Proper 16.A.20
Exodus 1:8-2:10
The Rev. Melanie McCarley
Poet, author and activist, Maya Angelou once wrote: “We are braver and wiser because they existed, those strong women and strong men… We are who we are because they were who they were. It’s wise to know where you come from…”
There are a number of strong women in the story of Moses found this morning in our Old Testament lesson. Their story is worth telling.
Proper 13.A.20
Genesis 32:22-32
The Rev. Melanie McCarley
Jacob was a heel. No…really, he was. In truth, that’s what the name Jacob means. The root of the Hebrew name “Jacob” means to “supplant, circumvent, assail and overreach.” It also means “heel.” What’s more, remember that Jacob was born grasping the heel of his brother Esau. Jacob was a heel.
Proper 12.A.20
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
The Rev. Melanie McCarley
Today’s lesson is chock full of parables. Five of them, in fact: The mustard seed, leaven in a loaf, treasure in a field, the pearl of great P andRICE a dragnet of the good and bad.
But look closely, and we can discern a similarity amongst several of these stories as well. Jesus, here, is teaching us one of the most remarkable truths that comes from the Gospel—he’s speaking of the hiddenness of the kingdom of God, and encouraging us to search for this mystery and make it our own.