Second Sunday of Easter 2026 John 20:19-31 Revd. Neli Miranda The final two chapters of John’s Gospel (20–21) reveal how the first community of disciples lived, understood, and responded to Jesus’ resurrection. Mary Magdalene, Peter, the beloved disciple, and Thomas each embody distinct human paths for responding to and embracing the transformation God brings through the resurrection of Jesus. The first thing we notice in John’s account is that no one in the community expected Jesus’ resurrection. No one had fully understood his earlier announcements. It was the love, devotion, and service of Mary Magdalene—and the other women—that brought the great proclamation of life to the community. For where there is love and service, there is life and light. Mary’s devotion...
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Easter Sunday 2026 John 20:1-18 Rev. Neli Miranda “I have seen the Lord!” Mary Magdalene proclaims on Easter morning. Her proclamation comes after a journey that begins very early, “while it was still dark.” Through these words, the evangelist John evokes not only the hour of the day but also the darkness of Mary’s desolation. Her beloved Rabbi has been brutally executed, and it seems that all hope has come to an end. She has faithfully followed Jesus to the foot of the cross and to the place where he was laid. Now, at dawn, her journey resumes: she comes to complete the burial rituals, to say a final goodbye, and to begin imagining how life might continue without him. In this way, Mary embodies a deeply human experience—the overwhelming grief that follows the loss of a loved one, when consolation is sought through gestures and rituals that help us make sense of absence. ...
Palm Sunday 2026 Mattew chapter 21 & 27 Rev. Neli Miranda In Jesus’ time, the Passover celebration was central to Jewish life. Every year, devout Jewish pilgrims traveled from different regions across the country to Jerusalem to participate in various religious and social activities commemorating their liberation from Egypt, where their ancestors had been enslaved. Under the occupation of the Roman Empire, this feast of freedom also became a powerful symbol of resistance and hope. During Passover, Jerusalem received many people, offering a fertile opportunity for political activism that encouraged the people to seek a new deliverance. This was a tense time; some previo...
Fifth Sunday in Lent 2026 Ezekiel 37, 1-14 & John 11, 1-45 Rev. Neli Miranda As we approach the climax of our Lenten path, the liturgy gifts us with a profound message of Life. Today, we hear the prophet Ezekiel proclaiming, “I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live…” With greater power, Jesus proclaims, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live…” In these readings, we experience an anticipation, a foretaste, of the glorious resurrection of Easter Sunday. During the sixth century BCE, the people of Israel—the kingdom of Judah—endured one of their deepest crises. Jerusalem and the temple had been destroyed, and the king and the people had been deported to Babylon. They were suffering the consequences of the wrong decisions of Judah's monarchy and its leadership, who ...
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany 2026 Mathew 5:13 – 20 Rev. Neli Miranda The Gospel reading for today presents a segment from the cherished passage known as The Sermon on the Mount . It opens with the Beatitudes (Mt 5,3-12), a series of declarations that describe the character and blessed state of those who belong to this Kingdom—the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers. Immediately, Jesus makes two profound declarations about the function and identity of his disciples in the world: “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world”. These are not suggestions or future possibilities but statements of present reality, highlighting the essential roles that his followers are called to play. Jesus’ first metaphor, You are the salt of the earth , would have resonated deeply with his first-century audience. ...
The presentation of Jesus in the temple Luke 2:22 - 40 Rev. Neli Miranda During the past Sundays we have witnessed Jesus’ epiphanies. Today, as we celebrate the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, we pause in the narrative to witness a special celebration, the presentation of Jesus in the temple. Today’s gospel offers us a touching image of Jesus and his parents in the temple, forty days after his birth. Mary and Joseph, a devout family, bring Jesus to the temple to observe the purification customary for a mother and her child following childbirth. According to the law, a woma...
The Second Sunday After the Epiphany 2026 John 1:29-42 Rev. Neli Miranda On January 6, our Christian tradition celebrates the Epiphany. It celebrates the moment God incarnate in a baby was revealed to the world, represented by the magi who worshipped him as king. In the weeks following Epiphany, the liturgy continues this theme, presenting us with key moments that reveal Jesus’s true identity. At his baptism, a voice from heaven declared, “This is my Son, the Beloved.” Today, the Gospel of John gives us another profound epiphany, this time through the powerful testimony of John the Baptist. The Baptist’s ministry had stirred all the people. His call to repentance was so powerful that many wondered if he himself was the Messiah. Yet, John’s greatness is found in his humility. He understood his role perfectly: he was not the light, b...