NEW TESTAMENT: Colossians 2: 6 - 15 (16 - 19) (RCL)
Colossians 2: 6 - 15 (Can. BAS)
Colossians 2: 12 - 14 (Roman Catholic)

Colo 2:6 (NRSV) As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8 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. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; 12 when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.
16 Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. 17 These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.

h/t montreal anglicans
From this letter, we know that Christians at Colossae, an industrial city, were subject to influences from other religions: some tried to synthesize Christianity with them. Our reading gives us an idea of notions they tended to adopt. Vv. 6-7 advise them to remain true to the gospel as they received it – in continuity with tradition. Vv. 8-13 warn against false teachings: “be on your guard” (Revised English Bible) that you not be made “captive” (and carried off) by any of these errant beliefs (“philosophy ...”) which are of “human” (not divine) origin: they see “elemental spirits” (spirits thought to infuse the four basic elements of the world) and cosmic (angelic) powers (“ruler and authority”, v. 10) as controlling the universe for God. The whole of God is found in Christ, without such intermediaries! (v. 9). (“Bodily” may mean:
• corporately: in the Church;
• incarnate: in bodily form; or
• actually: not only in appearance.
) Christians have full access to God’s power; he is superior to (and over) these spirits and angels.
Vv. 11-12 speak of “baptism” as “spiritual circumcision”. (The “body of the flesh” is probably human weakness.) Baptism introduces us to sharing in Christ’s suffering and death (“buried with him”, v. 12); through it, we are already exalted with Christ (although our appearance with him in glory will come later). Before baptism, the Colossian Christians were alienated from God (“dead”, v. 13), mired in sin; now they are “alive”: for God (in love) forgave their sins. In effect, he cancelled the legal note of debt (v. 14a); Christ took this note on himself. V. 15 continues the military image begun with “captive” in v. 8: Christ leads the triumphal parade, followed by the subjugated angels who are on public display (perhaps in chains).

A reading of Augustine's City of God would help any reader understand that what the author is concerned with here is the Colossians' angelolatry and the elemental spirits; for Augustine discusses thoroughly the Platonist idea that God had made lesser gods to create and maintain the earth, and to act as mediators between God and humanity.
Augustine argues that the angels' nature depends on God just as much as humanity's does. For the author, the cosmic Christ is more than just the world-soul (which was another teaching of Platonism), but God himself through, by, and in whom God created everything. It's very complex. The author keeps warning his readers away from “philosophy” (v. 8), but you really have to know some philosophy to understand him here!
I think the problem the author may have perceived (as Augustine did several centuries later) is that Platonism was so close in many ways to Christianity, and in many ways so attractive, that it was all too easy to let Platonist assumptions creep unexamined into Christian faith. The author has to walk the thin line between the influences of Judaism and Platonism, obviously not easy for his readers! References to the bodily image of God that Jesus is may also be inserted as a way of pulling the Colossians back from Platonic notions that the body was inherently evil. The incarnate Christ leads the disembodied elemental spirits captive. [Abbott Conway]
Verse 6: “received”: The Greek word, paralambano, is used of teaching in Galatians 1:9; Philippians 4:9; 1 Corinthians 11:23. It is a technical term for receiving a tradition. [NJBC]
Verse 6: “Christ Jesus the Lord”: This phrase is found only here and in Ephesians 3:11. [JBC]


GOSPEL: Luke 11: 1 - 13 (all)

Luke 11:1 (NRSV) He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." 2 He said to them, "When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial."
5 And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.' 7 And he answers from within, "Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
9 "So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"



Then and now, a religious community has a distinctive way of praying; ours is exemplified by the Lord’s Prayer. In 5:33, Pharisees and scribes have noted that followers of John the Baptist “frequently fast and pray”; now Christians have their own prayer. Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer is shorter than Matthew’s (which we use). We approach God in a personal way, as “Father” (v. 2). His “name” is more than just a name: we pray that all may give respect due to him, so all may see his love. “Your kingdom come” looks forward to the Kingdom, where all barriers – of wealth, sex and ritual cleanness – will no longer exist. Of the five petitions, the last two seek filling of our needs. “Bread” (v. 3) is what we need to live; it is God’s gift to us. We share it with all, especially in the Eucharist. “Daily” here means day after day. The “time of trial” (v. 4) is the final onslaught of evil forces, before Christ comes again; it is also the temptations which assail us day-by-day. In vv. 5ff, Jesus tells two stories: even one who is asleep with his family responds “because of ... persistence” to a neighbour in need; a parent provides for a child. Even these people, separated from God, respond to the needs of others. How much more so will God respond to our prayers for help, through the Holy Spirit.


Each of the clauses found in Matthew but not in the commonly accepted Lucan text is found in some manuscripts of Luke.
Matthew’s form is closer to Jewish prayers, and Luke’s to other Christian prayers. The Lord’s Prayer is probably based on Jewish prayers. [JBC]
The doxology For the kingdom, ... (For thine is the kingdom... ) was added in the early Church. It is based on David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:11-13: “Yours, O LORD, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name.”. It is found in some early manuscripts of Luke.
Verse 2: “Father”: God as a caring, provident, gracious and loving parent. In 10:21, we read “... Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father ...’”. In 22:42, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus prays: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done”. Jesus also addresses God as “Father” in 23:34, 46. [NJBC]
Verse 2: “hallowed”: The verb, in the aorist passive tense, gives a once-for-all aspect to the petition; hence it is an eschatological motif. [JBC]
Verse 3: “Give us each day our daily bread”: Throughout the gospels, the giving of bread has a eucharistic meaning. See also 9:17 (the Feeding of the Five Thousand). This is a petition for daily physical and moral renewal. [JBC]
Verse 4: “forgive”: In Mark 11:25, Jesus instructs his disciples: “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses”. See also Matthew 18:35 (the fate of those who do not forgive, in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant). [CAB]
Verse 4: “And do not bring us ...”: 2 Thessalonians 3:3 says: “... the Lord will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one”. See also James 1:13.
Verse 4: “trial”: Temptation is another translation. In Luke, it is always bad; it never has the effect of strengthening. [NJBC]
Verse 7: “the door has already been locked”: A door was barricaded with a large wooden or iron bar, which would be tiresome and noisy to remove. [JBC]
Verse 7: “my children are with me in bed”: In a one-room Palestinian house, the whole family slept on a mat in the raised part of the room. [JBC]
Verse 7: “I cannot get up”: i.e. I won’t! [JBC]