The 7th Sunday after Epiphany

 Love Everyone

02/23/35

This week I will be discussing the beginning of the lesson Jesus teaches to a large crowd in the Sermon on the Mount. I will be looking at Luke 6 27 - 38. In this passage Jesus is telling the people who are willing to listen what it takes to live in the kingdom of God. Jesus knows that not everyone who hears him will actually be listening, some of them have gathered only to see his miracles. Many of the people gathered want to be healed in the present world, but are not thinking beyond their immediate needs. While he did heal many of their sicknesses in the moment, this message was about how to live a transformed life that would raise them above just earthly living. However, this message was not about heavenly living after they died, Jesus was telling people how to live in the kingdom of God right then and forever. Living in the kingdom of God centers in our relationship with Him but the primary way that we are able to experience that relationship is by how we treat all the people around us.

You may remember from last week, Jesus opened his message with hyperbole. He created the wide distinction between the rich and the poor, the sick and the healthy. Now that he is moving into the message he drops the exaggerated language but on the first hearing we may want to think he is still speaking in extremes. He spoke to those who will listen and he said to them “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you”. We want to think this is just an attention grabbing statement. Surely Jesus does not expect me to Love someone that hates me, does he? To answer that directly, yes, Jesus is telling those that will listen that we are to love everyone.

To love everyone is a big directive. To understand it we need to understand what Jesus is talking about when he says love. In the Greek language there are many words that get translated to love. The three most common are Eros, Philia, and agape. Eros is romantic love, the love between couples. Philia is the love of deep affection and friendship. It is the love we think about within a family and with our close friends. Agape is the broadest kind of love. It is a selfless love not based on specific relationships or even on the worthiness of the person being loved. It is also not based on a reciprocal relationship of being loved by the other. Agape is a love for the sake of connection with the world around us.

Initially we may thank that agape, being so broad, is somewhat superficial. That is not the case, not with real agape love. While it is offered most broadly, it is also deep and meaningful. Agape comes from a place of inner understanding that the world and every person and thing in it is created by God, and as such, deserves the honor and respect that God deserves. While agape is broad, it is also deep, prompting us to hold a place in our heart and mind for everyone.

Agape is the love that Jesus is directing his hearers to have. Jesus continues by giving examples of how we treat people that we love. He says we bless and pray for them, we take offense from them, we support them and we give to them. All these things we may do freely with our friends and family. A person can not live in a family very long, or even with a close friend, without being hurt by their words or actions. This can be physically hurt but most often it is emotional and spiritual. The love of a friend or family member, philia, will help us endure those hurts. We can overlook them and continue to try and support and help them. It may be our duty to take a little emotional abuse from a hurting child in order to help them recover from their own hurts.

In this passage Jesus states plainly, “if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?” I don’t believe this means that we are willing doormats to those that we are in a relationship with. I think it means that we have an understanding that the pain in others can often lead to actions that create pain in us, and that we choose to endure it, to be merciful to them and help them ease their own pain and maintain the relationship. Jesus continues to give examples of showing love in our filial relationships and says “For even sinners do the same”. This statement is saying that even those who are outside the kingdom of God can be patient with those that they have a shared loving relationship with. These acts alone are not what is required to move beyond the earthly experience to a divine experience living in the kingdom of God.

Jesus uses the word enemy in a broad sense. It may not be a person we are in direct conflict with, although it may be. He is telling us to think of all those outside of our romantic partner and our friends and family as still deserving of our consideration and our mercy. He tells us “do good, lend and expect nothing in return” even to those outside our relationships, even to our enemies. The result of this type of love he tells us is “you will be children of the Most High”. Fellowship in the kingdom of God is the result of our being able to treat the world as God treats them, with mercy.

As he approaches the end of this part of the lesson Jesus says “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” This mercy is shown by compassion and tenderness. It is an active mercy that does more than just recognize and sympathize with those who are hurting, it reaches out to help and to comfort. He challenges  his hearers to not only love as God loves, but to love who God loves, which is every person that he has created.

