My Family Prayer Book

 Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost Malachi 4:1-2a The prophet Malachi is said to have prophesied around 450–430 B.C., making him the last of the Old Testament prophets - until we come to the era of John the Baptist and Jesus himself. Malachi warns the religious and political elites who shortchange tithe's meant for God by preying on the least powerful, for the perverse reason of accruing wealth and power. They will perish in the fire of eternal damnation. There we also find that those whom God loves are the labourers, the widows, the orphans, the foreigners and outcasts - who will find fulfilment in the Lord. Psalm 98 Today’s psalm is a prelude for  1) Next Sunday's “Christ the King” Sunday that celebrates his eternal, messianic reign 2) Start of Advent in two weeks with expectant prepartion for the coming Messiah. The key message is that our faith should be joyful and hopeful, trusting that on the last of Day of Judgement, the faithful will be duly rewarded 2 Thessalonians ...

    2021 The Nativity of Our Lord Isaiah 52:7-10 Isaiah book 2, from which chapter 15 is taken against the historical backdrop of destruction of the Temple for a people in the midst of a physical exile. As long as God abandons Zion, they are to be in exile. First, a messenger on foot (this was the fastest way of carrying news back in the day) announces to Zion, "Your God is King". Then, sentinels lift up their voices in a song of joy. Finally, Jerusalem herself joins in the joyous acclamation of God’s salvation. Very pointedly, this passage joyously announces the coming of a King, not just any King but God himself. And not just for Zion but in the sight of all nations where all the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God. At the center of the beauty of this news is its paradoxical nature. In the birth of child Jesus, the Eternal Word takes on flesh and dwells among us. He comes to defeat not an earthly power but to defeat death itself and give us everlastin...

  May-9 Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 In this passage from Acts, the Holy Spirit brings Peter to the household of Cornelius, a Roman centurion who was a righteous Gentile, observant of Jewish practices.  In earlier passages (Acts 10:11-12) we read of a persistent vision where Peter is asked to eat of clean/unclean meat. An act forbidden of all devout Jews. The ‘eating of unclean meat’ is a metaphor for ‘preaching to Gentiles’. Likewise in Acts 10:30-31, Cornelius has a vision telling him that Peter was in a nearby house and asking him to go seek out Peter. Being prayerful was a gateway to receiving the Holy Spirit that led to his conversion. In this ‘mini-Pentecost’, the Holy Spirit comes down upon the audience when Peter welcomes Gentiles and Jews to the faith in the name of Jesus. Psalm 98 Whenever we read the word salvation we must remember that in Biblical times "salvation" was a secular word—that meaning "to deliver from some danger". It wa...