The Word Among Us, Year B, Vol. 3: Reflections on the Readings of the Revised Common Lectionary

A.J. Pell is rector of Christ Church in Hope, B.C., and a lecturer in
the Anglican Studies Programme at Regent College in Vancouver.

Volume 3 completes Herbert O’Driscoll’s The Word Among Us series of
reflections not just on Year B, but the whole three-year Sunday cycle of
the Revised Common Lectionary. Here the readings for the final third of
the liturgical year (late May to late November) are dealt with in his
usual pattern of “Weavings,” identifying the theme for each
Sunday’s readings, followed by “Reflections” on each reading.

Pentecost, the season celebrating the Holy Spirit’s active presence
in the church, is the season for the whole book. There are brief flashes
of inspiration, such as a sentence on Psalm 20 offering hope in life’s
struggles for the followers of the victorious divine king or a quick
observation that too much comfort in one’s home congregation can sap
one’s spiritual energy. But the concluding “Reflection,” on John
18:33–37 (the gospel for the Sunday of the Reign of Christ) leaves us
with Jesus “bringing spiritual truth to the world,” thereby bringing
a nebulous set of ideas rather than dynamic life-changing redemption.
This ending symbolizes the volume as a whole—the Gospel power reduced
to an inoffensive encounter with God.