NEW TESTAMENT: Revelation 21: 1 - 6a (RCL)

Reve 21:1 (NRSV) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away."
5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6 Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.


Colossians 1: 1 - 14 (Can. BAS)

Colo 1:9 (NRSV) For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.


notes

Colossae or Colosse (also known as Chonae or Kona), was an ancient city of Phrygia, on the Lycus, which is a tributary of the Maeander River. It was situated about 12 miles above Laodicea, and near the great road from Ephesus to the Euphrates. The site, located in what is now Anatolia in Turkey, has never been excavated.
As the neighboring cities, Hierapolis and Laodicea, increased in importance, Colosse declined. There were many Jews living there, and a chief article of commerce, for which the place was renowned, was the collossinus, a peculiar wool, probably of a purple color


Letters written by Paul (or written in his name) often begin with his claim to apostleship

A careful reading of the letter reveals the author’s concern. Some Colossian Christians had become very attracted to the ascetical and religious practices of local folk religions. The exact nature of these practices is uncertain though it is clear that they contained a mixture of pagan elements and Jewish ascetical practices, combined with the worship of local and foreign deities. In an attempt to guarantee definitive protection from evil and union with God, they had blended these practices with a form of ‘angel worship.’ What resulted was a religious syncretism in which authentic Christian teachings of the gospel appeared intermingled with pagan and folk religious elements.

“bearing fruit”: For the power of the gospel to achieve results

The Colossians are being asked to endure in the face of an ominous false teaching which threatens them: see 2:8-23: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ

They have not only come to faith in Christ (1:4), but they have also become characterised by love towards "the saints", which may simply mean other Christians, but could mean Jewish Christians in particular. 1:5 emphasises hope. Later we hear that this hope was being unsettled by some who were making it depend on fulfilling certain rites and rules. "Truth" appears twice in this context (1:5 and 1:6) because the intrusion of mistaken ideas is part of what has been unsettling the community. The writer is wanting to say that grace, shown through Christ, is enough.

h/t an montreal.anglican.org and Wikipedia.
BTW Colosse has not yet been excavated.


1 John 3: 1 - 3 (Roman Catholic)

1Joh 3:1 (NRSV) See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.


GOSPEL: John 11: 32 - 44 (RCL)

John 11:32 (NRSV) When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Laz'arus, come out!" 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."


Matthew 5: 1 - 12 (Roman Catholic)

Matt 5:1 (NRSV) When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

notes

Oriental teachers usually sat while teaching

The “mountain” is one of revelation

those who “mourn” include all who undergo life’s hard experiences, crushing disappointments, and bitter losses, and yet in conscious or mute faith turn to God for help.

the word “meek” means more than gentle, humble and trustful towards God even though outward conditions of life are not easy. It is the opposite of the self-centred, brazen attempt to be independent of God. It accepts life under God without complaint or bitterness. While in the psalm “the land” is the Promised Land (though the notions of faith and worship of God are not absent), here the phrase “the earth” (or land) is figurative: the “meek” will enter the Kingdom of God and will know all the privileges of fellowship with God.

h/t montreal.anglican.org/

Some years I have actually skipped church on All Saints Sunday because I have been afraid of hearing the standard horrible sermon on the beatitudes. What do I mean by horrible? "Let's all try to be more meek, shall we?" Or "Jesus is calling us to hunger and thirst for righteousness."
There is nothing wrong with being meek, or hungering and thirsting for righteousness, but Jesus is not exhorting those things in the beatitudes. These sentences are blessings, spoken in the indicative mood, like Walter Cronkite's closing line: "That's the way it is." Look at those verbs: "Blessed are... they shall be." The verbs are present and future indicatives all the way up until the exhortations, "Rejoice and be glad" (Matt 6:12). The words from Jesus are radical precisely because they are not commands, not exhortations, not encouragements to "become blessed." They are, instead, a statement of the world turned upside down, where those who mourn are comforted rather than abandoned or merely pitied, where those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are satisfied, not ignored or shouted down, where the meek inherit the earth rather than being ground into the dust
h/t maryhinkle.typepad.com