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Christian Resources Library
Readings September to December 2002
September
| October | November | December
1 September
14th Sunday after Trinity
Jeremiah 15: 15 - 21
The service of God is not an easy ride and we can protest to at its
impossibility; but he will surely see us through.
Romans 12: 9 - 21
Paul gives simple and basic moral teaching, some of it echoing Jesus
in the Gospels. Much of it is not unusual - but that makes it no easier
to accept and follow, except in God's grace.
Matthew 16: 21 - 28
It is a solemn message: to follow Jesus is essentially to share the
cross and all that it entails for our way of life. That s is the unavoidable
route to success and triumph.
- Even to rail at God can be a form of faithfulness.
- Pray even to accept ill from others with true patience.
- Can we bear to become nothing for the sake of having everything
that matters in the end?
8 September
Birth of Blessed Virgin Mary - Patronal Festival
Isaiah 61: 10 - 11
In words that remind us of the Magnificat, the prophet looks with delight
to a time of marvellous joy given by God, the crown of his purpose.
Galatians 4: 4 - 7
Paul sees in Jesus the one sent by God to draw us into the intimacy
of family-like life with God through him and alongside him.
Luke 1: 46 - 55
Mary inspires us with a vision of a world and society turned upside
down - which is always the direction in which God's amazing purpose
drives.
- Can we bear the prospect of the joy that God sets before us?
- We praise God for the gift of Jesus through Mary's gracious generosity
of herself.
- What can we but wonder at the courage of Mary's proclamation?
15 September
16th Sunday after Trinity
Genesis 50. 15 - 21
The life of God's people seems to hang by a thread, and it takes Joseph's
gracious act for things to be carried forward.
Romans 14: 1 - 12
Christians, like others can squabble and divide about matters that seem
to be, in the end, of minor importance. Only love can restore a true
sense of proportion.
Matthew 18; 21 -35
It is a terrifying parable bringing home dramatically the message of
the Lord's Prayer - to forgive readily, as we ourselves are forgiven
by God.
- How hard it is to trust that, even despite all appearances, all
shall be well.
- Pray always to hold to the great things of God's love.
- Pray to be forgiving to others, for we also are forgiven much.
22 September
17th Sunday after Trinity
Jonah 3: 10 - 4:11
The Book of Jonah is a short story about repentance and God's forbearance,
even to foreigners, outside the people of Israel - and the 'righteous'
do not always like God for it.
Philippians 1: 21 - 30
Paul wants to encourage his converts at Philippi and shows himself a
good and wise pastor, who has suffered at they do - and has stood firm.
Matthew 20: 1 - 16
No parable of Jesus strikes us as more shocking than this: what sort
of world is it about? It is not about our world, but God's - where,
fortunately for us, his grace takes no account of our deserts.
- Do we resent God's goodness, extending even to our enemies?
- Christian ministry is family-like given to us, but from alongside
us.
- Pray to be glad that God has no favourites.
29 September
Michael and the Angels
Genesis 28: 1 0 -17
Jacob's dream of the ladder linking heaven and earth illustrates the
deep human longing to be joined to God firmly and reliably, and God's
readiness to make the bond.
Revelation 12: 7 - 12
We feel that the struggle between good and evil goes deeper than particular
issues and conflicts, whether small or great. It is nothing less than
cosmic in scale -- and we need to know where we stand.
John 1: 47 - 51
Jesus is presented as a new Jacob: but he can do better than the old
Israel whose 'father' Jacob was, and joins heaven and earth, God and
us, in an unbreakable bond.
- How deeply do we feel the need to be one with God?
- We need to keep hold of the seriousness of the world's plight -
and equally, its promise of great good.
- Pray to hold to the gift of God in Jesus, joining us to himself.
6 October 2002
Harvest Festival
Deuteronomy 8: 7 - 18
A reminder that our survival still depends on God's good created order,
and that carries with it severe and urgent moral obligations.
2 Corinthians 9: 6 - 15
Like many Christian leaders since, Paul urges his converts to give generously
- in this case for the poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, with whom
they share God's gift to them in Christ and with whom it all began.
Luke 17: 11 - 19
It is not enough to receive God's goodness as if of right: there is
also a proper response of thankfulness - not just decent manners but
the come-back of the true human heart.
- Do we really see ourselves as living in a world where our good lives
are all interlocked?
- How far do we sense the shared life of the whole Christian community,
wherever it is?
- Pray for a genuine spirit of thankfulness to God.
13 October
20th Sunday after Trinity
Isaiah 25: 1 - 9
It is often harder for us than our ancestors to see God with ecstatic
joy, even when we recognize his love towards us and the promise of fulfilment
he offers to us.
Philippians 4: 1 - 9
Familiar words, speaking of the positive comforts that follow from God's
gift of himself to us, summed up in wholesome and full-blooded 'peace'.
Matthew 22 : 1 - 14
In origin, the parable, put in brutal terms, is about the rejection
of Christ by his own people and his acceptance by others - who should
nevertheless not presume on their unmerited call.
