Category Archives: Illuminations

Christmas Day I, II, and III

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Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Christmas Day I, II, and III (Dec. 25, 2025)

(Lectionary Selections I, II, and III are suggested for use for Christmas Eve midnight, Christmas dawn, and the main service on Christmas Day.).

Adoration of the Shepherds

Adoration of the Shepherds (1505-1510), oil painting on panel by Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco, known as Giorgione (1478-1510). National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Click image to enlarge.)

Christmas Day I

First Reading, Selection I: Isaiah 9:2-7

Christmas has come! We see a great light and sing a new song as we behold with joy in the city of David the birth of a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. In our first reading, we hear words of the prophet Isaiah that would inspire the composer George Frideric Handel in “The Messiah.” The prophet foretells a glorious future when the oppressor’s yoke will be broken and a child will be born for us, a son given to us, a Wonderful Counsellor will take the throne of David: Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Psalm, Selection I: Psalm 96

All the earth sings a new song, blessing God’s name in this joyous psalm of praise. There is fascinating theology here, ideas that we may see reflected in the New Testament: We are called to proclaim the good news of God’s salvation; we are to go out and declare God’s glory, a great commission to show God’s majesty to all the nations. The whole earth, the heavens, the seas, the forests and all that is in them rejoice before our God.

Second Reading, Selection I: Titus 2:11-14

Here’s a Bible trivia fact: Titus is the only book of the New Testament that does not appear in the regular three-year Lectionary of Sunday service readings. We read in it only on Christmas Day. Much of Titus’s short letter is spent warning the people of Crete to rein in their sinful behavior, an instruction that leads to a worthy conclusion: We should live well and renounce bad actions as we wait for the grace of God through Jesus Christ, who gave himself to redeem us and make us God’s people.

Gospel, Selection I: Luke 2:1-14(15-20

Now we come to the familiar Gospel story of Jesus’s birth. On this day we read the nativity according to Luke. We hear the memorable stories of Mary giving birth, wrapping the child in swaddling clothes and laying him in a manger in Bethlehem – the City of David – because there was no room in the inn. Here we have the beautiful scene of baby Jesus and his parents suddenly surrounded by shepherds and their flocks. Angels sing gloriously overhead while the Lord”s angel tells them that the baby is a Savior and the Messiah.

Christmas Day II

First Reading, Selection II: Isaiah 62:6-12

In this reading from Isaiah, the people’s exile is ending. Through the power of God’s strong right hand and mighty arm, they will return to Jerusalem. Prepare the way, build up the highway toward home and clear it of stones, the prophet shouts. No longer shall enemies harvest Zion”s grain and drink its wine. God will bring a glorious future of redemption and salvation that will last until the end of time.

Psalm, Selection II: Psalm 97

God is king, and all creation rejoices. This Psalm praises God in an image of power and might that echoes the fearsome God who led the Israelites through the desert and protected them there, surrounded by clouds, lightning and fire. This psalm shows us a God over all other gods, over all other nations, but it also reveals a God who loves the righteous, provides light for them, and cares for those who live justly.

Second Reading, Selection II: Titus 3:4-7

In this passage, Titus emphasizes that Jesus is God, our savior, the perfect manifestation of goodness and loving-kindness. Jesus saved us not because of any good that we had done, but entirely because he is merciful, giving us God’s grace through baptism by water and the Holy Spirit. Justified by God’s grace, we become heirs to eternal life through Jesus.

Gospel, Selection II: Luke 2:(1-7)8-20

Here again is the familiar Gospel story of Jesus’s birth, the nativity according to Luke. This passage tells us the memorable accounts of Mary giving birth, wrapping the child in swaddling clothes and laying him in a manger in Bethlehem – the City of David – because there was no room in the inn. Here we have the beautiful scene of baby Jesus and his parents suddenly surrounded by shepherds and their flocks. Angels sing gloriously overhead while the Lord”s angel tells them that the baby is a Savior and the Messiah.

Christmas Day III

First Reading, Selection III: Isaiah 52:7-10

Israel’s exile in Babylon is ending in this selection from Isaiah, and God’s messenger brings good news of peace and salvation. When God leads the people back to Zion, the temple on the mountain, Jerusalem, even the ruins of the devastated city will break into song. Such is the joy of God’s return to the holy city: God reigns, the people are comforted, and all the nations shall see the power of God’s holy arm and the salvation that it brings.

