Category: Mid-Week
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Third Sunday in Advent
~ Gaudete ~ Readings: Isaiah 40:1-11 | 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 | Matthew 11:2-11 Text: Matthew 11:2-11 We hear from the Epistle to the Hebrews, “In many and various ways, God spoke to His people of old by the prophets, but now in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.”[1] But what…
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Second Sunday in Advent
~ Populus Zion ~ Readings: Malachi 4:1-6 | Romans 15:4-13 | Luke 21:25-36 Text: Luke 21:25-36 Let’s be honest, the things described in the end times are scary! They make even the worst terrorist attack seem like a hiccup, because it’s not just going to be in one city or a few cities. It’s going…
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First Sunday in Advent
~ Ad Te Levavi ~ Readings: Jeremiah 23:5-8 | Romans 13:(8-10) 11-14 | Matthew 21:1-9 Text: Matthew 21:1-11 Advent, as you may remember, means “coming.” Every year, we rehearse the coming of our Lord. Again, you may be familiar with His first coming in the flesh at Christmas, and His second coming on the Last…
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Paschal Vigil
Text: Jeremiah 31:31-34 P [To the bridegroom] Will you have this woman to be your wedded wife, to live together in the holy estate of matrimony as God ordained it? Will you nourish and cherish her as Christ loved His body, the Church, giving Himself up for her? Will you love, honor, and keep her…
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Good Friday
Readings: John 19:1-16a | John 19:16b-42 Text: John 19:1-42 Who is your King? Israel had often confessed this: “The Lord became king…when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together” (Deut. 33:5) “Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle!” (Ps. 24:8)…
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Maundy Thursday
Readings: Exodus 12:1-14 | 1 Corinthians 11:23-32 | John 13:1-15, 34-35 Text: Exodus 12:1-14; John 13:1-15 (34-35) “The Nearness of God’s Redemption” In the Passover, God provided salvation from death by the substitute of another. But this couldn’t be the fullness. No lamb could take the place of a person, for how had a lamb…
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First Sunday in Lent
~ Invocavit ~ Readings: Genesis 3:1-21 | 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 | Matthew 4:1-11 Text: Matthew 4:1-11 Doctors who fight infections are all too aware that having just one weapon isn’t enough. Viruses and bacteria each respond differently to medication. Sometimes a strain comes along that refuses to respond to treatment. Then, newer, stronger, and more…
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The Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord
Readings: Exodus 40:17-21, 34-38 | Titus 3:4-7 | John 1:1-18 Text: Exodus 40:17-21, 34-38 Focus: The difference between the tabernacle erected by men’s hands (even according to God’s command) is far surpassed by the tabernacle not made with hands by which the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. Function: That my hearers would better…
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The Eve of the Nativity of Our Lord
~ A Service of Lessons & Carols ~ Readings: Genesis 3:8-24 | Isaiah 7:10-14 | Luke 1:26-38 | Matthew 1:18-25 | Luke 2:1-20 Text: Luke 2:1-14 You’ve no doubt heard it at least once so far, and maybe several times today: Merry Christmas! Merriam Webster declared the Word of the Year—the most looked-up word of…
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Commemoration of St. Thomas
Readings: Ephesians 4:7, 11-16 | John 20:24-29 Text: John 20:24-29 Who was St. Thomas and why is he remembered? Thomas was one of the apostles. In the lists of the Apostles in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke), Thomas is paired with Matthew, so perhaps when they were sent out in twos (Matthew 10:5-6), they…