Category: Theological reflection
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Doing Jesus’ works
The Fifth Sunday of Easter—May 3, 2026 Acts 7:55-60 1 Peter 2:2-10 John 14:1-14 Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 I find it weirdly fitting that the feast of St. Stephen falls the day after Christmas, as if to remind us that the Incarnation of Christ has implications. We are now on the…
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When we can’t tell Christ from Hermes
The Fourth Sunday of Easter—April 26, 2026 Acts 2:42-47 1 Peter 2:19-25 John 10:1-10 Psalm 23 In today’s epistle, someone writing as St. Peter reminds Christians who are suffering for their faith that Christ also suffered unjustly, entrusting himself to God. In doing so, he set a model for us.…
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Learning a new way to see
The Third Sunday of Easter—April 19, 2026 Acts 2:14a,36-41 1 Peter 1:17-23 Luke 24:13-35 Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17 In his 1991 book of essays, AfterCulture: Detroit and the Humiliation of History, Jerry Herron writes about a paradox that was true several decades before and after his book came out: Detroit, in…
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Alive, with scars to prove it
The Second Sunday of Easter, Year A—April 11, 2026 Acts 2:14a,22-32 1 Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31 Psalm 16 The Second Sunday of Easter is sometimes called “Lowsunday” or “Low Sunday,” referring to attendance in church. Not only the twice-a-year attendees, but even the most faithful congregants seem to be tapped…
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The Great Triduum
Years A, B, and C Since the readings are the same every year, I’m not going to address them directly in this post. Next year, or the year after, I will. Maundy Thursday—April 2, 2026Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-141 Corinthians 11:23-26John 13:1-17, 31b-35Psalm 116:1, 10-17 For the Triduum, I can’t think…
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No Kings Sunday?
Palm Sunday (Sunday of the Passion), Year A—March 29, 2026 The Liturgy of the PalmsMatthew 21:1-11; Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29The Liturgy of the WordIsaiah 50:4-9a; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 26:14- 27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54; Psalm 31:9-16 We call it Jesus’ “Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem,” but to read the description in the Gospels, that’s…
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Borrowing Light
A poem for the latter part of Lent Recently published in Earth & Altar. Go give them some traffic—there’s a lot of great stuff to read in addition to the poetry. When I was in grad school, I worked as a verger at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco. The cathedral proper…
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I mean, Jesus was a day late, too!
The Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year A—March 22, 2026 Ezekiel 37:1-14 Romans 8:6-11 John 11:1-45 Psalm 130 The weekend got away from me; I’m posting this a day late. (Sound familiar, though?) I have a beautifully creepy song for you to listen to while you read this—or, better yet, to…
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The Lord does not see as mortals see
The Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year A—March 15, 2026 1 Samuel 16:1-13 Ephesians 5:8-14 John 9:1-41 Psalm 23 The story of David’s anointing by Samuel always amuses me. God tells Samuel not to look on the outward appearance of Jesse’s sons, because that’s not a factor in who God chooses.…
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God, I’m thirsty
The Third Sunday in Lent, Year A—March 8, 2026 Exodus 17:1-7 Romans 5:1-11 John 4:5-42 Psalm 95 I hate Lent. …Stick with me, though. At least in the Episcopal Church, we do so much chest-beating—perhaps not literally, but if you pay attention to the words we’re praying, saying, and singing,…
