Still Listening

Letters on loss, healing, and the mystery of being alive —
from deep in the woods.

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Tag: lectionary

  • Open your ears before you speak – Ordinary 23 B

    Mark 7:24-37 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down…

  • A Cleansing Ritual for Preachers

    Mark 7:1-23 7Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the…

  • “The Lullaby Gospel” John 6:56-69 Ordinary 21B

    John 6:56-69 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your…

  • What beggars know about bread. John 6:35-51 Ordinary 19b

    John 6:35-51 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and…

  • Jesus the Janitor? John 6:24-35 – Ordinary 18B

    John 6:24-35 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I…

  • Catering for our fears – John 6:1-21 Ordinary 17B

    John 6:1-21 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the…

  • Can you feel the gut wrenching care?- Mark 6:30-56 Ordinary 16b

    Mark 6:30-56 30The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32And they went away in the boat…

  • You’re a prophet? Have you lost your head?- Ordinary 15b

    Mark 6:14-29 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of…

  • Familiarity breeds CONTENT – Mark 6:1-13 Ordinary 14B

    Mark 6:1-13 He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of…

  • And behold there came a great…SMILE! – Mark 4:35-41 Ordinary 12B

    Mark 4:35-41 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so…