To have that agape love requires us to first open our hearts, as God’s is open, to His creation. We have to see each person, each creature, as something God has created and placed here with us. We have to respect the divine origin of even the simplest thing and even the most difficult people that we encounter. Once we see things for what they really are, then we may have a chance of loving them the way God loves them. It has to start within ourselves and how we view the world. Even those that we are in direct conflict with are loved by God. Not because of how they are, but simply because they are his creation.

We are called by Jesus to see everything the same way, as a member of God’s family. Seeing those that we disagree with as a child of God can help us show mercy towards the things about them that we disagree with. We can see and relate to the child of God in them and show grace and mercy toward them. That is the journey into the kingdom of God. To love as God loves and as a result to draw closer into our relationship with God. 

Thanks for reading.

David

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You can find this week’s reading here.

The Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

 Hearing God Voice

2/16/25

This week I will be looking at the Gospel passage found in Luke chapter 6 verses 17 - 26. To give the passage a little context, I will be pulling in some of chapter 5 as well. This passage in Luke is a summarized version of the Beatitudes found in the Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew Chapters 5 -7. While Luke gives us an abbreviated version, it still packs a powerful lesson about human nature. Today’s passage is only the introduction to the message. In the passage, we see Jesus calling back to the prophets of old, laying out the path to blessings and curses. This passage is both an encouragement and a warning. While the message is divided into two sides, it has a single focus: to bring us into a relationship with Christ. Jesus takes on a tone that we have seen throughout the history of God’s messengers. From Moses and Joshua to Samuel and Isaiah, we have heard the message of two paths that are available to God’s people. The first path is the one laid out for them to follow and the second, broader path, is any turn to the right or left that leads away from God’s guidance.

Before we look at the passage for today, I want to look back at what has just taken place. In these chapters we see 3 groups of people around Jesus. Chapter 6 focuses on Jesus speaking to the crowd; however, chapter 5 and the beginning of chapter 6 are about the other two groups. In chapter 5 Jesus is traveling about the region teaching, healing and calling disciples to follow him. In chapter 6 verse 12 Luke tells us that Jesus withdraws from the crowd and takes his disciples into the mountains to pray. Here we see the second group--he calls them disciples. These are people who have either been called, like Peter, John and Matthew, as well as others who have chosen to embrace a more intimate relationship with Jesus without directly being called on. This smaller group goes with Jesus to spend a night in prayer. During this night of prayer Luke tells us that from this group Jesus calls out a smaller group of only twelve whom he refers to as apostles. This gives us our three groups.  Jesus speaks to the crowd broadly, he spends time with his followers more intimately, and he calls the closest twelve to be his inner circle.

Now, coming down out of the mountain with his disciples and apostles Luke begins the narrative by noticing the crowd. He points out what they are doing as they press in to be near and hear the words and feel the power of Jesus. The crowd is described as a multitude of people from across the region. They are seeking relief from disease and suffering. They are experiencing a power from Jesus that is unlike any other teacher they have encountered. Jesus can see within the crowd the sick and the poor, as well as the wealthy and strong. He begins to speak to them by first pointing out the distinctions that exist between them. He has encouraging words for those who fall in the first group, but a warning for those in the second. I believe he begins this way because Jesus knows that our struggles can motivate us to seek support from a power greater than ourselves, but our satisfaction with trivial things can rob us of the desire for what is truly meaningful.

In his opening lines Jesus does not talk about what keeps us on the path rather than departing from it, although that is how he spends most of the time after these statements. Instead he talks about the people in the crowd, and the paths that they are on. First, he addresses the hungry and the hurting. He tells them that despite their situation, there is a blessing available to them. He is encouraging them that what they now have is not the end. He is preparing their hearts to hear the rest of his message that they can turn to the path of God’s plan and have the outcome that now seems out of reach. To the second group, the full and satisfied, he gives a warning. He is trying to alert them to the fact that the satisfaction they now have is temporal. That as it fades away they can face all the hardships that they believe they have escaped. I am sure that soon we will continue past this section and hear the teaching that can lead to the freedom of the path God sets for us, but today we are just going to pause here and look deeper into these opening lines.