- Praise God for the joy of his open invitation to us, regardless
of merit.
- Pray to know the peace that is beyond our capacity to grasp.
- God gives - but to take him for granted is to put love in danger.
20th October
21st Sunday after Trinity
Isaiah 45: 1 - 7
A widening of Israel's view of God: he will use even pagan kings for
his sovereign purposes. His writ knows no frontiers. It was then a daring
idea.
1 Thessalonians 1: 1 - 10
The opening of Paul's earliest letter. We can sense the fervour and
novelty of the mission he had embarked upon in an alien land, far from
home - for the sake of God's love for all shown in Christ.
Matthew 22: 15 - 22
If we hear aright, the message is not 'so much for the state' and 'so
much for God or the Church' (how could one make such a bargain?) but
'all things are God's and all other duties are second to him: Jesus
thumps the table as he utters his last words.
- We would not dream of seeing God as somehow British; but we do sometimes
get close to it?
- Pray to share the courage and width of imagination showed by Paul
the apostle.
- Where might we let conflicts of loyalty move us.
27 October
Bible Sunday (Last after Trinity)
Nehemiah 8: 1 - 4a (5 - 6), 8 - 12
After the exile of leading Jews to Babylon in the 6th century BC, the
Return over a century later, was marked by a new focus on the sacred
books of the Law (which becomes the first five books of our Old Testament).
They were becoming the heart and symbol of Israel's life.
Colossians 3: 12 - 17
Paul give a serene and happy picture of the Christian common life: virtues
crowned iwht love and the singing of joyful songs of faith. Maybe Colossians
1: 15 - 20 was one of them.
Matthew 24: 30 - 35
Jesus foretells his return as part of the drama of the End of the present
world- order - but this teaching will endure through everything that
happens in the process.
- Consider what is the core of your identity as a Christian.
- Can we enter into the joyful picture of shared Christian life painted
by Paul?
- In what spirit do we look to the future of God's world? Hope? Trust?
Indifference?
3 November
All Saints' Sunday
Revelation 7: 9 - 17
The vision of Heaven centres on God and Christ, who are however surrounded
by those who have suffered for Christ's cause and won through the ordeal.
1 John 3: 1 - 3
To know God's love means also having the hope of 'seeing' God and being
thereby changed into his likeness - the destiny for which we are made.
Matthew 5: 1 - 12
A well-known film calls this passage the 'beautiful attitudes'. It is
not a bad pun on 'beautitudes' (or 'blessings'), so long as we see how
tough some of the attitudes can be.
- The vision of God is an unfashionable objective: how do you feel
about it?
- Dare we pray for the gift of becoming 'like God'?
- The beatitudes give a full picture of holy life and its rewards
- for our encouragement.
10th November
Remembrance Day
Wisdom of Solomon 3. 1 - 9
The passage is about God's good and faithful servants and says that
we can rely on their Lord to vindicate them. It is not quite so simple
in the random affairs of nations, where life and death are so indiscriminate.
But we recall the enormity of such public suffering with horror and
love and trust.
Psalm 23
Romans 5. 5 - 11
All smugness goes and all self-pride is dwarfed: 'Christ died for the
ungodly' applies to us all, and is the source of our hopes and even
of our rejoicing.
John 5. 19 - 25
John's Gospel is not concerned to offer us a bright future beyond this
world, but rather to say that we move from 'death' to 'life' as we are
centred no longer on ourselves but on Christ, who takes us beyond ourselves
into the life of God.
- 'Remembering' is surely one of our greatest gifts: but what? and
how? and why? It may mean much or little.
- Pray to enter into the gift of God: it takes us out of our poor
selves and makes us so much more marvellous than we could ever otherwise
be.
17th November
2nd Sunday before Advent
Zephaniah 1. 7, 12 - 18
In the light of God's truth and determination for good, complacency
and self-satisfaction are great enemies - and they always threaten us.
1 Thessalonians 5. 1 - 11
Paul is clear about the need for vigilance and alertness in the Christian
life. The temptation to sit back and relax is so strong and it destroys
our inner life.
Matthew 25. 14 - 30
The man so cautious with his single talent seems at first sight to be
no great sinner - just 'ordinary'. But such feebleness will not do when
God is so generous and trusts us with such gifts.
- Pray to resist complacency of spirit.
- Can we afford to relax in the light of God's majestic love?
- The best use of our gifts from God should be our great delight.
24th November
Christ the King
Ezekiel 34. 11 - 16, 20 - 24
The image of God as shepherd of his people runs through both Old and
New testaments. It was an image also for rulers, in whom authority and
genuine care for their people should be combined.
Ephesians 1. 15 - 23
A high-flown passage summing up the work of Christ and his final triumph
in God's name - with benefits for us who 'see'.