Psalm, Selection III: Psalm 98

This Psalm of praise, filled with joyous music, harps, trumpets and horns, calls us to stand up and rejoice. We sing a new song of praise for the victory won by God’s mighty right hand and holy arm. All the nations, not only Israel, shout with joy. Even the sea, the land, the rivers and the hills will rejoice when God comes to judge all the world with righteousness and equity. Lift up your voice! Rejoice and sing!

Second Reading, Selection III: Hebrews 1:1-4,(5-12)

The letter to the Hebrews begins with a beautifully poetic description of Jesus: Chosen as the son of God, he is the perfect reflection of God’s glory, higher even than the angels. Indeed, the author of Hebrews tells us, when Jesus was born into the world, multitudes of angels appeared in the heavens to worship him. Because Jesus loved righteousness and hated wickedness, his throne is for ever and ever, and God speaks to us no longer through the prophets but through Christ.

Gospel, Selection III: John 1:1-14

There is no nativity story in John’s Gospel. Luke and Matthew, each in their own way, tell us a version of the familiar story of the newborn baby born in Bethlehem. But John introduces us to Jesus in a completely different way: This poetic and spiritual passage celebrates the unimaginable glory of God’s own word becoming flesh and living among us, lighting up the world. The Word that was in the beginning with God, when God said, “Let there be light,” is now, will be, and in God’s time always has been, incarnate as human flesh, Jesus, Messiah, God with us.

Pentecost 21C

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Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Nov. 2, 2025 (Pentecost 21C/Proper 26)

Christ calling Zacchaeus out of the tree

Christ calling Zacchaeus out of the tree (1692-1693). Fresco in the Church of the Epiphany, Yaroslavl, Russia. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

“O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?” This despairing cry of the prophet Habakkuk soon turns toward hope, an idea that we will hear reflected in more of Sunday’s readings. Habakkuk is a minor prophet, a rare participant in the three-year Lectionary cycle. But this short three-chapter book is unusual and fascinating. Unlike most of the prophets, who were called to hear God’s word and pass it on to humanity, Habakkuk shouts out his own warnings. And, having done so, Habakkuk feels left alone without divine assistance. He turns to God with frustration because he doesn’t think God is listening. Then God responds, directing Habakkuk to write his vision down so clearly that a runner could read it while racing past.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 1:10-18

Isaiah’s great book of prophecy gets off to a fiery start. Its first five chapters are filled with God’s angry words of wrath before we even get to God’s call to the prophet. Before all else, we must clearly hear God’s anger about the people’s failure to keep the covenant that their ancestors made through Moses at Mount Sinai. Such wrath comes through clearly in this reading, as God likens Israel to Sodom and Gomorrah, whose people were so vile that God hates them and their works. But, as always, God’s angry judgment is not absolute. Righteousness and justice, the prophet says, are the way to restore God’s love: “Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow.”

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 119:137-144

We hear verses from Psalm 119 fairly often. With its 176 verses, it is the longest of all the Psalms, and selected passages appear a dozen times during the three-year lectionary cycle. While each of its sections offers different poetic language, its underlying message remains consistent: It is a long, loving celebration of God’s teaching understood as law (“Torah”). The verses chosen for Sunday could have come as good advice to those targeted by Habakkuk’s prophecy: When trouble and distress come on us, God’s law and teaching can give us hope.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 32:1-8

This passage from Psalm 32 rebounds from Isaiah’s horrific concept of a God too angry to hear the people’s prayers or sacrifices, too outdone to give them even the least attention. In contrast, these verses celebrate the joy that comes when our separation from God that results from sin comes to an end, replaced with the utter joy of knowing God’s forgiveness. No longer groaning with pain that feels like withered bones, the repentant sinner is now guarded against trouble, happily surrounded by shouts of deliverance.

Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Now we begin a three-week visit with the second letter to the church of Thessalonica in Northern Greece. This letter probably came a generation after the first letter to the Thessalonians, perhaps around 100 CE, written in Paul’s name by a follower long after his death. These early Christians were facing severe Roman persecution. Recognizing this challenge, the letter opens with hearty thanks and gratitude for their steadfast faith despite all that they have had to endure.