It is important to understand that Jesus is not predicting the future. He is not declaring that the poor will all become rich or that the rich will all sink into hunger and suffering. He is saying that the poor can have hope and expectations for a different future. Just as the sick are being healed right now, by their action of pressing into the power of Jesus, the poor and hungry can be lifted up by following the path Jesus is going to give them. His words are meant to draw them, and encourage them to hope for a better future. His purpose is to bring hope. Oftentimes, when we are in hard times, we can not see an end. That feeling of hopelessness added to our existing suffering can crush our spirit and prevent us from taking actions that will make life better. Jesus is telling the hungry in the crowd that life can get better, that it will get better, if they hear his words and trust in his power to move them forward.

Similarly, Jesus’ words to the wealthy and happy are not judgment and condemnation. They are warnings. Sometimes, when things are going well, we can assume that they will always go well. We get comfortable and believe we have done enough, or that it is good enough to just continue in our creature comforts. We don’t realize that true joy and true wealth are deeper and greater than the comforts we have. As a result of this we are not aware of the voice of the Spirit in our lives guiding us to follow Christ. Our comfort can be the roadblock to the path that leads to deeper joy in life.

How do I know that these are words of hope and warning and not blanket statements about the future for these groups? The answer lies in chapter 5. One of the disciples that Jesus specifically calls is Matthew. Matthew is a tax collector. After calling Matthew to be a disciple Luke tells us that Jesus joined him at his home for a grand meal. Matthew, like most tax collectors of his time, was wealthy and well fed. He fell very much into the second group in Jesus’ opening statements. But still Jesus called him. What is significant is how Matthew responded. He followed. He joined with Jesus and invited his friends to join as well as they celebrated the presence and power of Jesus. 

Next we see Jesus with his disciples, including Matthew, go out into the mountain to pray. Matthew, wealthy as he already was, saw the power of Jesus and knew there was greater joy to be found. While at prayer Jesus calls his central twelve and in that smallest group we find Matthew. Jesus did not cast him out because of his wealth. He called him as a follower and then selected him into his foundational team not because he was rich or poor, but because he was responsive.

No condition or circumstance puts us outside of the power of the Holy Spirit moving in our lives, just as no circumstance guarantees we will follow Jesus. The difference maker is the perspective we have about our situation, and most importantly how we respond to the Spirit. Regardless of our past or present situations, the Spirit is at work around us. We can miss it because we are drowning in hopelessness as easily as we can miss it because we are distracted by our earthly blessings. Jesus is trying to get our attention by bringing hope as well as warnings before he begins his teaching. Our responsibility is to not be controlled by either, but to ensure we are not held down by our struggles or blinded by our successes, instead always looking to the Spirit. God will not likely stand on a hilltop and give us lessons on how to live, but his Spirit is continuously speaking to us. Our responsibility is to listen. Our opportunity is to hear and partner with him, and that is how we know we are on his path. Jesus promises the best for those who listen and follow his teachings, but before we can follow, we have to hear them. We have to be aware of how God is at work around us, and we have to be able to move, as best we can at that moment, in the direction that he points us.

Thanks for reading.

David

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You can find this week’s reading here.

The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

 The Calling of Prophets

02/09/25

This week is the fifth Sunday after Epiphany. I will be looking at the calling of two prophets. I want to start off by discussing what it means to be a prophet. The first thought that comes to mind when someone is said to be a prophet is that they have spoken about future events. Prophets are often thought of as foretellers of the future. But that is not always the case. A prophet is a messenger. It may be a grand prognostication about future events, but it may be a communication of facts or spiritual instructions that are directly applicable to our daily lives. I like to use the phrase foretelling vs forthtelling, or telling something forward to the audience that is listening. 

With that definition of prophet in mind we are going to look at both a New Testament and Old Testament prophet today. From our reading, we will be in Isaiah and Luke, looking specifically at early contact between the Holy Spirit and Isaiah and Peter as they are called into prophetic service for God. In both cases we see the men share a similar response to the experience.  Isaiah is recorded to say “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, … yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Peter’s response is similar, he exclaims “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” Both men begin their response to God by declaring their unworthiness. Both men also responded with a risk taking act of faith, despite their feelings of unworthiness. The journey from feeling unworthy to living a life of purpose is fueled by risk taking obedience, revealing that worth is found in the surrender to a higher calling despite your limitations and imperfections.

