[RCL] Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 36:5-11; Hebrews 9:11-15; John 12:1-11 We return, as we always do on Monday of Holy Week, to the little house in Bethany. Ears still ringing from the raucous crowds thronging the streets of Jerusalem yesterday on Palm Sunday, perhaps our own voices are hoarse from shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of…

[RCL] Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 36:5-11; Hebrews 9:11-15; John 12:1-11 In our Episcopal tradition, it was Palm Sunday yesterday. Jesus has entered Jerusalem. We are beginning Holy Week, and Jesus is walking closer and closer toward the cross. In today’s Gospel, Jesus is at Bethany, attending a dinner party hosted by Martha, Mary, and their brother…

[RCL] Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 36:5-11; Hebrews 9:11-15; John 12:1-11 Our Gospel lesson is a hinge text. It concludes the first half of John’s Gospel, which scholars name “the Book of Signs.” It also prepares for the second half of the Gospel, which scholars call either “the Book of Glory” or “the Book of the Passion.”…

RCL: Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 36:5-11; Hebrews 9:11-15; John 12:1-11 This story of anointing, fragrance, intimacy, and risk – it’s a hard story not to love. And, this year, it seems particularly poignant – a reminder to hold those you love close, for we do not know how much time we have together. This year has…

[RCL]: Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 36:5-11; Hebrews 9:11-15; John 12:1-11 Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain, wheat that in dark earth many days has lain; love lives again, that with the dead has been: Love is come again like wheat that springeth green. This is the first verse of hymn 204 in our…

In today’s gospel passage, we encounter the Bethany family: siblings Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. We have met Martha and Mary before, in the well-known passage from Luke’s gospel (Luke 10:38-42) when Jesus and his disciples rest on the road to Jerusalem in the home of sisters Mary and Martha. Remember that Martha, doing all the…

In our Episcopal tradition, it was Palm Sunday yesterday. Jesus has entered Jerusalem. We are beginning Holy Week, and Jesus is walking closer and closer toward the cross. In today’s Gospel, Jesus is at Bethany, attending a dinner party hosted by Martha, Mary, and their brother Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead a…

At the regular celebration of the Holy Eucharist, we hear these familiar words: “After supper he took the cup of wine; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said, ‘Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many…