Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Aug. 3, 2025 (Pentecost 8C/Proper 13)

Der reiche Mann und der Tod (The Rich Man and Death), 1622, painting by David Kindt (1580-1652). Hauptkirche St. Jacobi (St. James’ Church), Hamburg, Germany. (Click image to enlarge

First Reading (Track One): Hosea 11:1-11

Last Sunday we heard the introduction to the book of the prophet Hosea, an angry and startling accusation about Israel’s unrighteous path to destruction. Now, toward the end of the book, Hosea turns from anger to more gentle tones and beautiful imagery. Now he envisions Israel as a child, and God as a loving but exasperated parent. God knows that the misbehaving offspring deserve punishment but isn’t willing to give up on them entirely. God’s heart recoils when Israel turns away, but God’s compassion grows warm and tender. Eventually the children will come home to a happy reunion.

First Reading (Track Two): Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23

“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” ​In reflecting on this familiar passage in the mysterious book of Ecclesiastes,​ ​think of “vanity” in the sense of the original Hebrew word: “breath” or “vapor,” something barely visible that veils the light. We spend our lives futilely toiling under the scorching sun in pursuit of something that we can’t grasp, the poet sings: “chasing after wind.” The first-person narrator, “I, the Teacher” is traditionally understood as King Solomon, but the book was almost certainly written long after the people’s return from exile, centuries after Solomon.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 107:1-9, 43

The people returning home from exile might have sung a hymn much like this. It hails God’s compassion despite Israel’s ingratitude. Three times in nine verses the people praise God’s steadfast love, a poignant Hebrew word – “chesed” – that connotes compassion, faithfulness, kindness, mercy, and grace. Take special note of Verse 9, praising God who gives drink to the hungry and fills the hungry with good things.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 49:1-11

Foreshadowing the parable of the foolish rich man in Sunday’s Gospel, this portion of Psalm 49 calls out the foolishness of trust in riches. High or low, rich or poor, we can never ransom ourselves or deliver to God the price of our life, the Psalmist sings. We can never earn enough to ransom our lives when our time comes. No one has enough riches to buy life forever, never seeing the grave. Rich or poor, wise or dull and stupid, all together come to the grave.

Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-11

In our fourth and final week with the letter to the Colossians, the author proclaims that once Christ is revealed in our lives, we are called to put away evil ways and clothe ourselves in a new life in Christ. In words similar to Paul’s invitation to the Galatians to put away all differences among humankind, we are reminded that “there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free.” Once we are raised with Jesus and connected with each other in baptism, such earthly differences as race, religion, gender, class and culture no longer matter. Our new life in Christ is one in all.

Gospel: Luke 12:13-21

The rich man in Jesus’s parable became wealthy through his work, planning and careful investment. He has an enviable retirement plan, having stored up sufficient property and earnings to ensure him a merry life of ease. Yet God calls him a fool, and it’s not hard to see the reasons why. Most obviously, the rich man failed to consider that we never know when we’ll die. He focused his life on saving for a future that he’ll never see. Even more important, he was greedy. He never gave a thought to others. He did not love his neighbors as himself. Jesus – who reminded us that whatever we do for poor, hungry, unclothed and oppressed people we do also for him – has little patience with those who think only of themselves.

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for July 20, 2025 (Pentecost 6C/Proper 11)

Christ in the house of Mary and Martha. Oil painting by Johannes (Jan) Vermeer, 1665, National Gallery of Scotland.(Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): Amos 8:1-12

What does hospitality look like? How should it be practiced? In the Gospel story of Mary and Martha, which sister gets hospitality right? In subtle ways, Sunday’s Lectionary readings build toward this Gospel. In our Track One first reading, the prophet Amos builds on the theme of last week’s passage: He recites a horrifying litany of curses that will come to the land whose rulers “trample the needy and bring to ruin the poor.” If they continue to treat their subjects inhospitably, he says, their sun will go dark and their crops will fail. The nation will hunger and thirst for God’s words as it will for food and water.

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 18:1-10a

Sunday’s Track Two first reading tells of God assuring Abraham and Sarah that they will have a son, despite Sarah’s advanced age, fulfilling God’s pledge that their children would inherit the Promised Land. We learn of this promise, however, in the context of Abraham’s radical hospitality to three visiting strangers. Who are these strangers? God? Angels? That’s not entirely clear, but it doesn’t matter: Abraham is generous to the strangers, and Abraham becomes patriarch of God’s chosen people.

