Liberation Lectionary

This week, Jaime and Francisco look at Luke 1:39-55, the gospel reading for this coming Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Advent, year C. This is a well-known, much-beloved passage that includes, after her visit from the Angel Gabriel with his incredible news, Mary rushing to the Judean hill country to share the news with her cousin Elizabeth. There Mary received confirmation from Elizabeth and Mary breaks out in song. Singing about something essential about God's work in the world. "God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty."

In this episode, Francisco and Jaime take a look at the continued story of John the Baptist in Luke 3:7-18. We're still in the desert at the Jordan and John is baptizing folks, urging them to live a kind of life that reflects that their "thinking and perceiving apparatuses" [Brueggemann] have truly changed. The call to change is not a high bar, but it does require everyone to change in some way. Come join the discussion. Let us know what you think. Share with a friend.

In this episode, Francisco and Jaime mine Luke 3:1-6 for nuggets of liberation. It is the Second Sunday of Advent and we make our way from near the end of the story of Jesus in Luke's gospel last week towards the beginning of the story this week. Today's stop is John the Baptizer. He is out in the desert telling folks that they need to get to leveling. The valleys and mountains that John is talking about won't require bulldozers. These will require justice, inclusion, equity, new ways of thinking. Come join the conversation. Share your thoughts in the comments. Share with a friend.

This week Francisco and Jaime were on hiatus for a couple of weeks, but now they're back. Kickin' off the church year with a little apocalyptic. Luke 21:25-36: "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." Wait! Is that from Luke or the front page of the New York Times today? Come and join the conversation and help us find where the liberation is in this passage.

This week Jaime and Francisco explore Mark 12:38-44 where Jesus has entered into the holy city of Jerusalem to make his summary arguments about the priorities of God's kingdom. Today's scene takes place in the temple and Jesus' focus is on the temple treasury and the oppressive expectations placed upon the faithful, especially those who are poor. This is not a reading that highlights the generosity of the poor widow. Rather it is an indictment of a religious/economic system that "feeds" on the poor while playing smoke and mirrors with false piety.

This week, Francisco and Jaime explore Mark 12: 28-34 for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost. Jesus has arrived in the holy city of Jerusalem where all of his life and ministry will crescendo on the cross. Today, to curious scribes, Jesus presents his summary statement. This is what his whole life and ministry and an evolutionary project of re-centering God's concern and perspective had been about. Shema. Love neighbor. You cannot separate the two. Figure it out.

It's the 25th Sunday after Pentecost and Jaime and Francisco explore Mark 10: 46-52. A familiar passage about the kind beggar Bartimaeus. It is a story of contrasts. How does Bartimaeus contrast with both the wealthy land-owner who could give up anything, let alone everything, to following Jesus? Whereas Bartimaeus seems ready to give up everything to be a part of Jesus' "way." Also, how does the response of Bartimaeus contrast with that of the Zebedee brothers when Jesus asks, "What is it that you want me to do for you?"

Those wild Zebedee brothers! This week, Jaime and Francisco look at Mark 10:35-45 for the 21st Sunday after Pentecost. In this gospel passage, the Sons of Thunder, James and John Zebedee jockey for position as Jesus heads to his "glory."Jesus to Boanerges: "Oh, guys, when I was talking about glory earlier, I didn't mean THAT kind of ... oh, nevermind. You'll find out one day."Jesus is not about dominating power like the Romans and other tyrants. Jesus, in his flipped-script version of reality (aka, the reign of God,) is instead about love, justice and the power of nonviolence. If you want to hang with Jesus (pun intended,) and be a leader in his movement, you'll need to get with the way of nonviolence and be ready to serve and suffer with him.

We've been waiting for this one. Mark 10:17-31. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." Word! Don't try to explain it away. Don't conflate God's vision with God's grace. Don't play twister to make everyone feel comfortable. This Gospel calls us. No getting around it. Lean in Don't be afraid!

Divorce!! This is going to be a good one. Francisco and Jaime do not shy away from this reading from Mark 10:2-16 for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost where they dreaded "D" word is brought up. Spoiler alert! It ain't about divorce. Think Jesus instead. What is important to him?

