I am an emeritus professor from Cornell University and was a Commissioned Lay Preacher in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For many years I have followed the Daily Lectionary as printed in the Mission Yearbook of my church. For each day of a two-year cycle, the lectionary lists four psalms and three other scriptural passages--usually one from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. My practice is to copy down a verse or two from one of the psalms and from each of the other three passages. After I have written out all four selections, I reflect upon them, rearrange their order, and incorporate them into a meditation. Sometimes I retain much of the original wording; sometimes all that remains of a selection is an idea that was stimulated when I read the original words. All selections are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. For the Daily Lectionary, see the link below.

Harken to the Call--March 24, 2021

 

Sometimes we cry to you, even wail in pain,

especially if we feel the fate of the fallen. 

Be gracious, then, and answer us.

 

But what of those who do not know you?

How will they call out their despair, 

if no one has ever told them?

 

God, teach us how to know you, 

and harken to you when you speak;

to follow you, sharing you with others.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 5; 147:1-11; 27; 51

Jer. 25:30-38

Rom. 10:14-21

John 10:1-18

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 27:7

Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud,
          be gracious to me and answer me!

 

Jer. 25:36a

Hark! the cry of the shepherds,
          and the wail of the lords of the flock!

 

Rom. 10:14

But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?

 

John 10:4

“…When [the shepherd] has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.  …”  [Jesus, to his critics]


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