Posted on

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, August 2, 2020

Please see How to Use Lection Connection.

Full lections can be read here.

 

Based on the Readings as Set

First Reading (Genesis 32:22-31)

Jacob wrestles with a stranger and prevails after demanding a blessing from his opponent. The latter changes Jacob’s name to Israel, or “he who strives with God and prevails”. Jacob realizes he has been face to face with God and lived to tell about it.

Psalm (17:1-7, 15)

The Psalmist, a faithful Israelite, cries to the Lord for help. As one who has avoided wickedness and violence he appeals to the steadfast love of the Lord. Even in his current circumstances he is confident that he will see the face of God.

Second Reading (Romans 9:1-5)

St. Paul yearns for his own Jewish people to come to faith in Christ and is deeply grief-stricken at their resistance to the Gospel. They are God’s chosen people and the covenant promises rightly belong to them, including Messiah, one of their own.

Gospel (Matthew 14:13-21)

After the death of John the Baptist Jesus desires to be alone, but a huge crowd follows him into the wilderness. Full of compassion, he heals their sick and feeds them all by multiplying a little food into so much that that twelve basketfuls are left over.

 

CONNECTION SUGGESTIONS

  • God provides a feast
  • The love and compassion of God
  • God hears and answers prayer with more than meets our need
  • What it means to be an Israelite
  • The various ways of receiving blessings from God/Jesus

Scripture Sentence (BAS, Canada)

We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Matthew 4.4

Collect of the Day (BAS, Canada)

Almighty God,
your Son Jesus Christ fed the hungry
with the bread of his life
and the word of his kingdom.
Renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your true and living bread,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. AMEN

 

Based on the Alternate Readings

First Reading (Isaiah 55:1-5)

Through Isaiah the Lord is calling his people Israel to a great feast made freely available to all, promising an everlasting covenant because of his faithful love for David. The Lord will so bless them that other nations will come as well.

Psalm (145:8-9, 14-21)

The Psalmist extolls the Lord as the universal God who sustains all of creation out of his love and compassion. He upholds the fallen, answering those who call upon him in truth and bringing justice to the wicked. All humanity will come to acknowledge him as Lord.

Second Reading (Romans 9:1-5)

St. Paul yearns for his own Jewish people to come to faith in Christ and is deeply grief-stricken at their resistance to the Gospel. They are God’s chosen people and the covenant promises rightly belong to them, including Messiah, one of their own.

Gospel (Matthew 14:13-21)

After the death of John the Baptist Jesus desires to be alone, but a huge crowd follows him into the wilderness. Full of compassion, he heals their sick and feeds them all by multiplying a little food into so much that that twelve basketfuls are left over.

 

CONNECTION SUGGESTIONS

  • God provides a feast
  • The love and compassion of God
  • God hears and answers prayer with more than meets our need
  • All nations will come to the Lord
  • What it means to be an Israelite

Scripture Sentence (BAS, Canada)

We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.Matthew 4.4

Collect of the Day (BAS, Canada)

Almighty God,
your Son Jesus Christ fed the hungry
with the bread of his life
and the word of his kingdom.
Renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your true and living bread,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. AMEN

 

Posted on

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, July 19, 2020

Please see How to Use Lection Connection.

Full lections can be read here.

 

Based on the Readings as Set

First Reading (Genesis 28:10-19a)

Jacob dreams that where he is sleeping there is a ladder with angels moving between earth and heaven. The Lord gives him the same promise he made to Abraham and vows not to leave him until it is fulfilled. Awestruck, Jacob calls the place the “house of God”.

Psalm (139:1-12, 23-24)

The Psalmist, awestruck that the Lord knows him intimately wherever he might be, invites divine examination to expose his every wickedness and lead him in the everlasting way under his divine protection.

Second Reading (Romans 8:12-25)

Paul writes that living by the flesh brings death while living by the Spirit brings life, including adoption as God’s children to be heirs of his new creation. Present suffering cannot compare to this coming glory for those bearing the first fruits of the Spirit.

Gospel (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)

Jesus tells about a farmer who sowed seed on his land only to discover that an enemy had sowed weeds. To preserve the grain, he put off weeding until harvest. Similarly, Jesus says, both evil and righteous folk will share the kingdom until judgment at the end.

