking with God through the green pastures, past the still waters and through the dark valley, then sitting down at God’s table for an unforgettable banquet. God loves us all, always. What could be more comforting than that?

Second Reading: Revelation 7:9-17

We remain through Eastertide in the strange land of Revelation, a book that was written in symbolic language to inspire and reassure the people of a persecuted first century church. We don’t look to it for prophecy for modern times, or at least we shouldn’t. But when we read it as metaphor and tradition, we can find hope for all ages in its verses. In this passage we see a multitude worshiping the Lamb. This is not an exclusive gathering of insiders but a worldwide crowd incorporating all colors, languages and nations. Everyone is included! The closing verses continue offering reassurance and hope: The Lamb will be our good shepherd, guiding us beside the still waters, protecting us from danger and delivering us from hunger and thirst.

Gospel: John 10:22-30

John’s Gospel, like all four Gospels, reflects life in the early church during a time of conflict between early Christians and the Jewish community in which they had been included. This passage reveals that conflict in John’s interpretation of Jesus’ critical response to Jewish leaders. John places this confrontation symbolically in the Temple’s portico of Solomon, the place where kingly judgments were traditionally rendered. In our modern understanding, we can look past the harsh words to see love and hope for all nations in Jesus, the Good Shepherd, whose works show that he will protect his flock and care for his sheep, Christ’s body on Earth.

Easter 3C

Posted on May 3, 2025 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for May 4, 2025 (Easter 3C)

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes (1515), full-size drawing for a fresco by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Raphael, 1483-1520). Victoria and Albert Museum, London. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Acts 9:1-20

How do we recognize God in our lives? How do we respond when God calls? Consider Saul in Sunday’s first reading. Early Christians had every reason to fear Saul: a frightening figure, a Pharisee angry with the unorthodox new Messianic movement, Saul persecuted the Christians with all his strength. But when Jesus confronted Saul in a blinding vision on the road to Damascus, everything changed. Saul’s vision reveals that, in persecuting those who follow Jesus, Saul was persecuting Jesus himself. Saul’s anger melts away with his restored vision. Saul becomes Paul, who will go on to take Christianity to the world with a convert’s zeal.

Psalm: Psalm 30

Psalm 30 is framed as a hymn of thanksgiving, expressing gratitude to God for the Psalmist’s recovery from a serious illness. Its verses resonate with the experience of Saul in the first reading, who evolved from hatred to life in Christ, and with Peter in the Gospel, who bravely proclaimed Jesus after having denied him three times. In this psalm we sing out in faith that while sadness and anger are short-lived, the joy of God’s favor lives forever. “Weeping may spend the night,” we pray in this familiar verse, “but joy comes in the morning.”

Second Reading: Revelation 5:11-14

In last week’s reading from Revelation, we heard the prophecy that Christ would be “ruler of the kings of the earth.” This week, a few chapters further along, we visualize a scene of triumphant heavenly worship including all creation. All the angels and elders of heaven, all the creatures of heaven and earth, humans and animals from land and sky and sea, all these join in worship and song. Together, they sing a majestic hymn, filled with symbolic language, that reveals an unexpected surprise: Jesus’s kingship is not that of a roaring lion or any earthly ruler, but a lamb, a vulnerable creature, symbol of the Passover. This is a victim who once was slaughtered but now is raised and glorified for all.

Gospel: John 21:1-19

Seven of the disciples are back home in Galilee, perhaps seeking a break from the emotions of Jesus’s crucifixion, resurrection, and mysterious appearances. They take their boat out to go fishing at night, but have no luck. Suddenly, a stranger appears on the shore and suggests that they cast their net on the other side of the boat. As they haul in a huge load, they recognize that the stranger is Jesus. Peter jumps into the water and heads for shore, followed by the delighted crew. Jesus serves them fish and bread from a charcoal fire; then Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Peter, apparently forgetting how recently he had denied Jesus three times, is offended that Jesus has to ask this repeatedly. Then Jesus directs Peter, “Feed my lambs. … Feed my sheep,” and calls him, as he had done at the beginning of his ministry: “Follow me.”

Easter 2C

Posted on April 25, 2025 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for April 27, 2025 (Easter 2C)

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (c.1601-1602), oil painting on canvas by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610). Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam, Berlin, Germany. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Acts 5:27-32

Jesus has died and Christ has risen, but tension continues between Christ-followers and the Temple establishment. We’ll be hearing passages from the Acts of the Apostles as our first readings during Eastertide. In Sunday’s reading we learn that the apostles have continued teaching, preaching and healing in Jesus’ way, and all this uproar has the authorities worried that these efforts are going to bring trouble. In the verses before these, we read that they locked Peter and the apostles in jail, but an angel set them free. Now the authorities try persuasion instead, but the apostles, recognizing a higher mission, push back: God has called them to spread the Word, they say; and that mission trumps any human authority.

Psalm: Psalm 118:14-29

Portions of Psalm 118 have seen us through these holy days, as the Lectionary returns to parts of its verses on Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday, and now the Sunday after Easter. Once more we chant the covenant accepted by Moses at Mount Sinai, a commitment that Jesus also taught. We pledge to practice justice in our lives; to serve God, our neighbor, the poor and the stranger, seeking through righteousness to enter the glory of God. Finally the psalm addresses God directly: Giving thanks for God’s abundant love, our lives and our salvation, we sing, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Alternate Psalm: Psalm 150

Throughout the year, in Sunday liturgy and daily prayer, we turn to the Psalms almost every time we gather to worship. Some Psalms cry out in lamentation; some ask God’s blessing. Psalms beg forgiveness and express hope; a few even call down God’s wrath. The most joyful Psalms sing God’s praise. Psalm 150, the last Psalm, brings the book to a ringing climax as we sing out God’s glory with flutes and harp, strings and praise and plenty of loud, clanging cymbals. We sing out loud as we celebrate the resurrection during Eastertide.

Second Reading: Revelation 1:4-8

Despite the commercial success of the popular “Left Behind” stories and other interpretations of Revelation as scary prophecy for modern times, Revelation was never meant for our modern ears. In its time, the late first century, it was addressed to the Christians of seven cities in Asia Minor (now western Turkey) that faced oppression by Roman power. The letter, written in the apocalyptic genre, a sort of First Century sci-fi and fantasy, used symbolic language and colorful metaphors to reassure these early Christians that the Reign of Christ was still to come and would set them free. Christ is “the ruler of the kings of the earth,” it promises, holding up that glowing hope that Christ would eventually dominate even the Emperor of Rome.

Gospel: John 20:19-31

In John’s version of the resurrection, when Mary Magdalene alone saw the risen Christ, she ran back to tell the other disciples. It appears that they did not react immediately with celebration, though, but – as Sunday’s Gospel begins – they had gathered and locked all the doors, apparently fearful that the Temple authorities who had worked with Pilate to condemn Jesus were trying to find them. But then Jesus appears in the locked room with them, shows them his wounds, offers them peace, and breathes the power of the Holy Spirit into them, turning their fear into joy. Thomas, who wasn’t with the apostles that night, was doubtful, insisting on proof before he would believe. But Thomas, too, turns from doubt to belief when he sees Jesus.