This Sunday we begin our Bible Study on the Gospel of Luke. We are currently in Year C of the Eucharistic lectionary, when the majority of the Gospel readings at the Sunday masses are taken from Luke. This will continue for October and November, and then when Advent begins at the end of the year, we will begin Year A, the year of Matthew’s Gospel.
Our first Bible study gathering is in person this Sunday beginning at 1:00 pm in the Parish Hall. Lunch will be available, and we will be exploring the portions of Luke that we will be hearing at the upcoming Sunday masses. Besides understanding the historical background of the passages, we will also focus on what makes each passage relevant for us today. Particularly, if you were to preach a homily on a selected passage, what do you think the people of St. Mark’s, as well as the wider community, need to hear?
These past two weeks I have been in Thessaloniki and Rome. While in Thessaloniki I attended a conference celebrating the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed, and while in Rome I spent time exploring the places and sites that our parish pilgrimage will visit next Eastertide. While in Rome, I attended the Wednesday Papal Audience at St. Peter’s with Pope Leo XIV. (You can view these Wednesday audiences via the Vatican’s YouTube channel.)
It is quite amazing that thousands of people gather each Wednesday to hear Pope Leo teach on a selected Bible passage. The Bible passage is proclaimed in a multiplicity of languages, representing the immense diversity of the church, and then the Pope offers a brief teaching on the passage. The audience ends with a blessing and the Lord’s Prayer sung in Latin, a language common to all of us. It is so popular that people start lining up to pass through security early in the morning.
Our parish Bible Study attendance will certainly be more modest. Nevertheless, we begin this Sunday in person, and then we continue on Tuesday nights online via Zoom. No preparation is required to participate. I am looking forward to the insights of all who come as I continue to prepare the Sunday homilies for the next couple of months.
Father Paul Lillie +