Psalm: (Track One): Psalm 52

Harmonizing with the Track One first reading, the Psalmist angrily calls out a tyrant (Doeg the Edomite, who conspired with Saul to kill King David, according to the small print at the top of Psalm 52 in the New Revised Standard Version). We hear accusation in every line: This was a tyrant who trusted in great wealth; a liar, who loved evil more than good. The Psalmist shouts: Oh, that God would demolish you utterly! Wicked people who steal from the poor will fail, while those who trust in God’s eternal mercy will live in joy.

Psalm: (Track Two): Psalm 15

Who may come to the holy hill and reside in God’s tabernacle? Such a privilege must be earned, the Psalmist sings. It should come as no surprise that, when we pare this psalm down to its essentials, we get another lesson in hospitality and love of neighbor: Do what is right. Don’t slander. Don’t do wrong by our friends or harm the innocent. These are simple commands, and they guide us into a life of righteousness.

Second Reading: Colossians 1:15-28

Most of the letters of Paul and many of the later letters written by followers in Paul’s name were written to guide specific Christian communities; to advise and to teach. They are like sermons in writing. Listen for this tone in Sunday’s excerpt from the letter to the Colossians: After a theological meditation on Christ as the image of the invisible God who made peace through his sacrifice, the writer tells us that he first became a servant of the gospel, a servant of the church. As a servant, he sounds a lot like Martha in Sunday’s Gospel. And then he advises us to reconcile ourselves to Christ and proclaim Christ’s supremacy, a worshipful approach that might make us think of Mary.

Gospel: Luke 10:38-42

When Jesus arrives at their home in Bethany, Mary and Martha both show hospitality, each in her own way. Martha welcomes Jesus by getting busy with the many tasks involved with serving their guest. Mary simply sits at Jesus’s feet – an act that might have been considered highly inappropriate for a woman in the culture of that time and place. Martha, on the other hand, gets busy preparing hospitality for their visitor. This should be a right and proper thing to do; yet she remains worried and distracted, angry with her sister. In fact, Jesus says, “Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” She showed hospitality in her own way, dropping everything to listen to Jesus, their guest.

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for July 13, 2025 (Pentecost 5C/Proper 10)

The Good Samaritan (c.1616), oil painting on canvas by Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678). Louvre Abu Dhabi. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): Amos 7:7-17

The great commandment to love God and to love our neighbor echoes through Sunday’s readings, culminating in the beloved story of the Good Samaritan. We have to listen closely to find its shadow in our Track One first reading, though, as we hear the angry prophet Amos foretelling gloom and destruction, warning of an angry God who threatens to lay waste to the promised land that God once protected. Israel’s high priest, Amaziah and King Jeroboam both want Amos to shut up, go home to Judea, and leave them alone. Why is Amos so angry? Israel has failed to be righteous. Like the priest and the Levite in the Good Samaritan story, the people of Israel have failed to love their neighbors as themselves, breaking the sacred covenant that the people made at Sinai.

First Reading (Track Two): Deuteronomy 30:9-14

Our Track Two first reading recalls the deep history and tradition of the commandment to love God with all our hearts and with all our souls. These verses from Deuteronomy remind the people that God took delight in assuring their prosperity because they turned to God with just this abundance of love. Indeed, we hear these same words again in Sunday’s Gospel when the lawyer responds to Jesus’ invitation to describe the law. And just as Jesus goes on to demonstrate in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the most basic instruction of the law – Torah, God’s beloved teaching – is to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 82

The great commandment to love God and our neighbor runs like a great river through both testaments. Moreover, Scripture leaves us in no doubt whatsoever that this duty requires us to preferentially love and care for the weak, the poor, and the oppressed. The Psalmist sings, “Give justice to the weak and the orphan … the lowly and the destitute … the weak and the needy.” Just as Jesus showed us in the parable of the Good Samaritan, so are we called to love our neighbors – all of our neighbors – as we love God.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 25:1-9

Attributed by tradition to King David, this hymn of praise expresses the joy of holding up our hearts and souls with willing trust in God’s everlasting compassion and steadfast love. The Psalmist’s call for protection against enemies might seem far afield from the Good Samaritan’s action at first. But then, in a sudden turn, they call on God to lead us in truth and teach us. As God guides the humble and teaches God’s way to the lowly and to sinners, so are we called to keep God’s covenant to love our neighbors … as the Samaritan models for us.

