Today the Christian Church remembers two pieces of this foundation: St. Philip and St. James. Through his prophets and apostles, God laid the foundation. God built the house, every wall, room, and floor on the Cornerstone of Christ Jesus, not with brick and mortar, but with his holy precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. …For more, click on the title above.
Tag: Rev von Hindenburg
Kyrie Eleison
what is this week in the Easter season? Cantate Sunday. Cantate is Latin for sing; so that makes this Singing Sunday. This name is based on the incipit of the Introit (which we learned about in Bible class a few weeks ago) for this Sunday which comes from Psalm 98, “Oh sing to the Lord a new song.”…For more, click on the title above.
Water, blood and Spirit
It’s often in the smallest detail that the most remarkable revelations are to be found. Ezekiel beheld a valley of dry bones. Ezekiel had served as a priest in the Temple in Jerusalem. He had seen the destruction of that Temple, God’s dwelling place, and he was now living in exile in a land far away. And he must have been wondering: “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” …For more, click on the title above.
For you
Haven’t we been here before? It sounds so familiar.
Every year, for those of us who follow the One Year Lectionary, on the Fifth Sunday after Trinity, we hear the account of a miraculous catch of fish. Remember? …For more, click on the title above.
The stranger on the road to Emmaus
The Gospel Reading takes us back to that first Easter Sunday. The early morning events are now over. Most of Jesus’ disciples are back in Jerusalem in a house with the doors locked in fear of the Jews.
The afternoon sun is approaching the horizon as two disciples are walking on the dirt road out of Jerusalem. …For more, click on the title above.
‘I am with you and I will deliver you’
Tonight, because the remainder of our Gospel reading appointed for this evening covers Spy Wednesday—the day/night Judas plotted with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus, the Passover supper celebrated by Jesus with his disciples, and the arrest, crucifixion and burial of Jesus, all of which will be covered in various ways and forms during the remainder of our nightly services here at Catalina Lutheran Church, I have been moved by the Holy Spirit to speak about our Old Testament text appointed for this day from the prophet Jeremiah…For more, click on the title above.
Fear and loathing in the Garden of Gethsemane
Today’s/tonight’s reading comes from St. Luke, St. Mark, and St. John, in that order. From Luke we hear of the arrest of Jesus in the darkness of the night. From Mark we learn about the fleeing of the disciples and a young man who runs away naked after almost having been detained in the Garden. And from St. John we become aware of the words spoken by Caiaphas, the Jewish High Priest, which would play out in Gospel clarity….For more, click on the title above.
Betrayal
Betrayal burns with the intensity of the sun; it scalds the very soul.
Click on the title above for more…
The parable of the Sower: A lesson for us
The parable from today’s appointed Gospel is not hard to understand. The farmer scatters seed in the expectation that some will take root, grow and bear a harvest. Because that’s what farmers do. Now, along the way, some stuff happens to the seed:
• Some are snatched by birds.
• Some get parched and die.
• Some get choked by weeds.
For more, click on the title above.
At what do we marvel?
Joseph and Mary are following the ritual law of purification for the mother. According to the Law of Moses, every first-born child had to be presented to the Lord, and a sacrifice made so that the mother could be declared clean by the priest.
Before this ritual could take place, a man, presumably unknown to either of them, approaches and takes the child in his arms, blesses God, and begins to speak. All of this had taken place prior to our pericope for today where the first words we read are,
“And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him.”
Which brings us to our first question of the day: “What was said that made Jesus’ parents marvel?” …For more, click on the title above