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The Rev. Kelly Kirby
Rector
The Rev. Suzanne Barrow
Dir. Congregational Life
The Rev. Jan Scholtz
Deacon
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The Parable of The Talents (1634), oil painting on panel by Willem de Poorter (1608-1668). Narodni Galerie, Prague.
Weltgericht (Last Judgement, c.1435), centerpiece of a tempera on oak polyptych by Master Stefan Lochner (c.1410 -1451). Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, Germany.
Read the Illuminations
Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Pentecost 25A/Proper 28, Sunday, November 15, 2026
First Reading: Judges 4:1-7Two weeks of Pentecost remain before Advent begins on November 29, but our readings are already nudging our imagination toward Advent themes imagining God’s final judgement and the last days. This first reading from the book of Judges concludes our long journey through Israel’s ancestral stories. The people live in the Promised Land, where they have settled in to a cycle of behaving badly – “doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord” – then repenting, turning back, and restoring justice under a leader called a judge. One of the most noteworthy judges – surprisingly in the Bible’s patriarchal culture – was a woman prophet, Deborah, who with God’s help orders her male generals into battle.
Psalm: Psalm 123
Harmonizing with the leadership of the judge Deborah in the first reading, this brief but powerful Psalm offers worship and praise to a God understood as both male and female, both master and mistress. This is one of the shortest of the Psalms at just five verses, but these brief words imagine a theology of liberation: The Psalmist calls for mercy for the poor, in contrast with the contempt and derision shown them by the indolent rich and the proud.
Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
In last week’s second reading, Paul assured his church in Thessalonika that the Christians who had died before Christ’s return would not lose their opportunity to be with him in God’s kingdom. Now, in the last chapter, Paul urges them to be prepared. Using colorful metaphors imagining a thief in the night and a woman’s sudden labor pains, he declares that the day of the Lord may come suddenly and by surprise. Be faithful, he says. Be loving. Care for one another, and be ready.
Gospel: Matthew 25:14-30
Many of us would probably be just as cautious in safeguarding an angry master’s treasure as was the slave in this parable who buried the costly silver talent left in his charge, earning no profit on it. But Jesus, in the frenzied last week before he is to be crucified, is intently focused on the last days. Just after this passage comes the Gospel we will hear next week: Jesus’s account of the last judgement, when Christ as judging King will sort out those who saw the face of Jesus in the hungry, the thirsty, the oppressed, sick persons, and prisoners, from those who did not. Like the first two slaves in this parable, we are called to take risks, to see Jesus present in the poor and the oppressed, and to give abundantly.
First Reading: Judges 4:1-7Two weeks of Pentecost remain before Advent begins on November 29, but our readings are already nudging our imagination toward Advent themes imagining God’s final judgement and the last days. This first reading from the book of Judges concludes our long journey through Israel’s ancestral stories. The people live in the Promised Land, where they have settled in to a cycle of behaving badly – “doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord” – then repenting, turning back, and restoring justice under a leader called a judge. One of the most noteworthy judges – surprisingly in the Bible’s patriarchal culture – was a woman prophet, Deborah, who with God’s help orders her male generals into battle.
Psalm: Psalm 123
Harmonizing with the leadership of the judge Deborah in the first reading, this brief but powerful Psalm offers worship and praise to a God understood as both male and female, both master and mistress. This is one of the shortest of the Psalms at just five verses, but these brief words imagine a theology of liberation: The Psalmist calls for mercy for the poor, in contrast with the contempt and derision shown them by the indolent rich and the proud.
Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
In last week’s second reading, Paul assured his church in Thessalonika that the Christians who had died before Christ’s return would not lose their opportunity to be with him in God’s kingdom. Now, in the last chapter, Paul urges them to be prepared. Using colorful metaphors imagining a thief in the night and a woman’s sudden labor pains, he declares that the day of the Lord may come suddenly and by surprise. Be faithful, he says. Be loving. Care for one another, and be ready.
Gospel: Matthew 25:14-30
Many of us would probably be just as cautious in safeguarding an angry master’s treasure as was the slave in this parable who buried the costly silver talent left in his charge, earning no profit on it. But Jesus, in the frenzied last week before he is to be crucified, is intently focused on the last days. Just after this passage comes the Gospel we will hear next week: Jesus’s account of the last judgement, when Christ as judging King will sort out those who saw the face of Jesus in the hungry, the thirsty, the oppressed, sick persons, and prisoners, from those who did not. Like the first two slaves in this parable, we are called to take risks, to see Jesus present in the poor and the oppressed, and to give abundantly.
Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Christ the King A, Sunday, November 22, 2026
First Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
The long Pentecost season and the year of Matthew’s Gospel come to an end on Sunday. Next week we begin Advent and a new liturgical year with the Gospel according to Mark. This Lectionary year concludes with the feast of Christ the King (or the Reign of Christ). For many of us, the idea of kingship and royalty may sound like an echo of older times. But Sunday’s readings show us Jesus Christ as a different kind of king: not a traditional patriarch but a loving shepherd. In our first reading we hear the prophet Ezekiel speaking to Israel in exile. Using the metaphor of a kingly shepherd feeding and caring for the sheep, the prophet writes that God will judge the fat sheep and the lean, protecting the lost and weak sheep while destroying the powerful sheep who ravaged them.
