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This week some in the church will be celebrating Saint Francis and some struggling with the image of the beloved vineyard and the errant tennants. (Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 22 [27] Matthew 21:33-46.) Whichever set of readings we follow there is both challenge and an invitation to renewal and for a rebuilding of the church. Many of us will see the timeliness of both the challenge and the encouragement. For those celebrating St Francis you may like to read what

The parable this week is one of the shortest and at first seems quite obvious but with time and reflection grows in significance. (Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 21 [26]. Matthew 21:23-32.) Whether our initial response is to say Yes or No there is a journey to undertake. Sentence: “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live.” Ezekiel 18:32 Collect: Creator God, You have called us to be co-creators, midwives, labourers

This parable of the vineyard labourers is very provocative for most of us. (Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 20 [25] Matthew 20:1-16.) On the one hand we know that we depend on the mercy and generosity of God (or at least did at some point in time) but we are not comfortable about others (who we think don’t deserve it) receiving equal measures of graciousness!?! Many of us, like the complaining Israelites or Jonah, are a little or a lot upset at the thought of those

Forgiveness is closely linked with healing for us as individuals who have been harmed, who have harmed others, and in our relationship with God and therefore for us as community. (Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 19 [24] Matthew 18:21-35.) Sentence: “Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.’ ” Matthew 18:22 Collect: God of creation and recreation; Jesus Word of forgiveness and healing, Spirit of new again hope and love, help us t

The readings this week are very challenging and also hopeful as we are given guidance on how to respond to the real-life problems of loving in community and discerning how love and compassion looks when there is conflict and struggle. (Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 18 [23]. Matthew 18:15-20.) Sentence: “Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.” Psalm 119:34 Collect: Gracious God, you have created us with love for the pu

The gospel is good news for us and for the world. And the gospel also calls us to suffer. (Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 17 [22] Romans 12:9-21; Matthew 16:21-28.) How do we hold this tension in our life? Sentence: “Rejoice in hope; be patient in afflictions, persevere in prayer.” Romans 12:12 Collect: Word of God, Through whom the world was made and the good news made visible, grant us the courage and desire to make real your living love in the places we find o

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 16 [21]. Matthew 16:13-20; Romans 12:1-8) Paul’s words challenge us to understand that transformation is firstly an internal process of having our minds renewed that then works its way outward into the world. If any of this material is of use to you in your p

While reflecting on what maintaining a desire for mercy and justice might mean in these hard times (Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 15 [20]. Matthew 15: 21-28.) I stumbled across this wonderful quote: "Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public." Cornel West. Sentence: “Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come and my deliverance be revealed.” Isaiah 56:1 Collect: God of all, We come before you with e

From what, or when, do we need saving? Not just at the beginning of our faith journey but now? (Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 14 [19] Matthew 14:22-33.) Many of us begin by feeling a need to be saved from sin but as we travel through life we find we also need saving from weariness, despair, flagging hope or just the sense of overwhelm and distraction. Sentence: “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” Romans 10:10 Collect: Gracious Lord, place within our

We are a hungry species and often it seems we are never quite satisfied - or not for long! So what is the hunger that leads to satisfaction? (Tenth Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 13 [18] Matthew 14:13-21.) Sentence: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your earnings for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” Isaiah 55:2 Collect: God of life and all good things, You have created

Wisdom often seems elusive – something not quite of this world – and the wisdom of God most mysterious of all. We say things like: God’s ways are mysterious, the unfathomable love of God. However, our readings this week (Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 12 [17]. 1 Kings 3:5-12; Psalm 119:129-136; Romans 8:26-39; and Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52.) suggest that wisdom is indeed difficult to attain but is hidden in plain sight – under our very noses and feet! Sentence: “Your d

An undivided heart: wouldn’t that be a state of peace and grace, to not know division and uncertainty and contradiction within our own heart. An undivided heart: isn’t that in some ways the goal and destiny of faith? An undivided heart: isn’t that what our spirit’s groan for as we labour toward the fulfilment of God’s work in us? (Eight Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 11 [16] Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43.) And yet most of us know what it is like to have a divided heart. A heart div