St. John the Divine Anglican Church

The Revelation 19:1,4-9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.” … from the Revelation to St. John the Divine. You will notice that this reading from the Revelation to St. John the Divine is filled with images of marriage. Listen to these words: “Hallelujah! For

Acts 13:15-16, 26-33(34-39) Happy Mother’s Day to the dear Mothers here among us. St. Paul wrote to St. Timothy to regard all older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters. This shows his love and respect for all women, and we men today would be wise to do the same. And Happy Mother’s Day to the Mother of our Lord, the Ever Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of us

Easter 3 Our Gospel reading this morning chronicles the third time that Jesus appeared to his disciples since he was raised from the dead. You will recall that last Sunday we heard about the first two appearances. Jesus breathed on his disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” What

John 20:19-31 Today is the second Sunday in Eastertide, and as it is the 8th day of Easter, it is known as the Octave. The eight-day feast coincides with Passover this year, which ended at Nightfall last night. On this Second Sunday in Eastertide, in the year 2000, Pope John Paul II designated this day as Divine Mercy Sunday, in recognition of St. Faustina’s visions and conversations with Jesus. It

Luke 24:1-10 Alleluia! Christ is Risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! How wonderful it is to cry out Alleluia once again. Today, like that early morning that we heard about in the Gospel is the first day of the week. This is the day we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord. Every Sunday of the year is a celebration of his resurrection, but this one is our annual feast

We have reached the last week of Lent, or Holy Week, and we have begun the most important week of our liturgical year. We began by blessing and distributing the palms, for which this Sunday is named. We processed into the church, singing our anthem, All glory, laud, and honor, to the thee, Redeemer King, and without too much time in between, we read the Passion Gospel, in which we

Last Sunday was known as Lataere Sunday, or Mothering Sunday, as I mentioned to you last week. This Sunday, which we know as the Fifth Sunday in Lent also has a name that is even more obscure. “Judica Sunday,” which refers to the first word of the introit, or entrance psalm for the mass on this day: Iudica me, Deus, from Psalm 43 in our Prayer Book: Give judgement for

Today, the fourth Sunday in Lent is known by some as Laetare Sunday, which in Latin means Rejoice. The word comes from the traditional mass introit, which comes from Isaiah 66:10. “Rejoice, O Jerusalem: and come together all you that love her: rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation.” It is also known as Mothering

1 Corinthians 10:1-13 “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” St. Paul wrote his two letters to the Corinthian Church to gently guide them into the truth of the Gospel. From his other writings to them we can discern that they were a

Luke 13:(22-30)31-35 24 “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” This Gospel reading is troublesome to many people. Maybe that’s why it is shown as optional in the 1979 Lectionary, and it is completely omitted from the Revised Common Lectionary