Gospel: Luke 19:1-10

The Pharisees often criticized Jesus for hanging around with prostitutes and tax collectors, the most insulting occupations they could think of. Tax collectors were despised because they traitorously sold their services to the hated Roman occupiers, extracting heavy taxes from the people, and often taking a little extra to enrich themselves. Nevertheless, just a week after we heard Jesus praise a tax collector for his humble prayer, we now find Jesus addressing another tax collector – the diminutive Zacchaeus – who had climbed a tree the better to see him. Then Jesus invites himself to dinner at Zacchaeus’s house! Like the praying tax collector in last week’s Gospel, Zacchaeus earns salvation by following Jesus.

Pentecost 20C

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Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Oct. 26, 2025 (Pentecost 20C/Proper 25)

Pharisäer und Zöllner (The Pharisee and the Publican)

Pharisäer und Zöllner (The Pharisee and the Publican), baroque fresco in the Basilika Ottobeuren, a Benedictine abbey in Ottobeuren, Germany, near the Bavarian Alps. (Click image to enlarge.

First Reading (Track One): Joel 2:23-32

A persistent message of hope is heard throughout Sunday’s readings. We hear it in the words of the Prophet Joel, whose short but poetic prophecy offers comfort and hope amid the threat of a locust plague that threatens famine: God is with us. Feast will follow famine. God loves us, and the spirit will pour out on us as rich and bountiful harvests. Even Joel’s alarming visions of blood and fire and columns of smoke, darkened sun and bloody moon hold no fear for those who call on the name of the Lord, Joel declares: They will all be saved.

First Reading (Track Two): Sirach 35:12-17

The book of Sirach – later renamed Ecclesiasticus in the time of the Emperor Constantine – is one of the books known as Apocrypha that come at the end of the Old Testament. It sums up God’s teaching in the brisk, memorable style of biblical wisdom literature. This passage envisions God as judge over all, a judge who is impartial in dispensing justice. Even so, this divine judge pays special attention to the needs of those who have been wronged, to widows and orphans, to the oppressed who come before the judge with complaints.

Alternate First Reading (Track Two): Jeremiah 14:7-10,19-22

Throughout Scripture, prophets are rarely reluctant to argue with God. The notion of mere mortals pushing back against God Almighty might seem counterintuitive, but it is a powerful way for a prophet to emphasize that the subject is important. Setting the tone of hope amid pain that runs through Sunday’s readings, Jeremiah acknowledges that the people have done wrong. But then he contrasts this admission with a powerful argument that the loving God who made covenant with the people at Sinai would surely not fail to bring them back home, even if they wandered and sinned.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 65

Psalm 65 offers thanksgiving for Earth’s bounty. It serves us doubly in this autumn season: First, it echoes Joel’s assurances that God will provide us nature’s rich harvests even after times of trouble and sin. Then it also paints a lovely word picture of God’s great outpouring, valleys and hills cloaked with crops and grain and shouting and singing for joy. Hold these images in our thoughts as Thanksgiving and Christmastide draw near.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 84:1-6

Mustering poetic metaphors about birds finding safety in their nests, the Psalmist sings a hymn of trust and praise in a loving God who will protect the people and lead them home. God will watch over, favor and honor those who trust in God. As God provides nests for the small birds, so will God provide for us. As God makes pools of water available for thirsty travelers, so will God hear our prayers.

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

The Letter to Timothy concludes by imagining Paul’s last testament in beautiful, poetic words that ring through the ages. The assurance that Paul had fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith while undergoing trials and imprisonment would have been a source of strength to the people of a young church facing Roman persecution. Although some believers were deserting the cause in fear, this letter called on Christians to stand strong, proclaim the good news to all the nations, and count on God’s strength and God’s protection.

Gospel: Luke 18:9-14

This parable follows immediately after last week’s story about the corrupt judge and the persistent widow. It is helpful to think about these parables together to understand what Jesus wants us to know about prayer. Like the powerful but corrupt judge who fails to prevail against the fierce widow, the Pharisee tripped over his pride. Take note that he was not exaggerating his virtues. He truly did follow the law, pray, fast, and tithe. But the despised tax collector who stood aside, looked down, beat his breast and begged for mercy as a sinner was the one who went home justified, Jesus said, because he brought humility to his prayer.

Season of Creation:
Flora and Fauna Sunday

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Illuminations on the Season of Creation readings for Sept. 7, 2025 (Flora and Fauna Sunday)

The Peaceable Kingdom

The Peaceable Kingdom (c.1833), oil painting on canvas by Edward Hicks (1780-1849). National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Click image to enlarge.)

