In that hour, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who then is the greatest in the realm of the heavens?”
~Matthew 18:1
Translation: the Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney, “A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year A,”


Image: Anonymous. Jesus Welcomes All, Sudan, 21st century; from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt University Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://act.library.vanderbilt.edu/artworks/57406 [retrieved September 1, 2026]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/amyashcraft/13885591354/ - photographer identified as Amy the Nurse.

I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me…”
~John 17:6-8

Image: Christ in Apse - Basilica of Cosmas and Damien, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt University Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://act.library.vanderbilt.edu/artworks/52449 [retrieved August 13, 2026]. Original source: Prof. Lee M. Jefferson, lee.jefferson@centre.edu.

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
~Matthew 16:13-15

Image: Canva, ProLicense

Jacob came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a stairway set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
~Genesis 28:11b-12


Image: Blake, William, 1757-1827. Jacob's Ladder, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt University Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://act.library.vanderbilt.edu/artworks/57425 [retrieved August 12, 2026]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blake_jacobsladder.jpg.

Then Boaz said, “Who are you?” And she said, “I am Ruth, your slave-woman; spread your cloak over your slave-woman, for you are a kin redeemer.” And he said, “May you be blessed by the MOST HIGH my daughter; your most recent act of fidelity is greater than the first; you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. and now, my daughter, fear not; all that you have spoken, I will do for you, for all the assembly of my people know you are a warrior-hearted woman. And now, it is true that I am a kin redeemer, there is a kin redeemer closer than I. Spend the night tonight and when morning comes, if he will redeem you as kin, good; let him redeem you. If he does not want to redeem you as kin, then, as the AGELESS GOD lives, I will redeem you as kin myself. Lie down until the morning.”
~Ruth 3:9-13

Image: James He Qi, Ruth and Naomi, Oil on canvas, used with permission. Copyright 2021, all rights reserved.

But Ruth said, “Do not press me to forsake you or to turn back from following you.
Where you go, I will go,
where you abide, I will abide;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die,
there will I be buried.
May the HOLY ONE OF OLD
do thus and more to me,
if even death parts me from you.”
~Ruth 1:16-18

Image: Kelly Latimore, Ruth and Naomi, Icon, used with permission.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.  ~John 3:16-17, CEB


Image: Rowan and Ilene LeCompte, Beauty of Creation, from the Lewis and Clark window, Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D. C. Photographer Caroline Lena Becker, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57016 [retrieved July 14, 2026]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stained_glass_window_Washington_National_Cathedral_2012_06.JPG.

“You all have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ Yet I say to you all: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of the One in heaven who begot you; for the sun—which belongs to God—rises on the evil and on the good, and God rains on the righteous and on the unrighteous woman or man.”
~Matthew 5:43-45
Translation: The Rev. Dr. Wilda Gafney, from A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year A

Image: Hochhalter, Cara B., Feeding the Multitudes, 2019, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59291 [retrieved May 29, 2026]. Original source: Cara B. Hochhalter.

To each person is given the manifestation of the Spirit for mutual good. ~1 Corinthians 12:7

Image: The Body of Christ, Canva/ P. Raube, 2026

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body. ~1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NRSVUE

Image: Caspel, Johann Georg van, 1870-1928. Vineyard, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57595 [retrieved May 29, 2026]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:W._Hoogstraaten_%26_Co._Fijne_groenten,_Huishoudgroenten_Soepen_en_Sausen.jpg.

German words translated: “W. Hoogstraaten & Co. Fine vegetables, household vegetables, soups and sauces".

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
~Colossians 3:14 NRSVUE

Image: Mosaic from Lullingstone Villa, a 4th century house-church, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54395 [retrieved May 29, 2026]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mharrsch/135554275/.

Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. ~1 Peter 1:13 NRSVUE

Image: Andō, Tadao, 1941-. Interior of the Church of the Light, Ibaraki Kasugaoka Church, Ibaraki, Japan, 1999. From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58956 [retrieved May 29, 2026]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_of_Light.JPG.

Now, one of the biblical scholars came near and heard them [the other biblical scholars, the chief priests, and the elders] discussing with one another, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, the scholar asked Jesus, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Holy One our God, the Holy is one; you shall love the Holy One your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
~Mark 12:28-31
Translation: The Rev. Dr. Wilda Gafney, from A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year W.

Image: Tiffany, Louis Comfort, 1848-1933. View of Oyster Bay, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57751 [retrieved June 12, 2026]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobistraveling/6886465855.

Jesus laid out another parable before the crowd: “The realm of the heavens is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in their field. Indeed it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” ~Matthew 13:31-32
Translation: The Rev. Dr. Wilda Gafney, from A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year A.

Image: Anonymous, Parable of the Mustard Seed, a painted window at the YMCA training center for German leadership in Kassel, Germany. Circa: 2000. Photo by tin.G. From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55890 [retrieved May 29, 2026]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tin-g/90272565.

WOMB OF LIFE, my heart is not lifted up,
nor my eyes exalted;
I do not keep company with things
great and too wondrous for me.
Rather, I have soothed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with her mother;
my soul is like a weaned child within me.
Israel, hope in the WELLSPRING OF LIFE
from now until forever.
~Psalm 131:1-3
Translation: The Rev. Dr. Wilda Gafney, from A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year A.