This week, Francisco and Jaime look at Mark 9:38-50. "Whoever is not against us is for us." This was Jesus' response to his disciples who were worried about somebody being Jesus-like but not a card-carrying member of "The Way." Instead of check ID's and affiliations, though, Jesus was more interested in emphasizing the common actions of healing and liberation.And, once again, Jesus is focused on the least of these or the little ones in our midst, those who are invisible, expendable, and forgotten by our society. Last week, it was the little child Jesus took up in his arms who represented these classes of people. Anyone who trips up or causes to stumble these folks is working against the grain of Jesus' purposes. So don't do it or else, Jesus shocks with no small amount of hyperbole.

This week, Francisco and Jaime continue "on the way" with Jesus and the disciples in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 9:30-37. The disciples still ain't getting what Jesus is talking about. Faceplant! Jesus has to sit the whole bunch of them down to explain. I don't know if Jesus gets paid enough for all the work he's doing. Then he took a child and put the child among the disciples. “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." Radical hospitality. Preferential option for the most vulnerable and disempowered. Communing with God. Do you get it now? ... sigh ...

In this latest episode of Liberation Lectionary, Jaime and Francisco explore Mark 8:27-38, the gospel reading for this coming Sunday, the 16th Sunday after Pentecost. In it, Peter puts on his big boy pants and "rebukes" Jesus for telling him and the other disciples that the kind of messiahship Jesus is living into not only looks a lot different than what Peter has in mind, but Jesus' version (a.k.a., the Son of Man or the Human One,) comes with some significant consequences, e.g., great suffering and death. Francisco reminds us that liberation theologian, Jon Sobrino, said that the cross is anything but a metaphor. Uh oh, that could be trouble for a lot of us.

This week, Jaime and Francisco, for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, excavate Mark 7:24-37 in search of the good news of liberation and discuss ways that this passage might intersect with our understanding and celebration of Labor Day. “The woman was a Gentile.” “For saying that … the demon has left your daughter.” “Then looking up to heaven, Jesus sighed.” A few hints at what we get into, hopefully enough to coax you into the conversation.

"I'm not looking for religion. I'm looking for relation." Quoted from Francisco's mom's Book of Wisdom. After having escaped from the Gospel of John, Jaime and Francsico dive back into Mark, Chapter 7, in search of liberation. What they find is Jesus criticizing the religious leaders of his day for putting the external practices of religion ahead of a relationship with God, God's justice, God's inclusiveness, and God's love. This episode is for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost.

This week, Francisco and Jaime look at John 6:56-69, the Gospel reading for 13th Sunday after Pentecost. And, yes, we are still in the sixth chapter of John. Wow! We try to squeeze a little more blood out of this turnip. (That might qualify as an unintended pun.) “Does this teaching (logos) offend you?” Today, Jaime and Francisco discuss how this reading might be a call for us to be offended by the “logos,” a.k.a., Jesus in John's gospel, and offensive to others because we are trying to be like the logos in this world. Come take a listen and let us know what you think.

Bread. Dark bread. Yeasty. The whole-grain type. With real crust. The kind of bread you need to chew, to work at a little, in order to appreciate its deep, deliciousness. The kind of bread that takes a little bit longer for the body to digest, to break down. This is the kind of bread Jesus had in mind as a symbol of his life, as a representation of his mission of justice and love, as a sacrament of his spirit still being present in our lives and in the world.

Francisco and Jaime look at John 6:35, 41-51, the Gospel reading for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost this week. Once again, the gospel scandal is not so much what Jesus does but who he is and where he hails from. ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?' Well, Jesus does say that, and Jaime and Francisco dive in to explore and unpack what Jesus, perhaps, might be getting at.

This week, Francisco and Jaime explore John 6:1-21 (What! Where did Mark go!) for the 9th Sunday after Pentecost. Coming out of COVID (maybe) makes us realize that the true miracle in the feeding of the 5000 just might simply be that a crowd gathered. We're missing the crowds because that's usually where our best work and miracles happen. Come take a listen and let us know what you think.

