Bible on the Back Porch
Reading, pondering and studying God’s Word is sometimes best done “on the back porch.” Each week we will try to offer something for you and your “back porch time.”
Current and Upcoming Sunday Readings
4th Sunday of Easter
...and they follow me
The 4th Sunday of Easter is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday.” No matter what liturgical year, the gospel is always taken from John 10 and explores some aspect of the relationship between the Shepherd and the sheep. The whole of John 10 takes place during the Feast of Dedication and has clear and strong connections to Ezekiel 34 where God Himself promises to come and shepherd the sheep. And what is to be the response of the sheep?
There is a lot to unpack in these verses, so grab your favorite beverage and take some time on the back porch.
Full Text of the Gospel
Detailed Commentary on the Gospel
Christ’s Final Address to the Apostles | Bona Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1380 | from the Maesta Altar | Siena, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
5th Sunday of Easter
A New Commandment
The 5th Sunday of Easter is part of the “Farewell Discourse” coming after the Last Supper and before his arrest. The discourse runs over several chapters. At the wedding of Cana, Jesus told his mother that his time had not yet come. Now, Jesus tells his disciples, the time has arrived. Now is the time he will be glorified by the Father. Unsaid, but implied, is that now the mission of the Kingdom falls to them. There is one final, overarching command of the Kingdom: love one another.
There is a lot to unpack in these verses, so grab your favorite beverage and take some time on the back porch.
Full Text of the Gospel
Detailed Commentary on the Gospel
Christ’s Final Address to the Apostles | Bona Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1380 | from the Maesta Altar | Siena, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
6th Sunday of Easter
Love, Peace and Belief
The 6th Sunday of Easter is part of the “Farewell Discourse” coming after the Last Supper and before his arrest. The discourse runs over several chapters. The disciples are beginning to overcome their shock that Jesus is leaving them. They have pummeled Him with questions and now He lays out for them the way forward: hold dear the commandments, especially love, do not fear, for the Advocate will come who will teach and remind them of all the Jesus said and did. By this they will know peace.
There is a lot to unpack in these verses, so grab your favorite beverage and take some time on the back porch.
Full Text of the Gospel
Detailed Commentary on the Gospel
Christ’s Final Address to the Apostles | Bona Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1380 | from the Maesta Altar | Siena, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
An Introduction to the Farewell Discourse
The Ascension of Jesus
Witnesses to the ends of the Earth
In Liturgical Year C, the celebration of the Ascension offers an interesting combination of readings – each by the same author, St. Luke. The first reading for Sunday is taken from the first chapter of Acts of the Apostles. The gospel reading is taken from Luke 24.
The Lucan gospel account almost mentions the Ascension as “by the way.” The focus and intent of the gospel narrative serves as a commissioning. After several appearances to the disciples on Easter and the days following, now Jesus takes his final leave: You are witnesses of these things. They are to wait in Jerusalem until the coming of the Holy Spirit, but then they will be off to the ends of the earth. The basic elements of the pericope are the same, but in Acts the theme of the Kingdom plays a more prominent part. Here also the commission is specific: you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Their commission is global.
There is a lot to unpack in these verses, so grab your favorite beverage and take some time on the back porch.
Detailed Commentary of the Gospel
Detailed Commentary on Acts
detail of “Ascension of Jesus” | John Singleton Copely, 1775 | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston | PD-US
Pentecost Sunday, Years ABC
What We Celebrate
Pentecost Sunday offers us two different readings about the giving of the Holy Spirit. The first reading from Acts 2 describes the Pentecost scene in dramatic fashion occurring 50 days after the Resurrection. The gospel reading from John describes the evening of Resurrection Sunday in the Upper Room when Jesus appears, breathes on the Apostles and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Why the two accounts?
Take a moment and consider these amazing reading from the comfort of your back porch.
Full Text of the Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary – Pentecost
Image credit: Descent of the Holy Spirit, Cryo-Russian icon, Wiki Commons, PD-US
The Importance of Pentecost
The book of Acts shows how God fulfilled His ancient promises to restore His blessing to all the nations through the offspring of Abraham: Jesus of Nazareth. In this video, we’ll explore how Jesus and the Spirit renew the people of Israel and prepare them to announce good news to the nations.
Holy Trinity Sunday
Witnesses to the ends of the Earth
In Liturgical Year C, the celebration of the Most Holy Trinity offers an interesting combination of readings, history and theology. The “Detailed Commentary” offers a rich tapestry of the Scriptures that reveal the working of the Holy Trinity in the history of salvation, the way the Early Church Fathers began to explain the revealed truth of this mystery of God, and the way the great iconographers portrayed in all in their works, none more famous Andrei Rublev’s masterpiece. But the idea of the Holy Spirit as the source of Wisdom has deep roots in the Hebrew Scriptures, especially in the Book of Proverbs.
There is a lot to unpack in these readings, so grab your favorite beverage and take some time on the back porch.
Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary
Trinity, Andrei Rublev, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Moscow
The Holy Trinity
The Church distinguishes between theology (theologia) and economy (oikonomia). “Theology” refers to the mystery of God’s inmost life within the Blessed Trinity and “economy” to all the works by which God reveals himself and communicates his life. Through the oikonomia the theologia is revealed to us; but conversely, the theologia illuminates the whole oikonomia. God’s works reveal who he is in himself; the mystery of his inmost being enlightens our understanding of all his works. So it is, analogously, among human persons. A person discloses himself in his actions, and the better we know a person, the better we understand his actions. Want another explanation? Watch the video below!
Two Irish Lads Explain the Trinity
Just for fun…. take a moment to watch this video from Lutheran Satire. The Holy Trinity is a mystery which means it is beyong human words of explanation – not that we don’t give it a try. And those attempts often (techincaly) fall into heresy. Listen as two Irish lads explain the errors of St. Patrick’s explanations.
Corpus Christi, Year C
What We Celebrate
The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, i.e. Corpus Christ, is celebrated each year on the Sunday following Trinity Sunday. While the celebration of Holy Thursday includes a remembrance of the institution of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, it does so in the shadow of the solemn events of Holy Week, including the death of Jesus on Good Friday. The Church has established this solemnity to joyously celebrate the great gift of the Eucharist and to more fully explore its meaning as the “source and summit of the faith.”
Each year on this solemnity the gospel is taken from one of the miraculous feeding of the multitudes. This year the reading is from the Gospel of Luke 9:10-17 when five loaves and two fish become the starting point for feeding more than 5,000 people. There are lessons for the Eucharist as well as Ministry and Mission.
Take a moment and consider these amazing reading from the comfort of your back porch.
Full Text of the Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary – Corpus Christi
Image credit: Pexels CC-0 modified with Canva
The Source and Summit
The Eucharist, as Vatican II famously said, is the source and summit of the Christian life—that from which Christian life comes and that toward which it tends. It’s the alpha and the omega of our Christianity. Our three marvelous readings today bring forth three key aspects of the Eucharist: re-presented sacrifice, blood covenant, and spiritual banquet.