Flora and Fauna Sunday
“Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds! Praise the Lord!”
–Psalm 148:10

First Reading: Job 39:1-8, 26-30

The Kingdom of the Wild
God shows Job the kingdom of the wild, over which Job as a human has no control, but where God’s Wisdom and nurture are ever present. Each part of nature has its ‘way,’ a reflection of Wisdom.

Psalm: Psalm 104:14-23

Survival and Celebration in the Wild
God not only nurtures and sustains all creatures of the wild, but also joins with them and us in celebration.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:10-23

The Wisdom of the Gospel
The Wisdom of God may be evident in creation. The wise of the world may search for wisdom. The message of the Gospel, however, which may seem folly to the wise of the world, is the ultimate wisdom.

Gospel: Luke 12:22-31

The Kingdom of God
The kingdom of God and the kingdom of the wild complement each other, says Jesus. God provides for all and wills for all species to survive and thrive.

Season of Creation 2025

The Season of Creation, September 1 through October 4, is celebrated by Christians around the world as a time for renewing, repairing and restoring our relationship to God, one another, and all of creation. The Episcopal Church joins this international effort for prayer and action for climate justice and an end to environmental racism and ecological destruction. The 2025 theme is Peace with Creation. In celebrating the Season, we are invited to consider anew our ecological, economic, and political ways of living.

Season of Creation: Ocean Sunday

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Illuminations on the Season of Creation readings for Aug. 31, 2025 (Ocean Sunday)

La Pêche miraculeuse (The Miraculous Draught of Fish)

La Pêche miraculeuse (The Miraculous Draught of Fish, c.1618-20), oil painting on wood by Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678). Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg, Alsace, France. (Click image to enlarge.)

Ocean Sunday
We worship with the surging seas
“Let the sea roar and all that fills it!” –Psalm 96:11

First Reading: Job 38:1-18

The Mysteries of Creation
In this portrait of God creating the universe, Earth is constructed like a grand edifice, the ocean is born like a baby and restrained with boundaries, while down below lie domains called the deep and the realm of the dead. Earth with its oceans is a complex of profound mysteries designed by the Creator.

Psalm: Psalm 104:24-26

A World Created by Wisdom
The whole world is formed by the Wisdom of God, thereby giving it all its integral parts, laws, design, and purpose. That world even includes domains where God ‘plays’ with wild creatures in the ocean.

Second Reading: Ephesians 1.3-10

The Cosmic Christ
In Jesus the Christ, we not only face the eternal mystery of forgiveness and salvation, but also the truth that, as the cosmic one, Christ gathers all things together and unites the cosmos. The cosmic Christ fills the universe!

Gospel: Luke 5.1-11

Facing the Deep
When Peter and his friends catch no fish, Jesus asks them to take a risk and cast into ‘the deep’, the realm of the unknown. An even greater risk faces the disciples when they one day catch humans with a new message.

Season of Creation

Season of Creation 2025

The Season of Creation, September 1 through October 4, is celebrated by Christians around the world as a time for renewing, repairing and restoring our relationship to God, one another, and all of creation. The Episcopal Church joins this international effort for prayer and action for climate justice and an end to environmental racism and ecological destruction. The 2025 theme is Peace with Creation. In celebrating the Season, we are invited to consider anew our ecological, economic, and political ways of living.

Season of Creation 2025

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Season of Creation

The Season of Creation, September 1 through October 4, is celebrated by Christians around the world as a time for renewing, repairing and restoring our relationship to God, one another, and all of creation. The Episcopal Church joins this international effort for prayer and action for climate justice and an end to environmental racism and ecological destruction. The 2025 theme is Peace with Creation. In celebrating the Season, we are invited to consider anew our ecological, economic, and political ways of living.
–Season of Creation Celebration Guide, The Episcopal Church

The Season of Creation challenges us to reorient our relationship with creation. While the challenge may have been provoked by the current ecological crisis and a growing awareness of our place in the web of creation, the origins of our re-orientation lie deep in our Christian tradition, especially our biblical heritage. We are challenged to return to our biblical roots to rediscover our intimate connections with creation. We return to see ourselves again as part of the very Earth from which we are made.
–Season of Creation, Uniting Church in Australia

We will publish a series of Season of Creation Illuminations alongside our standard Revised Common Lectionary Illuminations during this season.

