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The lectionary places Jesus’ prayer concerning glory at the end of the Easter season, but in John’s gospel the prayer occurs at the end of the last supper, so that it leads into the passion. (...)

Talking about the “fiery ordeal” they were suffering (1 Peter 4:12), this passage opens with strong words which are not easily reconciled with the experience of the Church in the 21st century, especially in Europe (...)

Here we are again. Don’t we kind of feel like this every year, the Sunday after Easter? If you are fortunate enough to have a seminary intern, do you decide that it’s her turn to (...)

On Easter Sunday, the church proclaims, “O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 118:1). Jesus Christ is risen. And in Christ, we too shall rise.  God’s (...)

This Passover text is appointed for Maundy Thursday each year. According to the Synoptic Gospels, it is on Thursday evening that Jesus, in the upper room with his disciples, celebrates Passover and institutes the Lord’s (...)

This is the fourth in a series of encounters with Jesus in the book of John this Lent and offers us another long, beautifully developed text for preaching. The Lenten journey, which has taken us (...)

The much-loved story of the Samaritan woman at the well is the second of four encounters with Jesus in John this Lent. Each reveals something about who he is, some gift he brings to us (...)

Psalm 147 is one of five psalms that concludes the Psalter. Each of these psalms has the words “Praise the Lord” as their first and last lines (see Psalms 146:1, 10; 147:1, 20). Thus, the (...)

The opening words of this reading from Ephesians signal to whom the praise should be given on this Sunday and every Sunday — God. While we tend to put Jesus front and center at Christmas, (...)

Have you ever noticed the pronounced hush that often attends the reading of Luke’s nativity story on Christmas Eve? There is a deepening of the silence that normally accompanies the reading of Scripture, an increased (...)