Psalm: Psalm 100
Psalm 100, an exuberant call to worship, urges all the people to come to God with gladness and song, grateful for God’s mercy and kindness. The Psalm is likely familiar to Episcopalians who know it as the Jubilate in Morning Prayer, a reading that portrays the people as the protected sheep of God’s pasture, joyously singing thanksgiving and praise for God’s everlasting mercy that endures from age to age..
Second Reading: Ephesians 1:15-23
Following our recent readings in 1 Thessalonians, perhaps the earliest of Paul’s letters, we now conclude the season with a passage from a later epistle, the Letter to the Ephesians. This letter was most likely written by an early Christian late in the first century, a generation or more after Paul’s death. It seems to reflect the young church’s growing understanding of Christ amid a recognition that Jesus might not return as soon as the first followers had hoped: The author declares that God the creator has placed the resurrected Jesus at God’s right hand and given him authority over all things in heaven and in the church, his body on earth.
Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46
This familiar reading, beloved by Christians who advocate for the social gospel and a theology of liberation for the poor, concludes Matthew’s series of parables on the kingdom of heaven. In this reading Matthew tells us that recognizing the face of Jesus in the face of a hungry, thirsty, homeless person, sick and naked and oppressed, is the way to make God’s Kingdom happen, even if it is difficult. Then Matthew warns that those who fail to see Jesus in their hungry neighbor will earn a place in the outer darkness that also awaited the slave with the single talent and the foolish bridesmaids. This is a hard teaching, telling us that we ignore Jesus’s call to serve only at our peril. But remember, too, that the mighty king who judges us is also the loving shepherd who shows us how to love one another.
First Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
The long Pentecost season and the year of Matthew’s Gospel come to an end on Sunday. Next week we begin Advent and a new liturgical year with the Gospel according to Mark. This Lectionary year concludes with the feast of Christ the King (or the Reign of Christ). For many of us, the idea of kingship and royalty may sound like an echo of older times. But Sunday’s readings show us Jesus Christ as a different kind of king: not a traditional patriarch but a loving shepherd. In our first reading we hear the prophet Ezekiel speaking to Israel in exile. Using the metaphor of a kingly shepherd feeding and caring for the sheep, the prophet writes that God will judge the fat sheep and the lean, protecting the lost and weak sheep while destroying the powerful sheep who ravaged them.
Psalm: Psalm 100
Psalm 100, an exuberant call to worship, urges all the people to come to God with gladness and song, grateful for God’s mercy and kindness. The Psalm is likely familiar to Episcopalians who know it as the Jubilate in Morning Prayer, a reading that portrays the people as the protected sheep of God’s pasture, joyously singing thanksgiving and praise for God’s everlasting mercy that endures from age to age..
Second Reading: Ephesians 1:15-23
Following our recent readings in 1 Thessalonians, perhaps the earliest of Paul’s letters, we now conclude the season with a passage from a later epistle, the Letter to the Ephesians. This letter was most likely written by an early Christian late in the first century, a generation or more after Paul’s death. It seems to reflect the young church’s growing understanding of Christ amid a recognition that Jesus might not return as soon as the first followers had hoped: The author declares that God the creator has placed the resurrected Jesus at God’s right hand and given him authority over all things in heaven and in the church, his body on earth.
Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46
This familiar reading, beloved by Christians who advocate for the social gospel and a theology of liberation for the poor, concludes Matthew’s series of parables on the kingdom of heaven. In this reading Matthew tells us that recognizing the face of Jesus in the face of a hungry, thirsty, homeless person, sick and naked and oppressed, is the way to make God’s Kingdom happen, even if it is difficult. Then Matthew warns that those who fail to see Jesus in their hungry neighbor will earn a place in the outer darkness that also awaited the slave with the single talent and the foolish bridesmaids. This is a hard teaching, telling us that we ignore Jesus’s call to serve only at our peril. But remember, too, that the mighty king who judges us is also the loving shepherd who shows us how to love one another.
Dimensions of Faith Lectures
Dimensions of Faith invites thinkers and writers to explore the interface of religion and culture, as we continue as a parish to challenge our minds and renew our spirits.
Upcoming Speakers: Jeff Chu, October 11, 2026
Previous Speakers Include:
Nadia Bolz-Weber / Diana Butler Bass / Sarah Bessey / Steve Crump Ruby Sales / Dr. Amy-Jill Levine / Marcus Borg / Sara Miles
Robert Putnam / John Dominic Crossan / Brian McLaren / Scott Gunn
John Philip Newell / Silas House/Bishop Marianne Budde / Elizabeth Schrader-Polzcer / John Dear / Dr. Lewis Brogdon / Bob Hower and Ted Wathen
Upcoming Speakers: Jeff Chu, October 11, 2026
Previous Speakers Include:
Nadia Bolz-Weber / Diana Butler Bass / Sarah Bessey / Steve Crump Ruby Sales / Dr. Amy-Jill Levine / Marcus Borg / Sara Miles
Robert Putnam / John Dominic Crossan / Brian McLaren / Scott Gunn
John Philip Newell / Silas House/Bishop Marianne Budde / Elizabeth Schrader-Polzcer / John Dear / Dr. Lewis Brogdon / Bob Hower and Ted Wathen