Pentecost 7C

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Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for July 27, 2025 (Pentecost 7C/Proper 12)

Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Praying.

Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Praying. Oil painting by Carl Heinrich Bloch, Danish Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle, 1877. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): Hosea 1:2-10

In Sunday’s Gospel, we hear Luke’s version of Jesus teaching the apostles to pray, using the familiar Lord’s Prayer. Listen for hints of God as a parent figure in the day’s other readings. Our Track One first reading opens a passage from the prophet Hosea that sounds even more grim and angry than the language we’ve been hearing from the prophet Amos in the past two weeks. Hosea tells a story that sounds very strange to modern ears: God orders him to marry and have a child with a prostitute, a shocking metaphor meant to warn Israel that it faces destruction as punishment for having forsaken God’s ways. But the final verse offers hope, promising that the descendants of Israel, as numerous as the sand of the sea, will be children of the living God.

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 18:20-32

Last week’s Track Two first reading told the story of Abraham meeting three strangers in the desert and learning that he and his wife, Sarah, will have offspring as plentiful as the stars. Now Abraham has apparently become comfortable in a more direct relationship with God. He bargains and argues with the Creator in hope of saving Sodom from violent destruction. Why did Sodom deserve this? God’s wrath with the Sodomites did not have to do with sexual sin, as many assume, but with their selfish failure to be righteous. As the Prophet Ezekiel will later declare, “Sodom and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.” This covenantal call to righteous action is at the center of the Hebrew Bible and carries on to Jesus.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 85

Echoing Hosea’s description of an angry God, Psalm 85 sings of the grateful relief of a thankful people. In the exile, they had feared that they deserved God’s fury and wrathful indignation. But now they look forward to the mercy and salvation that they hope to receive from a God who remains faithful as a loving father, regardless of their sins. When we listen to God, the Psalmist sings, we hear mercy meeting truth while righteousness and peace join in a kiss.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 138

We often pray when we’re in need. In times of trouble and fear, we cry out in our helplessness and beg God to come to our aid. But how often do we remember to thank God? Whether we are thankful for a specific blessing or grateful for our blessings in general, we say thanks. As our mothers taught us, saying “thanks” is the right thing to do. Psalm 138 reminds us that God responds when we call. God loves us and is faithful to us. God’s right hand will save us; God’s steadfast love endures.

Second Reading: Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)

The author of the letter to the Colossians, writing in Paul’s name, reminds the people to be thankful for the faith and blessings we have received through Christ. This letter to the church in Colossae, a Greek community of new Christians who may have been wrestling with the pagan beliefs of their culture, warns of false teachings. “Festivals, new moons or sabbaths,” the author points out, are only a shadow of what is to come through Christ.

Gospel: Luke 11:1-13

When Jesus teaches us to pray, he calls us to be righteous, just as the ancient prophets demanded of Israel: Honor God’s name, share our food, forgive our debts, do to others as we would have them do to us. Do these things and we help build God’s kingdom, not only in Heaven but right here on Earth. Having taught his followers this prayer, he didn’t stop there, but went on in the following verses to talk about prayer in language rich in metaphor. How do we read his words about a persistently demanding friend who won’t give up asking his neighbor for bread at midnight until the neighbor gives in? Perhaps this underscores the importance of sharing our bread and loving our neighbors no matter what the circumstances. Just as God opens the door when we knock, so should we do the same for our neighbor.

Easter 6C

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

La Jérusalem céleste (“The Heavenly Jerusalem”)

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.

Pentecost 18B

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Sept. 22, 2024 (Pentecost 18B/Proper 20)

Season of Creation: Advocate Sunday

Christ Blessing the Children

Christ Blessing the Children (1535-1540). Painting on beech wood by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553). Städel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): Proverbs 31:10-31

Creation Focus: Celebrate women in labor and leadership
This reading seems to express an ancient, patriarchal view of woman’s subsidiary role in the household, an attitude that we hope the 21st century is leaving behind. Of course we should read the patriarchal language in both testaments as a signal of its own time and culture, not as guidance for the modern world. But this capable wife is no shrinking, helpless figure. She has her husband’s trust; she supervises the household servants as she buys goods and food for the family and even purchases farm and vineyard fields. She is strong, brave, wise and kind. Her husband and her children praise her. She is indeed a woman in labor and leadership!

