Tag: Gospel
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The Second Sunday after Christmas
Years A—January 4, 2026 Happy New Year! And Merry Christmas. The readings for this Sunday are: Since these are the same readings assigned to all three years of the lectionary cycle, I will use the first Gospel listed for today. (Additional note: I will cover the Feast of the Holy…
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Christmas Day
Selection I—All Years Merry Christmas! [There are three different sets of readings for Christmas Day. In my experience—admittedly, only with cathedrals—the first set is used on Christmas Eve, while the second and third are used in services on Christmas Day. Since they don’t change from year to year, my intention…
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The Fourth Sunday of Advent
Year A—December 21, 2025 We are closing in on Christmas! This week’s readings are compact: they get to the point. Sort of. They hold out familiar words and images, and we can walk right in and take those words and images as if from the shelf, and move along our…
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Advent 3
Year A – December 14, 2025 Lectionary readings:Isaiah 35:1-10James 5:7-10Matthew 11:2-11Psalm 146:4-9or Canticle 15 (the Magnificat, or Song of Mary) This icon type, Theotokos of the Sign, depicts the expectant Mary. Her posture is one of prayer, and while her son is still in her womb, we see him as God, arms…
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Bearing Scars and Good News
Homily for the Feast of St. Luke (observed), Evensong, 10/19/2025Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Detroit (detroitcathedral.org) This morning we observed yesterday’s feast of St. Luke, and we continue that observance this evening. St. Luke’s day has long been important in this cathedral—which is why we can move it to a…
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Some unpolished thoughts on Maundy Thursday
Ideally, I’d have written this post yesterday and posted it early today; but I’m late. On the plus side, I can share what I heard in tonight’s gospel lection while I was at church. Here’s the part that struck me: And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given…
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Whose is the kingdom, the power, and the glory?
Holy Week is here again: that annual liturgical reminder of the horrors humans are capable of. We tame it—make it about the provision of a meek and mute divine sacrificial victim to atone for our personal sins. It’s such a familiar story. Our hymnals automatically flip themselves open to “All…
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Among Women, Blessed
The following poem, for a long time while I kept revising it, bore the working title, “Closing in on Christmas.” I’m glad my poetry group agreed I should change the title once it found its final form. And now that we’re deep into Christmas, why don’t I share my Advent…
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“And the Word Became Flesh”
Back to poems! And stay tuned for a special announcement at the end of this post. This poem was published August 25, 2022 in Earth & Altar Magazine. Elaine Elizabeth BelzAND THE WORD BECAME FLESH O, Bread my tonguehas taken and my teethhave crushed: leave your imprintdeep in my molars,…
The Sound 