Rest. Who deserves it? Are sabbaths just for the professional class? Jesus apparently didn't think so. Even when there appears to be an unlimited need, everyone deserves a break. Come join Francisco and Jaime as they explore the gospel passage for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost - Mark 6:30-34, 53-56.

What do Aretas, King of the Nabatæans, Friend of his People, and his daughter, Princess Phasaelis, have to do with the story of John the Baptizer's beheading? What are the consequences of speaking up for truth and justice? Join Francisco and Jaime today as they explore Mark 6:14-29, the gospel reading for the 7th Sunday of Pentecost.

The hometown kid, Jesus, gets dissed by those who think they know him best. This week, Jaime and Francisco play with Mark 6:1-13, the gospel reading for this coming 6th Sunday after Pentecost.

This week, Francisco and Jaime explore Mark 5:21-43 for the 5th Sunday after Pentecost. Two daughters and God's preferential option for the poor.

Jaime and Francisco riff on Mark 4:35-41. We're looking for glimpses of liberation. Jesus invites his disciples to go with him to "the other side." The disciples decide to take Jesus with them, "just as he was." What is Jesus up to? How do these signs and symbols speak to us today?

In this episode, Francisco and Jaime take a look at Mark 4:26-34 for the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost. “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head." God's kingdom is not a meritocracy. Equality, justice, and opportunity are our birthrights. These are aspects of God's kingdom and purposes. We don't have to earn them.

Each week, Francisco and Jaime dive into the lectionary readings in search of the good news of liberation. In this episode, Jaime and Francisco explore Mark 3:20-35 for the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost. "... no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered." Who is the strong man? Who is doing the plundering?

It's the Feast of Pentecost this coming Sunday. Jaime and Francisco explore both John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 and Acts 2:1-21. Who is this "Advocate?" Fire in the belly. Winds that bind. Jesus proves that the world's got all wrong their thinking about sin, righteousness, and judgment. Come take a listen. Leave a comment. Share with friends.

Francisco and Jaime look at John 17:6-19 this week, the gospel assigned for the 7th Sunday of Easter, Year B. Lots of "giving," Paul Ricouer, sanctification = solidarification (just made that word up,) anxiety, choices, and more. Intrigued? Come take a listen. Share with friends. Let us know what you think. Peace.

This week, Jaime and Francisco explore John 15:9-17 for the 6th Sunday of Easter and what Jesus might have been getting at when he instructed his disciples to "Love one another as I have loved you."“The practice of love offers no place of safety. We risk loss, hurt, pain. We risk being acted upon by forces outside our control.” ~ Bell Hooks, All About Love: New Visions

This week, Jaime and Francisco look at John 15:1-8, the gospel reading for the 5th Sunday of Easter, Year B. What does it mean to be connected to the true vine? What is the connect between abiding in Jesus and being in full solidarity with kingdom movement? How does pruning figure in to our spiritual growth?

This week, Francisco and Jaime explore John 10:11-18, a familiar passage for this 4th Sunday of Easter about Jesus' parable of the good shepherd. Wondering together outloud if, perhaps, this beloved image and parable hasn't been sanded down and domesticated over the centuries. Can we recover and lift up the edginess of this passage?

This week, Jaime and Francisco explore the gospel reading for the 3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B - John 24:39b-48. Jesus invites the "Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see ..." They wonder if there isn't in this passage (and others) an invitation for us to approach and feel the wounds of bodies unjustly put to death. Don't just think Jesus. Think Adam Toledo, Daunte Wright, George Floyd. Jesus says that we "are witnesses of these things." Where are the seeds of liberation to be found in such pain and injustice?

Today Francisco and Jaime explore the Gospel passage for the Second Sunday of Easter: John 20:19-31. Not Doubting Thomas but Thomas who yearns for possibility, Thomas who longs for hope, Thomas who wants divine closeness. The Thomas like all of us. Come and help us find the good news of liberation in this passage.

"Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him." This week, Francisco and Jaime explore this Sunday's gospel option from Mark. Looking for Jesus in all the wrong places. He ain't here!

Meet Rev. Canon Jaime Edwards-Acton and Father Francisco Garcia in this introduction to their resonant weekly dialogue celebrating liberation in Christian scripture.