Divergence on the Lectionary – Second Sunday in Lent, Year C

First Reading Genesis 15:1-12,17-18 (omitted verses in italics) After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my […]

Divergence on the Lectionary – Proper 20, Year B (track one)

First Reading Proverbs 31:10–31 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing […]

Divergence on the Lectionary – Proper 19, Year B (track one)

First Reading Proverbs 1:20–33 Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and […]

Divergence on the Lectionary – Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year B

First Reading Jeremiah 31:31–34 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the […]

The Stations of the Cross (online)

Introduction In the Passion, Jesus laid bare the way that God’s children have used the death of the innocent to distance themselves from their own dependence on violence. By removing the scales from our eyes, Jesus has broken forever the power of violence in our lives. We will never again be able to convince ourselves […]

Divergence on the Lectionary – Second Sunday in Lent, Year B

First Reading Genesis 17:1–7, 15-16 (Omitted verses included in italics) When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on his […]

Divergence on the Lectionary – Proper 22, Year A (track one)

First Reading Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12–20 (omitted verses included in italics) And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved […]

Divergence on the Lectionary – Proper 8, Year A (track one)

First Reading Genesis 22:1–14 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which […]

Divergence on the Lectionary – First Sunday in Lent, Year A

First Reading Genesis 2:15–17, 3:1–7 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you […]

Worship – The Redemption of Desire

(This paper is probably more easily read in a PDF format. Here’s A Link to the PDF.) Ever since Michael and I started Preaching Peace, we have struggled with the desire (pun intended) to make what we do practical, to help what we’ve learned in and through the study of Rene Girard’s “Mimetic Theory” to […]

Divergence on the Lectionary – Proper 29/Christ the King, Year C (track one)

First Reading Jeremiah 23:1–6 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, […]

Divergence on the Lectionary – Proper 28, Year C (track one)

First Reading Isaiah 65:17–25 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will […]