Lectionary Reflections

  Theme This year, Christmas Day falls on a Sunday. Our Christmas Day readings remind us of Christ’s eternal nature and God’s ultimate victory. It is a victory that the prophets hoped for and that the psalmists praised. This victory is fully realised in the eternal Christ. The incarnation of Christ was fully realised in Jesus of Nazareth, God’s Son, who revealed God’s glory with love and faithfulness. Scripture Readings Isaiah 52:7-10 - Isaiah declares that it is beautiful when the messenger brings Good News that the God of Israel reigns. The whole earth will see and experience the victory that God has brought. Psalm 98 - An encouragement to sing for joy to the Lord who has claimed victory and will judge the nations of the Earth with justice and fairness. Hebrews 1:1-4 , (5-12) - God used to speak to people through prophets, but now he has spoken through his Son. God’s Son is the exact representation of his being. He now sits at the right hand of God and rules over all cr...

  Christmas (often referred to as Christmastide to distinguish it from Christmas Day) is the second season of the annual Christian Calendar. It is a short (twelve day) season that follows Advent and ends on the Epiphany of the Lord. The famous “twelve days of Christmas” song refers to this season of Christmas that follows Christmas Day. The liturgical colours for the season of Christmas are gold or white. In the secular world, the Christmas/Holiday season is usually celebrated in the weeks leading up to Christmas Day, but in the Christian Calendar, the Christmas season begins on Christmas Day and extends into the first or second week of January, depending on what day of the week Christmas Day falls on. There are usually two additional Sundays in the season of Christmas. However, because Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year, there is only one more Sunday in this Christmas season which also happens to fall on New Years Day. The Revised Common Lectionary provides several other...