We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. From 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5,8-10, NRSV The early church communities would have received very little direct…
Read more
I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open. . From Isaiah 22: 19-23 (NRSV) The First Reading on Sundays is chosen to complement the Gospel and today we can link what Isaiah writes about with…
Read more
So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life…
Read more
So she (Naomi) said, ‘See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’ But Ruth said,‘Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you!Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge;your people shall be my people, and your…
Read more
And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God…And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. From Apocalypse 21:9-14, NRSV In today’s…
Read more
Then all the lords of Shechem and all Beth-millo came together, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem. When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and cried aloud and said to them, ‘Listen to me, you lords of…
Read more
Then the Lord turned to him (Gideon) and said, ‘Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you.’ He responded, ‘But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.’ The Lord said to him,…
Read more
Then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and worshipped the Baals; and they abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; they followed other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were all around them, and bowed down to them; and…
Read more
And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants,all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer;their burnt-offerings and…
Read more
‘Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River…
Read more