Image: Joó, Zoltán. Holy Trinity, painted coffered ceiling (Public Art) in the doorway of the Holy Spirit Church, Veresegyház, Hungary. from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57916 [retrieved May 26, 2026]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coffered_ceiling_by_Zolt%C3%A1n_Jo%C3%B3,_Holy_Spirit_Church,_2019_Veresegyh%C3%A1z.jpg.

Image: Isaac Helgeson-Roode, Radial Design, block cut, 2026. Used with permission of the artist.

To the CREATOR OF ALL belongs the earth and all that fills her,
the world, and those who dwell in her.
~Psalm 24:1

Gafney, Wilda . A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church Year A.

The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
    making wise the simple…
~Psalm 19:7

Jesus said to [Martha], “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even though they die, they will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
~John 11:25-26

Gafney, Wilda . A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church Year A.

Image: Vincent Van Gogh, “The Raising of Lazarus” (1890, in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France), Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Public Domain.

The same day [that Jesus taught about taxes] some Sadducees came to him, saying there is no resurrection; and they questioned him…
~Matthew 22:23

Gafney, Wilda . A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church Year A.

James Tissot, 1836-1902. The Pharisees and the Sadducees Come to Tempt Jesus, (1886-1894),Brooklyn Museum, New York City, NY, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59094 [retrieved March 26, 2026]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Pharisees_and_the_Saduccees_Come_to_Tempt_Jesus_(Les_pharisiens_et_les_saduc%C3%A9ens_viennent_pour_tenter_J%C3%A9sus)_-_James_Tissot_-_overall.jpg.

Jesus presented himself to them, living, after his suffering through many convincing proofs, by appearing to them forty days and speaking about the reign of God.
~Acts 1:3

The root of wisdom is to reverence the Holy One,
and her branches are length of days.
~Sirach 1:20

Gafney, Wilda . A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church Year A.

Image: Leonard Nimoy, Shekhina, Photograph, 93-4, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54186 [retrieved March 26, 2026]. Original source: www.RMichelson.com -- courtesy R. Michelson.

And within eight days his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, though the doors were shut, and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you all.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Bring your hand and put it in my side and do not doubt, rather believe.” Thomas answered him, saying, “My Savior and my God!”
~John 20:26-28

Gafney, Wilda . A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church Year A (p. 301). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Image: Thomas Touches Jesus’ Side (Anonymous), 10th Century, Ivory carving, Bode-Museum, Berlin, Germany, http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58937.

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And look! There was a great earthquake, for a messenger of God, descending from heaven, came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. Its appearance was like lightning, and its clothing white as snow. For fear of the messenger, the guards shook and were as though dead. But the messenger responded to the women and said, “Fear not; I know that you all are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, just as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
~Matthew 28:1-6

Gafney, Wilda . A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church Year A (p. 259). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Image: Hildreth M. Meiere, Mosaic of the Resurrection, 1951, Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D. C., detail, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55307 [retrieved January 29, 2026]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurapadgett/2533189887/.

Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
~Matthew 27:11-14, NRSVUE

Image: Lorenzo Lotto, 1480?-1556?. Chris Carrying the Cross, detail, 1526, The Louvre, Paris, France; from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55454 [retrieved January 29, 2026]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lorenzo_Lotto_-_Christ_Carrying_the_Cross_(detail)_-_WGA13694.jpg.

While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and blessing it, he broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. I tell you all, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you all in the realm of my Abba.”
~Matthew 26:26-29

Translation: Gafney, Wilda . A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church Year A (p. 219). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Image: John August Swanson, Last Supper, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56552 [retrieved January 29, 2026]. Original source: Estate of John August Swanson, https://www.johnaugustswanson.com/.

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that were going before him and the one following were shouting, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Holy One!
Hosanna in the highest! ”

~Matthew 21:8-9

Translation: Gafney, Wilda . A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church Year A (p. 186). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Image: Koenig, Peter. Palm Sunday, 20th century, United Kingdom, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58531 [retrieved January 29, 2026]. Original source: Peter Winfried (Canisius) Koenig, https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/.

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten young women took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise…”
~Matthew 25:1-2

Image: Schadow, Friedrich Wilhelm von, 1789-1862. Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, detail, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54277 [retrieved January 29, 2026]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schadow,FW-Die_klugen_und_t%C3%B6richten_Jungfrauen-2.JPG.

Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table.
~Matthew 26:6-7

* Scripture Translation is from A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year A, by Wilda C. Gafney.

Image: Ceballos Fernández, Lázaro A.. La Uncíón, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59864 [retrieved January 29, 2026]. Original source: Beth Maczka, Beth@BethMaczka.com.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same…”
~Matthew 20:1-5

Image: Millet, Jean François, 1814-1875. In the Vineyard, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=50342 [retrieved January 29, 2026]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Millet_-_In_the_Vineyard_-_17.1487_-_Museum_of_Fine_Arts.jpg.

While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his siblings were standing outside, seeking to speak to him. Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your siblings are standing outside, seeking to speak to you.” But to the one who had told him this, Jesus said, “Who is my mother, and who are my siblings?” And pointing his hand to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my siblings! For whoever does the will of my Abba in the heavens is my mother and sister and brother.”
~Matthew

* Scripture Translation is from A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year A, by Wilda C. Gafney.

Image: McGough, Mary Charles. Holy Family, 1988, Duluth, MN, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57944 [retrieved January 23, 2026]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/clairity/14078166867.