Matthew 25. 31 - 46
How will people in general, not Christian believers, stand in God's
eyes? The path of simple virtue and loving generosity is a fine one
for anybody to tread; and it is a severe enough demand
- To have responsibility for others is always a humble and awesome
privilege.
- Does poetic language help us share in the ecstasy of high faith?
- Pray to live at least as well as Jesus asks of those who do not
follow him.
YEAR B BEGINS
1st December
1st Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 64. 1 - 9
The longing for the all-powerful and mysterious God to ' break through'
to us is very deep in the religious spirit. Here it is expressed in
a pure, poetic form.
1 Corinthians 1. 3 - 9
As was common in his day, Paul's letters often open, after the greeting,
with thanksgiving. Here it is offered for the recent conversion to Christ
of his readers, the fruit of his own mission in Corinth as short time
before.
Mark 13. 24 - 37
Here we have a longing for God put in a Christ-centered form, but otherwise
typical of its time. The imagery could not be more dramatic. But vigilance
must be a key Christian quality, readiness for God's good time - is
that any and every time?
- Let attachment to God stir the heart into longing.
- Can we recapture the freshness of Paul's spring-time of faith?
- Being alert for God is a quality to cultivate.
8th December
2nd Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 40. 1 - 11
These words were taken up in the Gospels when they write about the role
of John the Baptist as herald for Jesus. In origin they looked to Israel's
return from captivity in Babylon in the 5th century BC; and that in
turn is compared to the release from Egyptian slavery under Moses centuries
before.
2 Peter 3. 8 - 15a
This late New testament writing seeks to preserve a sense of alert expectation
when it is beginning to fade; and the best preparation for God is the
living of an upright life.
Mark 1. 1 - 8
John the Baptist, herald for Jesus, has the good role of introducing
and so beginning to explain who Jesus is and what his role is. John
lives in a way associated with the heroic prophet Elijah, the sign of
a true spokesman for God.
- It is good to see liberation as the constant will of God.
- It takes effort to maintain a sense of expectancy for God - as if
for a loved one.
- Can we too be 'introducers' or heralds for Jesus?
15th December
3rd Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 61. 1 - 4, 8 - 11
In a passage used by Jesus in his Nazareth sermon (Luke 4. 16 on), the
prophet paints the new world which God desires for us, with every hurt
and ill done away
1 Thessalonians 5. 26
Paul makes it plain the basic duties placed on the shoulders of those
who await God's fulfilment.
John 1. 6 - 8, 19 - 28
The opening of John's Gospel is chiefly about Christ's person and significance,
but the writer inserts passages about John the Baptist, emphasizing
his secondary yet important role. Perhaps there were followers of the
Baptist who gave him a higher place and needed correcting?
- We need ideals in order to know where to place our efforts and our
hopes.
- Ordinary duties are not exciting but are basic to the rhythm of
our lives.
- Jesus stands as our best and heaven-sent guide to God's character
and purpose.
22nd December
4th Sunday of Advent
2. Samuel 7. 1 - 11, 16
David was a nobody without God's choice of him for his purpose. So he
can stand as a picture of Christ's far greater role, centuries later,
with its humble origins.
Romans 16. 25 - 27
Paul's doxology ends his letter on a note of praise and thanksgiving,
and it sums up Christ's role as fulfiller of God's purpose - at long
last.
Luke 1 - 26 - 38
The Annunciation story, endlessly and famously painted, is an amazing
picture of the wonder of God's way of proceeding - all unexpected, calling
on the 'small' of the world as the route to triumph. And Mary. Humbly,
accepts her role.
- Are we happy that God's way is not 'airy-fairy' but rooted in life
and events, time and place?
- We should feel wonder at God's gracious condescension to Mary -
and to each of us in our place.
- The proper Christian response is grateful c0-operation in what is
required of us.
Tuesday 24th December
Midnight Mass
Isaiah 9. 2 - 7
The prophet sees the birth of a prince as bringing new hope - the chance
of better things for all. It has always served as an apt picture of
the role of Jesus, 'prince' in a quite different frame of reference.
Titus 2. 11-14
Christ's work, from start to finish, is all one, and its purpose is
neither more nor less than to give us the new life of which we stand
in need.
John 1. 1 - 14
25th December
Christmas Day
Isaiah 9. 2 - 7
The prophet sees the birth of a prince as bringing new hope - the chance
of better things for all. It has always served as an apt picture of
the role of Jesus, 'prince' in a quite different frame of reference.
Titus 2. 11 - 14
Christ's work, from start to finish, is all one, and its purpose is
neither more nor less than to give us the new life of which we stand
in need.
Luke 2. 1 - 14 (15 - 20)
The simplicity of Jesus' birth and the beauty of the story never cease
to arouse our deepest love-and our desire to question the humdrum values
by which we chiefly live.
- The coming of God to us is always an act of sheer wondrous grace.
- Pray to share a new life offered through Christ.
- Can we recapture, as if hearing for the first time, both the simplicity
and the immensity of God's sharing of our life?
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