Isaiah’s call to be a messenger for God is found in Isaiah chapter 6. It starts with a magnificent vision of God sitting on his throne. God is surrounded by angels each with six wings. They are singing continuous praises to God. The passage tells us that the thresholds of the house shook and the house filled with smoke. It was to this experience that Isaiah responds by declaring his unworthiness. In response to this declaration, one of the angels approaches the altar and picks up a red hot coal with a pair of tongs. It then approaches Isaiah with the burning coal and reaches to touch it to his lips. It is to this act that Isaiah must now decide how he will respond. Will he stand before the angel and allow him to press this burning coal into his face, or will he turn away. He has to choose in a second. He chooses to stand.

The angel then says to Isaiah, “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” This is well and good for Isaiah. The angel of the Lord has burned away his guilt and he is apparently still able to speak. Now the Lord speaks. He is looking for a messenger that will go forth on his behalf to the people. Isaiah, with freshly cleansed lips and spirit, replies to God “Here am I, send me!” Did that one moment remove all of Isaiah's self-doubt? Probably not, but it did give him the courage to continue to respond to God. God then goes into detail about the message that Isaiah is to take to the people, and it is not an easy one. However, strengthened by this encounter with God, Isaiah continues to stand and agrees to go forward to be God’s voice to the people. He becomes a great prophet telling about the hard times ahead as well as about the future restoration that is promised. There is much we can learn from the message brought to Israel by Isaiah the prophet.

I don’t think there are many who would argue against Isaiah’s status as a prophet. That may not be the case for our second individual. Now I am turning to Luke chapter 5 and we will see a similar experience taking place for Peter. However, this experience does not happen in a vision. There is no fire and smoke, no Lord sitting on a throne surrounded by angels. Peter is sitting in his boat with his brother, mending his nets after a long and fruitless night on the water. Jesus approached, being pressed in by a crowd wanting to hear him speak. Jesus climbs into Peter’s boat and asks him to push out into the water so that he can speak to the crowd. Peter obeys, but this act does not require radical obedience. He is cleaning his nets, and that can be done at the shore line, or pushed out a little into the water. 

Peter was apparently happy to help this traveling preacher, one that he may have been introduced to but was not yet familiar with. He continues to work and listen as Jesus speaks to the people. Once Jesus is done speaking he turns to Peter with a request, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” On this surface this may not seem like much of a request then to push out from the shore. That is not the case. Peter and his partners had spent the night fishing. They had already completed the morning work of cleaning and mending the nets, after having no catch. Now it was time to rest. The next day's trip would be around soon and dropping the nets into the water, probably for another fruitless catch, would mean the mending and cleaning process would have to start over. Peter, after having heard the message of Jesus replies, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” This is Peter’s burning coal moment. Instead of facing a fire in his personal vision, Peter faces a possible failed public attempt at a catch, resulting in more work for him and his partner. Just like Isaiah, Peter submits to the experience. We need to take a minute to ask why. Peter was not having a heavenly vision of smoke and singing angels. Peter was sitting in a boat hearing a man give a message to the crowd. But something let Peter understand the significance of the experience. He begins his reply by calling Jesus master. The Spirit of God was at work in Jesus in such a way that Peter knew the power of the moment, and the authority of the man who was speaking to him.

Peter drops his nets. His brother may have looked at him suspiciously at first thinking about the work they had already completed and would have to repeat. However, the nets did not come back empty. As they tried to pull the net up, it began to tear and they had to call the other boat to come assist them. As they pulled the nets up into two boats they began to sink due to the weight of the fish. The Spirit continued to move on Peter and this is where he gives his confession of unworthiness. Overwhelmed by the power on display in Jesus, Peter wants to be left alone.

