Break Open the Word

The First Sunday of Advent,  29 November 2009 This is a series that appears in the weekly Newsletter of Trinity Church; designed to get you ready to hear the lessons at next Sunday’s liturgy.   Your suggestions and comments are most welcome. -        Fr. Michael T. Hiller The Readings for the First Sunday of Advent Jeremiah 33:14-16 Psalm 25:1-9 I Thessalonians 3:9-13 Saint Luke 21:25-36 BEFORE WE BEGIN – ABOUT SAINT LUKE In the three-year lectionary, the three cycles are largely devoted to one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) with John being shared by all the cycles.   In cycle B, which we have just left, the year was devoted to readings from the Gospel of Saint Mark.   In the new cycle, which we are now entering, cycle C, the Gospels will be from the Gospel of Saint Luke.   Here are some things to look forward to as we read from the Gospel: This is the longest of the Gospels, and is one of the Synoptic (“with one eye”) Gospels (Matthew and Mark being the o

Proper 29, Last Sunday after Pentecost – Christ the King, 22 November 2009 This is a series that will hopefully appear in the weekly Newsletter of Trinity Church; designed to get you ready to hear the lessons at next Sunday’s liturgy.   Your suggestions and comments are most welcome. -        Fr. Michael T. Hiller The Readings for Christ the King Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 Psalm 93 Revelation 1:4b-8 Saint John 18:33-37 BACKGROUND The stage was set for these readings in the previous two Sundays, and again we read from the prophet Daniel, in the second half of the book bearing his name, which is a collection of four visions of the “End Time”.   A brief recap of last week’s introduction: Daniel was probably written during the Hellenistic period in Palestine (3 rd Century BCE) during which time the locals were in a cultural, and actual, war with the Seleucid kings who ruled from Syria.   The visions in Daniel attempted to give the reader a sense of their Jewish heritage and wha

The Readings for Proper 28 Daniel 12:1-3 Psalm 16 Hebrews 10:11-25 Saint Mark 13:1-8 BACKGROUND It’s time to talk about “apocalyptic”, and here I am not talking about Mel Gibson’s film, or the up-coming one 2012 , but rather a type of literature common to both the Hebrew, Islamic and Christian scriptures. The word “apocalypse” means literally “lifting the veil” and in such works, the reader is given a vision of unseen things.   Christians will be familiar especially with Daniel and the Revelation of Saint John the Divine, in particular, but also sections of the Gospel According to Saint Matthew as well. Why apocalyptic now?   The themes in the lectionary at the end of the year, and at the beginning of the new liturgical year (Advent) overlap.   This is due to the fact that at one point, Advent was longer than four weeks, and the Advent themes of awaiting the second coming of Jesus (we are not talking about preparation for Christmas yet) and the talk of the “End Time” made

The Readings for Proper 27 I Kings 17:18-16 Psalm 146 Hebrews 9:24-28 Saint Mark 12:38-44 BACKGROUND After the festivities of All Saints’ Day, followed by All Souls’ Day on 2 November, we return to Ordinary Time.   The mood of these days, however, is becoming darker as we journey to the end of the Church Year, which culminates (in terms of Sundays) with The Feast of Christ the King on 22 November.   These readings about the end of time will send shadows into the first readings for the coming Advent Season as well, but we shall look at that in coming weeks. The first reading is from one of the historical books, I Kings.   This collection of books (I and II Kings) was probably compiled from a variety of sources when Jews began to return to Palestine (ca. 561 – 538).   The purpose was elementary – to reacquaint the people with their history and former kings and leaders.   The collection is in parallel to the Chronicles (two books as well) which was probably written later.