Second Reading: Colossians 1:1-14

Now we begin a three-week visit with the letter to the people of Colossae, a small city in Asia Minor (now Turkey). Although the letter’s opening phrases name Paul as the author, most modern Bible scholars believe this letter was written in Paul’s name by a later follower. The letter begins with hopeful, prayerful words: He prays for them constantly. He is glad that their new faith is bearing fruit. He prays that they will love one another, grow in good works and knowledge of God, gain strength, and be prepared to endure whatever comes their way for their love of Christ.

Gospel: Luke 10:25-37

Imagine the parable of the Good Samaritan from a new perspective: Put yourself in the place of the injured person on the side of the road. You are injured, bleeding, scared. Distinguished-looking people pass by, ignoring you. Then someone different and scary approaches. It’s a person you might instinctively cross the street to avoid. But then when they tenderly nurse your wounds and take you for help at their expense. How would you feel? How would this experience change you? This is the way that Jesus answered a lawyer’s question, “Who is my neighbor?” We must see everyone as our neighbor. Jesus responds: Not just the friend who looks like us, but those who are different; even those we view as enemies.

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for July 6, 2025 (Pentecost 4C/Proper 9)

Jesus Healing a Leper (1864), Jean-Marie Melchior Doze (1827-1913). Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nîmes, France. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Kings 5:1-14

No matter whether our lives are going well or things are going badly, trust in God. Trust, and be thankful for God’s blessings. This hopeful theme recurs through Sunday’s Lectionary readings. In our Track One first reading, Naaman, a proud commander of the Aramean army, risks going to Israel, an enemy nation, to visit the prophet Elisha, seeking a cure for his leprosy, a disfiguring disease that could render the sufferer unclean, cut off from his community. Elisha sent out a servant with advice that sounded too simple to be true: Go wash yourself in the Jordan River. Fortunately for Naaman, his servants came to the rescue again, calming his rage at Elisha’s disrespect. It couldn’t hurt to try, they advised him … and just like that, Naaman was cured.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 66:10-14

Our Track Two first reading takes us to the final chapter of Isaiah. The people were filled with joy when they returned to their beloved city after the exile, but it lay in ruins. They faced the daunting labor of rebuilding the city and constructing a new temple. Still, the prophet declares, it was a time to rejoice and a time to heal. God will shower prosperity on the city, Isaiah declares; and, in beautiful language that imagines God as a loving mother, he tells them that God will nurse and carry the people as a mother comforts her child.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 30

We can surely imagine the recovered Naaman singing this hymn of thanksgiving, which offers grateful thanks to God for recovery from a grave illness. The Psalm goes on to celebrate the gifts of God that may bring even more joy: ending the sadness and depression that so often accompanies illness … turning the weeping of those long dark hours of night into the celebration that comes at dawn … and turning the mourning of sickness into the dancing of health.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 66:1-8

Echoing the theme of trust in God’s protective power that we heard in the Isaiah reading, the Psalmist calls on all the earth to be joyful in God and sing the glory of God’s name. Recalling how God protected the people of Israel escaping slavery in Egypt by turning the sea into dry land, we sing out in full voice, making our voices heard in praise of the God who protects us.

Second Reading: Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16

We now reach the end of Paul’s letter to the Christian community in Galatia in Asia Minor. Throughout this letter, Paul has consistently argued that Christ’s message is universal – for all humankind – Jew and Gentile, man and woman, slave and free. Writing from far away, he stood strongly, sometimes angrily, against the arguments of opponents who tried to persuade the Galatians to follow a more exclusive way. Paul’s final response clearly echoes Jesus’s message: “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Gospel: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

In last week’s Gospel, we saw Jesus beginning his final journey toward Jerusalem, setting his face in the direction of the cross and telling his disciples in no uncertain terms not to tarry. Now Jesus organizes an advance team of seventy witnesses to go on ahead, telling residents in villages along the way that the Kingdom of God has come near. Those who reject these messengers – like the Samarian villagers in last week’s Gospel – are rejecting Jesus; they deserve to be left behind like the dust shaken from the apostles’ feet. Those who welcome them are welcoming Jesus himself. Soon the disciples return, full of joy: In Jesus’s name, they say, they have healed the sick and even cast out demons.

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.

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.

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.