Jesus responds by telling them not to be afraid. He invites them to join him, and tells them that if they do they will no longer be fishermen, but would instead catch people. Just as Isaiah was called to speak to the people of his generation, Peter was called to be a messenger to his. We may ask, does that really make Peter a prophet? If we look ahead in his life we see again and again that he brings the message of Jesus to the people. He makes clear the mission that Jesus had given him. Peter was more than just one of 12 who followed Jesus for three years. Peter was a bold spokesman for Jesus. He declared his faith in Jesus boldly when even other disciples were being challenged by Jesus’ messages. More importantly, when the time came, Peter stood boldly in the public square and declared Jesus to be the Messiah.

These two prophets had very different experiences. One had a profound, heavenly vision, while the other simply allowed a man to use his boat. Both of these men were impacted by the Spirit of God in such a way that these experiences changed their lives. Both men knew they were sinful and unworthy of such a divine experience with God. Both men were put to a test that required them to take a risk, and both chose to obey. Both decided that risk taking obedience was the only way to respond to the Spirit of God in their presence. The result for both men was life changing.

Will you or I have a vision of angels praising God, and hear his voice? Will we have the opportunity to let the Son of God get into our car and ride around declaring his message? Probably not, but in what ways has the Spirit of God been present in our lives? More importantly, how have we responded?

Those are two important questions, but they are not the most important questions for us to consider. What is more important, perhaps far more important than what has been, is what will be. Every day we have opportunities to encounter the Spirit of God. We do not have to be pulled away into a heavenly vision, and we probably never will be. We live on the earth that God created, full of the people that God loves. It is in this place, with those people, that we are mostly likely to experience the Spirit of God. The Spirit can move in the most mundane of circumstances. When that happens we are likely to be overwhelmed. We are likely to feel unworthy of the experience. But will we look past that feeling and be obedient anyway?

A life of purpose does not mean we have a life that looks like Isaiah’s or that we are speaking to crowds like Peter. We each have a purpose that is specific for our time and our talents. We are called to serve God in a way that is appropriate for us. We may change the world, or we may just touch one individual life. We may even act in obedience and not see a single thing change. But if we decide not to act, then nothing can happen. Are you open to hearing the Spirit in your life, and then acting in obedience? The journey starts, and continues, with each step we take in response to the Spirit.

Thanks for reading.

David

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You can find this week’s reading here.

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The presentation of Jesus

 The Spirit of God

2/2/25

This week in the Liturgy we are celebrating the presentation of Jesus at the temple following his birth. This trip to the temple in Jerusalem was a significant moment in the life of a young Jewish family. However, this particular presentation, of this child, was more significant than any other. Jesus was not just a newly born child, he was the fulfillment of a promise. The Holy Spirit was the power behind that promise. Today we will look at how the Spirit was at work in the lives of people before Jesus’ birth, and we get a view of how that will change as a result of Jesus’ life.

While we can say this in grand terms, Jesus being the promised Messiah to the Jewish faith, it was also the fulfilment of smaller promises to specific people. Today we are reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2:22-40. While Jesus is present, we are going to focus on some of the other people at the temple that day. And while God was present, in the incarnation of the Word, Jesus, we are going to be talking more about the Holy Spirit today. We are also going to take a closer look at the Old Testament passage for today, Malachi chapter 3:1-4.

I noticed right away when reading the passages for this week that we had just read Malachi 3:1-4 not long ago. It had been one of the Old Testament options on the second Sunday of Advent. In a liturgy designed to expose us to a majority of the scripture over the course of a year, it seems a little odd that this passage was being repeated so soon. I think this passage gives us great insight into the events that happened at the temple that day. 

When I talked about this passage the second week of Advent, I drew a line from the messenger in the passage to John the Baptist. I implied that John came to prepare a way that was described in this passage. This time we are going to take another look at the messenger.  The full passage reads:

Malachi 3:1-4

1See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; 3he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

I still believe that reading this passage as a glimpse at the future ministry of John is valid. I think it is also a clear message about the Ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is the true, and eternal messenger, sent to all mankind. He has been in the world, preparing the way, since the moment of creation. So today, we are going to step back from a prophetic viewing of this scripture. We are not going to think about who it may have been pointing to in the distant future, but about what it has to say about the Holy Spirit. And then we are going to see how that ties into today’s Gospel reading.