CONNECTION SUGGESTIONS

  • The way of the Lord versus the way of the world
  • A new world is coming for the faithful
  • Awe at the presence of God
  • Justice will prevail in spite of current circumstances
  • The promises of God are sure
  • The inheritors of God’s promises are under his care and already enjoying his presence

Scripture Sentence (BAS, Canada)

My word shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55.11

Collect of the Day (BAS, Canada)

Almighty God,
your Son has opened for us
a new and living way into your presence.
Give us pure hearts and constant wills
to worship you in spirit and in truth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. AMEN

 

Based on the Alternate Readings

First Reading (Isaiah 44:6-8)

In asserting his uniqueness as the one and only God, the Lord challenges other so-called gods to prove themselves by predicting the future as he has done. Israel, witnessing this truth repeatedly, has every reason to trust in him and to not fear current circumstances.

Psalm (86:11-17)

The Psalmist pleads with the Lord for an undivided heart, serving and glorifying him alone. Having been delivered before through the steadfast love of the Lord, he asks for deliverance from the ungodly who now threaten his very life.

Second Reading (Romans 8:12-25)

Paul writes that living by the flesh brings death while living by the Spirit brings life, including adoption as God’s children to be heirs of his new creation. Present suffering cannot compare to this coming glory for those bearing the first fruits of the Spirit.

Gospel (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)

Jesus tells about a farmer who sowed seed on his land only to discover that an enemy had sowed weeds. To preserve the grain, he put off weeding until harvest. Similarly, Jesus says, both evil and righteous folk will share the kingdom until judgment at the end.

CONNECTION SUGGESTIONS

  • The way of the Lord versus the way of the world
  • A new world is coming for the faithful
  • Justice will prevail in spite of current circumstances
  • The Lord our God is a jealous God
  • We can trust in the Lord on the basis of his historical acts of salvation

Scripture Sentence (BAS, Canada)

My word shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55.11

Collect of the Day (BAS, Canada)

Almighty God,
your Son has opened for us
a new and living way into your presence.
Give us pure hearts and constant wills
to worship you in spirit and in truth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. AMEN

Posted on

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, September 1, 2019, Proper 17, Year C

Please see How to Use Lection Connection

Full lections can be read here.

 

Based on the Readings as Set

First Reading (Jeremiah 2:4-13)

Through Jeremiah the Lord charges Israel with gross unfaithfulness. In spite of many blessings at God’s hand, they have become as worthless as the idols to which they have turned. The Lord is outraged that they have forsaken him, the true God, for useless figments of their imagination.

Psalm (81:1, 10-16)

The Psalmist, speaking for the Lord, recites Israel’s refusal to obey the Lord. In spite of his bringing them out of Egypt into the Promised Land they prefer their own ways to his. He yearns for his people to repent so that he can deliver them and pour abundant blessings upon them.

Second Reading (Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16)

The author exhorts his readers to continue in mutual love, living it out in hospitality, care for prisoners and marriage. They are to be content with what they have, trusting in the Lord’s help and offering continual sacrifices of word and deed through an unchanging Christ.

Gospel (Luke 14:1, 7-14)

A guest in a Jewish leader’s home, Jesus notices how people try to get the best places at the table. He tells them it is better to take a low position and then be invited higher. Indeed, it is better to invite the needy than those who will repay. Such actions reflect how God works with us.

CONNECTION SUGGESTIONS

  • An hospitable people reflect their hospitable God
  • Humility and repentance are two sides of the same coin
  • A little humility goes a long way
  • In spite of assured blessings for following the paths of our God, we still forsake them for our own road to disaster
  • Vanity, vanity, all is vanity

 

Based on the Alternative Readings

First Reading (Proverbs 25:6-7)

The writer advises that a person should not presume a position among the great because it is better to be invited to come forward than to be embarrassed by being shown a lesser place.

Psalm (112)

The Psalmist notes that those who fear the Lord will be among the great and prosperous in the Land. They give light to others by their gracious conduct, generosity to those in need, and righteous conduct. Secure in the Lord, they provoke the envy of the wicked in their vain desires.

Second Reading (Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16)

The author exhorts his readers to continue in mutual love, living it out in hospitality, care for prisoners and marriage. They are to be content with what they have, trusting in the Lord’s help and offering continual sacrifices of word and deed through an unchanging Christ.

Gospel (Luke 14:1, 7-14)

A guest in a Jewish leader’s home, Jesus notices how people try to get the best places at the table. He tells them it is better to take a low position and then be invited higher. Indeed, it is better to invite the needy than those who will repay. Such actions reflect how God works with us.

CONNECTION SUGGESTIONS

  • An hospitable people reflect their hospitable God
  • Humility and repentance are two sides of the same coin
  • A little humility goes a long way
  • In spite of assured blessings for following the paths of our God, we still forsake them for our own road to disaster
  • Vanity, vanity, all is vanity