Reflections

February 6, 2025  Today's Reading: Catechism: The Seventh Commandment Daily Lectionary: Job 3:11-26 ; John 1:35-51 What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. “Don’t take someone’s stuff without permission!”...

February 5, 2025 Today's Reading: Luke 4:31-44 Daily Lectionary: Job 2:1-3:10 ; John 1:19-34 And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” (Luke 4:36) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. We return again to this reminder: Epiphany is the season of the Church that reveals and enlightens us about who C...

February 4, 2025 Today's Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:31b-13:13 Daily Lectionary: Job 1:1-22 ; John 1:1-18 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away…So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:8,13) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. “Love is love,” they tell me. “L...

February 3, 2025  Today's Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-10 (17-19)  Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 14:1-21 ; Titus 2:7-3:15 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:9-10) In...

February 2, 2025 Today's Reading: Luke 2:22-32, 33-40 Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 12:1-13:9 ; Titus 1:1-2:6 “For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel." (Luke 2:30-32) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  Simeon saw with his eyes what the ancients of Israel longed to see, and he saw wit...

February 1, 2025 Today's Reading: Introit for Epiphany 4 - Psalm 10:16-18; antiphon: Psalm 10:12 Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 11:4-17 ; 2 Timothy 4:1-18 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. (Psalm 10:12) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Text of the Reflection   Even though I forgot where my keys are for the 4th time this week, I’m pretty comfortable telling God He should...

January 31, 2025 Today's Reading: 2 Timothy 3:1-17 Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 10:1-11:3 ; 2 Timothy 3:1-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  The Bible doesn’t contain God’s word. It is God’s word. All of it. The clear parts. For God so loved the world t...

January 30, 2025 Today's Reading: Catechism: The Sixth Commandment Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 9:1-17 ; 2 Timothy 2:1-26 You shall not commit adultery.   In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  This commandment comes with baggage. It’s the one assaulted by the world. It’s the one that hurts to talk about if you’re a product of a broken home. It’s the one we fail with our thoughts, our web browsing, and wor...

January 29, 2025  Today's Reading: Luke 4:16-30 Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 8:1-23 ; 2 Timothy 1:1-18 “And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.” (Luke 4:24) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  Jesus wouldn’t do miracles in His hometown. It gave everyone big feelings, so they tried to throw him off a cliff. It’s maybe a little easier to stomach Jesus saying no to the...

January 28, 2025  Today's Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 6:1-7:14 ; Romans 16:17-27 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) In...

January 27, 2025 Today's Reading: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 4:1-5:11 ; Romans 15:14-33 For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehem...

January 26, 2025  Today's Reading: Titus 1:1-9 Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 2:1-3:10 ; Luke 10:1-9 “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:9) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. You should have a pastor. There’s a big list of things he should be. They make him above reproach. T...

January 25, 2025  Today's Reading: Acts 9:1-22 Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 1:1-21 ; Matthew 19:27-30 But the Lord said to [Ananias], “Go, for [Paul] is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:15-16) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It must have been a troubling...

January 24, 2025  Today's Reading: 1 Timothy 6:11-16 Daily Lectionary: Joel 3:1-21 ; Matthew 24:42-47 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Timothy 6:13-14) In the Name + of J...

January 23, 2025  Today's Reading: Catechism: The Fifth Commandment Daily Lectionary: Joel 2:18-32 ; Romans 11:25-12:13 The Fifth Commandment:  You shall not murder. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. If you ask the average catechumen which Commandme...

January 22, 2025  Today's Reading: Joel 2:1-17 Daily Lectionary: Joel 2:1-17 ; Romans 11:1-24 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.”  Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. (Jo...

January 21, 2025  Today's Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 Daily Lectionary: Joel 1:1-20 ; Romans 10:1-21 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in every one.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  Paul is laying out for the Corin...

January 20, 2025  Today's Reading: Isaiah 62:1-5 Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 47:1-14, 21-23 ; Romans 9:19-33 “You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight I in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.”  (Isaiah 62:4) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Come to think of it, this text...

January 19, 2025  Today's Reading: John 2:1-11 Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 44:1-16, 23-29 ; Romans 9:1-18 The master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people had drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” (John 2:9b-10) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. This whole darn account is a weird one. What’s the n...

January 18, 2025   Today's Reading: Mark 8:27-35 (36-9:1)   Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 40:1-4; 43:1-12 ; Ezekiel 40:5-42:20; 43:13-27 ; Romans 8:18-39 “And He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Christ.’” (Mark 8:29) In the Name of Jesus. Amen. Jesus is concerned about what His disciples think about Him. Therefore, the Church should be concerned about what p...

January 17, 2025  Today's Reading: Introit for Epiphany 2 - Psalm 36:5-9; antiphon: Song of Solomon 2:4 Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 39:1-10, 17-29 ; Romans 7:21-8:17 “His banner over me was love” (Song of Solomon, 2:4) In the Name of Jesus. Amen. Banners make statements. Schools have them, as do churches, whose banners may boast passages from Holy Scripture. Parades are never shy of banners with pit...

January 16, 2025  Today's Reading: Catechism: The Fourth Commandment Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 38:1-23 ; Romans 7:1-20 “Honor your father and your mother.” In the Name of Jesus. Amen. Luther’s Small Catechism says, “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.” Parents are special and d...

January 15, 2025   Today's Reading: Ezekiel 37:15-28 Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 37:15-28 ; Romans 6:1-23 “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes” (Ezekiel 37:24) In the Name of Jesus. Amen.  A united nation under Solomon was ripped apart following his death. A carousel of kings would follow in bo...

January 14, 2025  Today's Reading: Romans 6:1-11 Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 36:33-37:14 ; Romans 5:1-21 “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (John 6:4) In the Name of Jesus. Amen. It’s easy to make snap judgments on what we see. We’ve heard the phrase “seeing...

January 13, 2025  Today's Reading: Isaiah 43:1-7 Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 36:13-28 ; Romans 4:1-25 “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1) In the Name of Jesus. Amen.  With Scripture, context is important. This glorious passage in Isaiah is on the heels of God’s rebuke of His people for their failure to hear and see. Isaiah, like all the prophets...