First Reading (Track Two): Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22

Creation Focus: Wisdom cares beyond a single lifespan
Both good behavior and bad behavior have consequences. Righteousness is pleasing to God; evil deeds lead to death. We hear this theme in Sunday’s readings first in a reading from the book of Wisdom, which is traditionally attributed to King Solomon but was actually written in Greek in the last centuries before Christ. Most of Sunday’s reading, save for the opening and closing verses, presents the ungodly, arguing why they choose to persecute the righteous people who look down on them. They are wrong, of course, as the bracketing verses make clear: They considered death a friend and pined away, but wisdom lives on.

Alternate First Reading (Track Two): Jeremiah 11:18-20

Creation Focus: Prophetic work will last despite tree-felling
Jeremiah is often called “the Weeping Prophet” for the loud lamentations that he shouts out to warn the leaders of Jerusalem and Judah that their failure of righteousness and justice is going to bring down God’s wrath in the form of defeat, destruction and exile. In these short verses, though, his weeping is more personally felt: He has learned that those leaders, angered by his prophecies, are scheming to kill him. He feels like a gentle lamb led to slaughter, he laments. But even in the face of enemies he remains committed to God, and his prophecy will last.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 1

Creation Focus: Wisdom grows out of dedication; be rooted in Creation
In Psalm 1, the first of all the 150 psalms, we celebrate those who follow in the way of God, who delight in meditating on God’s teaching. These faithful souls will be happy, the Psalmist tells us. Through wisdom they will become as firmly rooted in faith as trees are deeply rooted by running water: gaining strength and bearing fruit in God’s creation. The wicked, however, can expect no such happy end. Those who do not follow in God’s way will be blown away like chaff in the wind.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 54

Creation Focus: The violent receive violence; pray to replace with peace
Psalm 54 is annotated with the curiously specific advice that it be accompanied by stringed instruments! Speaking in the imagined voice of young David, it recalls the time when he fled in terror from an angry Saul who sought to kill him. This narrative resonates with the first reading from Wisdom: When insolent and ruthless enemies seek our lives, God’s laws will not hold them back. This is a time to pray for peace and protection, to call on God who delivers us from trouble and upholds our lives.

Second Reading: James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

Creation Focus: Envy and greed for pleasure at heart of evil
Continuing the theme from last Sunday’s selection from James, the author expands on the idea of using our tongues – tiny yet powerful instruments that they are – to praise and bless, not to poison. If we have wisdom and understanding, these verses assure us, our lives will reflect that wisdom in our good and gentle works. Bitter envy and selfish ambition do not come from God. Greed and craving get us in trouble. Greed for what others have leads us into evil: conflicts, disputes, even murder. Rather, sow peace in order to grow peace. Draw near to God, and God will draw near to us.

Gospel: Mark 9:30-37

Creation Focus: Seek to be a servant of Creation, not to be great
Jesus and the apostles have returned to Galilee after their foray into the Gentile country of Tyre and Sidon and Caesarea Philippi. When Jesus tells them for a second time that he must suffer, be killed and then rise again, they still don’t get it. Mark tells us that they’re afraid even to ask, perhaps remembering Peter’s embarrassment when Jesus angrily called him “Satan.” Now, when Jesus leaves them by themselves, they start arguing about which of them is the greatest. Jesus, who must have been thoroughly exasperated, shows them a small child. Following Jesus is not about greatness and power, he says. It is about serving others; it is about welcoming the smallest and weakest among us.

Season of Creation 2024

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Earth icon from Season of Creation, A Celebration Guide for Episcopal Parishes

Earth icon from Season of Creation, A Celebration Guide for Episcopal Parishes

Sunday, September 1, 2024, begins the Season of Creation, an ecumenical celebration in which we join with Christians around the world to celebrate in prayer and action our Gospel calling to protect the Earth that God entrusted to our care. The Season of Creation extends from September 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, to October 4, St. Francis of Assisi Day. 

The 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 2022 recognized climate change as “an all-encompassing social crisis and moral emergency that impacts and interconnects every aspect of pastoral concern including health, poverty, employment, racism, social justice, and family life and that can only be addressed by a Great Work involving every sector of society, including the Church.” The theme of the Season of Creation for 2024 is “To Hope and Act with Creation.” Our centering word for Sunday, September 1, 2024 (Pentecost 15B/Proper 17) is “Pray.”

To read more about the Season of Creation and its suggested liturgy based on the Revised Common Lectionary, follow this link.