Sunday 16 June 3rd After Trinity Readings: Ez. 17. 22-end; 2 Cor. 5. 6-17; Mk. 4. 26-34 Theme: The Mustard Seed Over the coming weeks of ordinary time, we will be reading the gospel of Mark and so today, I would like to mention a few of the key characteristics of this gospel. The first...
9 June, Second after Trinity Readings: Gn. 3. 8-15; 2 Cor. 4. 13-5.1; Mk. 3. 20-end. Theme: Family Life The reflections on family life in the Bible are somewhat complex. On the one hand it is praised to the utmost and on the other, loyalty to it is sometimes seen as compromising one’s loyalty to...
2nd June, First Sunday after Trinity Readings: Deut. 5. 12-15; 2 Cor. 4. 5-12; Mk. 2. 13-3.6 Theme: The Sabbath At this time, we return to what the church calls ‘ordinary time’ in the calendar of our liturgical year. It is a time, when we are not preparing for the great feasts of Easter or...
Trinity Sunday: 26 May 2024 Readings: Isa. 6. 1-8; Rom. 8. 12-17; Jn. 3. 1-17 Theme: The Trinity Trinity Sunday, as we celebrate it today, recapitulates the journey that we have been on during the year. It is the moment in the life of the church, when we stand back and consider the big picture,...
Pentecost: 19 May 2024 Readings: Acts 2. 1-21; Rms. 8. 22-27; Jn. 15. 26-27; 16. 4b-15 Theme: Pentecost This great feast of the sending of the Holy Spirit has its roots in the ancient Jewish harvest festival of Weeks. The harvest festival followed fifty days of celebration, hence the name ‘Pentecost’ which is Greek for...
12 May Easter 7: Ascension Readings: Acts 1. 1-11; Eph. 1. 15-23; Lk. 24. 44-52 Theme: He ascended into Heaven. Today we are celebrating the feast of the Ascension of the Lord into Heaven. It is a major feast in the church (even a public holiday in Germany which was hard fought for by the...
Easter 6, 5 May 2024 Readings: Acts 10. 44-end; 1 Jn. 5. 1-6; Jn. 15. 9-17 Theme: The Inclusion of the Other One of the central themes of the western democratic world in recent times is that of inclusion. Whether this be including women at all levels of society and church, including people of colour...
Easter 5, 28 April Readings: Acts 8. 26-end; 1 Jn. 4. 7-end; Jn. 15. 1-8 Theme: The Grace of the Resurrection. Our passage from the Acts of the Apostles today continues the themes that we have been exploring over the Easter weeks. As I mentioned previously, all the movement of the Acts of the Apostles...
4th Sunday of Easter 21 April Readings: Acts 4. 5-12; 1 Jn. 3. 16-end; Jn. 10. 11-18 Theme: The Other Sheep As I mentioned on Easter Sunday, I would like to dedicate these seven weeks that the church allots to the season of Easter for considering the meaning of the Resurrection according to a different...
3rd Sunday of Easter 14th April Readings: Acts 3. 12-19; 1 Jn. 3. 1-7; Lk. 24. 36b-48 Theme: The Acts of the Apostles Over the next weeks until Pentecost, we will be reading the Acts of the Apostles as our first reading and so I thought that I would use this sermon to introduce this...
