Reflecting on the tenth Sunday in ordinary time (part 1).

Where we have come from (readings for Sunday Jun 9):

1 Kings 17.17-24

Psalm 30

Galatians 1:11-24

Luke 7:11-17

Readings for today:

Psalm 68:1-10, 19-20

Genesis 22:1-14 

Galatians 2:1-10

Brief thoughts for today:

The first part of psalm 68 continues with a strong theme from Sunday, God's care for the most vulnerable. We could talk all day about the story from Genesis which nearly leads to another mother, widow or not, who loses her son. But whether we can truly relate to what is going on in the story there is no doubt that Abraham's sense of call is high indeed. And so is Paul's. The lectionary over the last two and the next few weeks takes us through his letter to the churches of Galatia. This is the most biographical of all his letters. After hearing of his call yesterday we now learn more about what happened next. It must be acknowledged that it is hard to marry Galatians chapter 1 and 2 with Luke's narrative in Acts. Much scholarly ink has been spilled trying to do so. Perhaps, 'beyond the veil,' we will see how it all fits together but for the time being we must choose whether we will take Paul or Luke's outline as primary - or else stop worrying about the apparent inconsistencies. The key point for us today perhaps is the balance to be struck between our sense of call in a personal experience of God and the discernment of the whole Christian Community.

Revised Common Lectionary copyright © 1992 Consultation on Common Texts. Used by permission.