THEOLOGICAL CLUE

The thematic and theological framework of the Christian tends to be rather "thin" by the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany; the manifestation of Jesus to the world and the beginning of his ministry remain, however, to inform the church about Jesus in its worship and work. The readings tend to reinforce the weak signals that are being sent out by the kerygmatic content of the church year, mainly because they have been selected with the theological themes of Epiphany in mind. As also happens in the Pentecost cycle/season, these readings establish the content of Sunday liturgy and preaching, rather than the readings being selected to amplify and/or illustrate the theme of the cycle, season, and/or day. The entire first half of the year is built around the Lectio Selecta method…