Addressing the Weaknesses of the Lectionary

The world is always evil, but as age gives way to age, the spirit of the age chooses different evils to emphasize. Today’s preachers of the Church must bring the Word to bear on today’s evils.

Bible, Historic Lectionary, Culture, PreachingGuest AuthorApril 19, 2024Heath Curtis Comments

Guaranteed Not to Turn Pink!

If the Church’s ancient lectionary were intended to cover as much Scripture as possible, then our fathers who compiled and refined it over more than a millennium must not have been very bright.

Historic LectionaryEvan ScammanJanuary 9, 2024 Comments

Fred Lindemann on “The Feast of the Holy Trinity"

In this week’s Thinking Out Loud (Trinity Sunday), I had asked Fr. Petersen why John 3 had been the appointed Gospel for The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Not having readily available by memory this history of this feast, we embarked upon some sanctified speculation. An astute listener e-mailed me with the following from Fred Lindemann, in volume three of his The Sermon and the Propers:

Bible, Historic Lectionary, PreachingJason BraatenMay 31, 2023Podcast, Thinking Out Loud, Holy TrinityComment

We are beggars, that is true. Kyrie, eleison!

It is the Word of Jesus on His way to the Cross that defends you against those false and misleading voices of doubt and despair. So faith persists in the confidence of His Word, which declares that He is close at hand. And His Cross has taught you to know and believe these two most basic facts: You need Him, who alone is able to help and save you; and He has come for you in divine love.

Historic Lectionary, SermonRick StuckwischFebruary 27, 2022Quinquagesima, SermonComment

Thoughts on Sexagesima

After recording the Thinking Out Loud podcast on Sexagesima with Fr. Petersen, I thought I’d put some words to paper as some more food for thought. If it gets the writing juices flowing great. So use it all. Use some. Or use none of it.

Historic Lectionary, PreachingJason BraatenFebruary 15, 2022Sexagesima, Luke 8:4–15 Comment

Thoughts on Trinity 14

Historic Lectionary, PreachingJason BraatenAugust 31, 2021Trinity 14, Luke 17:11–19Comment

Thoughts on Trinity 13

A lawyer, desiring to justify himself, asked our Lord, “And who is my neighbor.” And our Lord, desiring to justify the lawyer, flipped the question around and asked him, “Which of these three proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”

Historic Lectionary, Preaching, SermonJason BraatenAugust 23, 2021Trinity 13 Comment

Thoughts on Trinity 12

To go along with the new podcast episodes on sermon preparation, I’ve put together some notes (some from my own hand and some from one of Petersen’s sermons on the text) for Trinity 12. Use some, all, or none of it. But maybe it will just get the sermon writing juices flowing.