The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, has been the present and moving force in the universe. When God spoke the world into creation Genesis tells us the Spirit was moving over the earth. When God was ready to get Moses' attention he sent the Spirit to appear before him in a burning bush that was not consumed by the fire. A burning fire is also part of the description we have here. The messenger came like a refiner’s fire. A fire with the singular purpose of burning away the dross to produce pure gold or silver. The fire is not to destroy what is valuable, but to refine it. Similarly the Spirit of God does not come to destroy the wicked, but to refine them, if they are willing.

The result of this refining is to make the recipient pure, to prepare then to make offerings to God in righteousness. The sidebar here is that God does not need our offering. He is not sending the refiner to create someone who can make an offering to him, because he needs something. God wants our offering, because God is willing to accept our fellowship. He does not need it, therefore he does not want it, in the way we want things. He will accept it and accept us into his favor, but in order for our offering to be the doorway to fellowship, it must be offered in righteousness. God is not looking to trade his favor for our trinkets. He is offering his fellowship, but only if we seek it wholeheartedly. To do that we must come before Him as best we can. That is the message, and ministry, of the Holy Spirit in the lives of people. He is here to help us prepare to make a sacrifice that is “pleasing to the Lord as in days of old.”

So, what does this have to do with our Gospel passage? After telling us that Mary and Jesus have arrived at the temple for their purification, Luke pauses to tell us about two people they meet on their way in.

First we meet Simeon. Luke tells us straight away, “this man was righteous and devout” and says the Holy Spirit “rested on him.” It does not tell us why Simeon is devout, only that he is. It does tell us that the Holy Spirit rests on him. This is how the Old Testament speaks about the Spirit. He visited, spoke to, and rested on those whom God shared fellowship with. So the Messenger of God has been with Simeon, has prepared him to be righteous, and has even made him a promise. He promised Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. A personal, specific promise that resulted from the fellowship shared between God and Simeon, a fellowship empowered by the Spirit.

As the family approaches Simeon steps out and takes the child. He declares him to be Messiah, and to be the fulfillment of the personal promise of God to Him. He blesses the family and passes Jesus back to his mother and father who were amazed.

While they were still processing this event Anna, a prophet, approached them in much the same way. The passage does not tell us directly the Spirit of God rested on her. However, by calling her a prophet it was certainly implied. Unlike Simeon, who was said to be righteous with no explanation about his life, Luke tells us something about Anna. Anna is an 84 year old woman, who was widowed after just seven years of marriage. That means that likely some time in her 20’s Anna’s husband dies. The passage then tells us that as a widow Anna never left the temple. It says she spent her days and nights in the temple in worship of God through fasting and prayer. Fasting and prayer was a way the Fuller’s soap was used by the messenger in Malachi. 

Both Anna and Simeon had a special relationship, a fellowship, with God. A fellowship that came from their continued offerings, in righteousness, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Not only did they know the Messiah was coming, when Jesus approached the temple, they were certain he had arrived. This certainty, at the sight of a simple babe in arms, can only be through the Spirit of God.

So today we have seen the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit. It informed them. It even rested on Simeon. However this is different from the relationship that Jesus made possible for us. Jesus told us he would send the Spirit to live in us. Through his choice to come down as God Incarnate in the form of man he closed the gap that had formed. No longer did the messenger come just to rest on us and refine us from without– no, he has come to indwell us. We are filled with the Spirit unlike the generations that came before us, because Jesus, the final messenger, has created for us the righteousness that is required to make an offering that creates with God.

We have seen the messenger arrive at the temple. We have heard his message and witnessed the result in the lives of Simeon and Anna. We are invited into fellowship so close with God that he no longer rests upon us, but lives in us. We are called to be the church and walk out that fellowship each day. We have the opportunity to look at ourselves and notice if there are impurities that are impacting our fellowship. But most importantly, we have direct access with the refiner that can take away those impurities and make us worthy of the fellowship.

Thanks for reading.

David

Want to know why I am writing these articles? Look here.

You can find this week’s reading Here.