Twelve Months of Sundays. N.T. Wright

      

      Tom Wright, until recently Bishop of Durham, is currently Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews and is a regular broadcaster on radio and television. He is the author of over fifty books, including the For Everyone guides to the New Testament, the best-selling Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope, and the magisterial series entitled Christian Origins and the Question of God.

       Twelve Months of Sundays

       Years A, B and C

      Biblical meditations on the Christian year

       Tom Wright

      Copyright © Tom Wright 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a

      retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic

      or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise,

      without the written permission of the publisher.

      First published in Great Britain as Twelve Months of Sundays,Years A, B and C: Biblical meditations on the Christian year in 2012 Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge 36 Causton Street London SW1P 4ST www.spckpublishing.co.uk

      First published in the United States in 2012 by

      Morehouse Publishing, 4775 Linglestown Road, Harrisburg, PA 17112

      Morehouse Publishing, 445 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016

      Morehouse Publishing is an imprint of Church Publishing Incorporated.

      www.churchpublishing.org

      Cover design by Laurie Klein Westhafer

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      A catalog record of this book is available from the Library of Congress.

      ISBN-13: 978-0-8192-2802-4 (pbk.)

      ISBN-13: 978-0-8192-2803-1 (ebook)

       Contents

Preface

YEAR A

ADVENT

CHRISTMAS

EPIPHANY

ORDINARY TIME

LENT

EASTER

ORDINARY TIME

       SUNDAYS BEFORE ADVENT

       YEAR B

       ADVENT

       CHRISTMAS

       EPIPHANY

       ORDINARY TIME

       LENT

       EASTER

       ORDINARY TIME

       SUNDAYS BEFORE ADVENT

       YEAR C

       ADVENT

       CHRISTMAS

       EPIPHANY

       ORDINARY TIME

       LENT

       EASTER

       ORDINARY TIME

       SUNDAYS BEFORE ADVENT

Preface

      This book brings together my reflections based on the weekly biblical readings in the official lectionary now in use in the Church of England. The pieces first appeared in the Church Times; the encouraging response to them suggested that they should be made available in a more permanent form.

      The lectionary offers a three-year cycle of readings, set out in The Christian Year (Church House Publishing, 1997). This volume of reflections covers Years A, B and C. No attempt has been made to cover the readings for the various Saints’ Days that may from time to time fall on a Sunday. Every possible regular Sunday, however, has been covered, including the extra ‘Propers’ provided after Epiphany when Easter is late and after Trinity when Easter is early. I have used the ‘continuous’ set of readings for the Sundays in Ordinary Time after Trinity, rather than the ‘related’ set in each case.

      Where the official lectionary suggests a ‘passage’ consisting of clumps of verses selected out of a longer paragraph or chapter, I have sometimes simply listed, and commented on, the entire passage. I am well aware that it is often impossible to read as much Scripture during the course of a well-ordered liturgy as the integrity of the text might seem to require. But it is important that the serious reader, let alone the preacher, be aware of the whole from which the parts are taken, and interpret those parts in the light of that whole.

      I assume that the reader will have the biblical texts to hand, preferably in more than one good modern translation. These pieces are not, of course, a full commentary on the passages. They are personal reflections designed to stimulate fresh thought. If they prompt the reader to his or her own exploration, understanding and love of the text, and of the God of whom it speaks, my purpose will have been more than accomplished.

      My thanks are due to Paul