Twenty-fourth Sunday First Reading: traditionally we understand these words to apply to Jesus and His passion. But we can also take them as applying to individual Christian disciples who suffer and to suffering Christian communities (such as those suffering severe persecution in many parts of the Middle East today; visit www.acnuk.org for the latest news)….
Twenty-third Sunday First Reading: Isaiah portrays the glorious fulfilment of God’s saving purpose at the end of time. This end-time – we believe – begins with Jesus (see the Gospel reading). Psalm: this carries on the same idea as the First Reading: the Lord who comes to save those in need. Second Reading: James…
Seventeenth Sunday First Reading: this incident in the Old Testament foreshadows the miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, and even more significantly it is one of the many passages in the Old Testament which foreshadows the Eucharist. Psalm: in his compassion God feeds us. In return, all we can do is to praise…
Sixteenth Sunday First Reading: Jeremiah’s prophecy of good shepherds and a wise king came true, Christians would say, in the coming of Jesus Christ. Psalm: perhaps the most well-known of the psalms is a song of confidence in the Good Shepherd, who is, of course, Jesus Christ. Second Reading: the Jewish law created a barrier…
Fifteenth Sunday First Reading: despite not being a member of the order of prophets and being merely a shepherd and sycamore tree cultivator, Amos is nonetheless called 3 by God to prophesy. Psalm: in his mercy God has forgiven us before; now we ask him to forgive us again. Second Reading: today we hear the…
Fourteenth Sunday First Reading: this is but one example of how throughout Old Testament times the people of God rejected the prophets he sent. Psalm: let us sing or say this psalm in acknowledgement that we have at times rejected God and his messengers. Second Reading: St Paul mentions the ‘thorn in the flesh’ he…
Saints Peter and Paul First Reading: the angel of God saves Peter from Herod’s prison. Psalm: this is a song for martyrs. St John Fisher recited part of it on the scaffold. Second Reading: clearly feeling near the end of his life, Paul states that God has saved him from all the evils he has experienced and…
Twelfth Sunday First Reading: this is an extract (from chapter 38 of Job, not chapter 3 as it says in the Lectionary) from God’s explanation to Job for his suffering. In describing his role in creating the waters, God uses the words of parental discipline: he is like a father who sets boundaries for his…
