Meet Our Clergy
The Rev. Kelly Kirby
Rector
The Rev. Suzanne Barrow
Dir. Congregational Life
The Rev. Jan Scholtz
Deacon
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The Fight between Carnival and Lent (1559), detail from an oil painting on panel by Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
The Temptation of Christ (1854), painting by Ary Scheffer (1795-1858). Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, England.
Read the Illuminations
Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026
First Reading: Joel 2:1-2,12-17
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Traditionally a time of penitence and sacrifice, the 40 days of Lent invite us to perform acts of devotion and sacrifice as we reflect on the wrongs that we have done, and recognize the simple truth that we will not live forever. We begin with a reading from Joel, one of the minor prophets. The book that bears his name is only three chapters long, likely written after the people returned to Jerusalem from their exile in Babylon. Much of the short book deals with the people’s prayerful response to a plague of locusts, and in that setting, this reading offers a look back at an ancient time of penitence and sacrifice.
Alternate First Reading: Isaiah 58:1-12
This Ash Wednesday reading draws from a portion of Isaiah that we heard just a few weeks ago. The prophet, addressing the people returning from exile, makes clear that public demonstrations of fasting and prayer, sackcloth and ashes, are not sufficient to please God unless the people also demonstrate righteousness through service and love of neighbor. In language that might have informed both Jesus and his mother, Mary, the prophet reminds the people to oppose injustice: free the oppressed, feed the hungry, house the homeless, and clothe the naked.
Psalm: Psalm 103:8-14
This portion of Psalm 103 resonated with Ash Wednesday: God made us all from dust. God knows well that we are all only dust. We are human: broken and sinful, often wicked. Yet God’s compassion and mercy vastly exceed God’s anger. God does not punish us as we might fear that our sins deserve, the Psalmist assures us; rather, God shows mercy wider than the world itself, forgiving our sins and welcoming us in a parent’s warm embrace.
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Throughout much of his second letter to the people of Corinth, Paul attempts to work out an ongoing quarrel among the people of this contentious little church. In these verses, he speaks of reconciliation. He lists the pain and suffering that he has endured as a servant of God, from beatings and imprisonment to sleepless nights and hunger. Accept God’s grace and work together in Christ, he urges the people, as Christ reconciled us with God by taking human form and dying for us.
Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6,16-21
This Gospel passage from Matthew seems ideally suited to the arrival of Lent: Jesus, midway through Matthew’s extended account of the Sermon on the Mount, teaches the crowd how best to practice almsgiving, prayer, fasting, and self-denial of worldly pleasures. These all have become traditional Lenten practices. In words that might remind us of the Isaiah reading we have just heard, Jesus urges the people to pray with humility: Shun hypocrisy. Don’t show off. Keep your charity, your prayers, and your fasting to yourself. Don’t brag about your fast. Don’t hoard fragile, transient earthly riches, but store in heaven the treasures that last.
First Reading: Joel 2:1-2,12-17
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Traditionally a time of penitence and sacrifice, the 40 days of Lent invite us to perform acts of devotion and sacrifice as we reflect on the wrongs that we have done, and recognize the simple truth that we will not live forever. We begin with a reading from Joel, one of the minor prophets. The book that bears his name is only three chapters long, likely written after the people returned to Jerusalem from their exile in Babylon. Much of the short book deals with the people’s prayerful response to a plague of locusts, and in that setting, this reading offers a look back at an ancient time of penitence and sacrifice.
Alternate First Reading: Isaiah 58:1-12
This Ash Wednesday reading draws from a portion of Isaiah that we heard just a few weeks ago. The prophet, addressing the people returning from exile, makes clear that public demonstrations of fasting and prayer, sackcloth and ashes, are not sufficient to please God unless the people also demonstrate righteousness through service and love of neighbor. In language that might have informed both Jesus and his mother, Mary, the prophet reminds the people to oppose injustice: free the oppressed, feed the hungry, house the homeless, and clothe the naked.
Psalm: Psalm 103:8-14
This portion of Psalm 103 resonated with Ash Wednesday: God made us all from dust. God knows well that we are all only dust. We are human: broken and sinful, often wicked. Yet God’s compassion and mercy vastly exceed God’s anger. God does not punish us as we might fear that our sins deserve, the Psalmist assures us; rather, God shows mercy wider than the world itself, forgiving our sins and welcoming us in a parent’s warm embrace.
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Throughout much of his second letter to the people of Corinth, Paul attempts to work out an ongoing quarrel among the people of this contentious little church. In these verses, he speaks of reconciliation. He lists the pain and suffering that he has endured as a servant of God, from beatings and imprisonment to sleepless nights and hunger. Accept God’s grace and work together in Christ, he urges the people, as Christ reconciled us with God by taking human form and dying for us.
Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6,16-21
This Gospel passage from Matthew seems ideally suited to the arrival of Lent: Jesus, midway through Matthew’s extended account of the Sermon on the Mount, teaches the crowd how best to practice almsgiving, prayer, fasting, and self-denial of worldly pleasures. These all have become traditional Lenten practices. In words that might remind us of the Isaiah reading we have just heard, Jesus urges the people to pray with humility: Shun hypocrisy. Don’t show off. Keep your charity, your prayers, and your fasting to yourself. Don’t brag about your fast. Don’t hoard fragile, transient earthly riches, but store in heaven the treasures that last.
Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Lent 1, Sunday, February 22, 2026
First Reading: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Sunday’s readings begin the penitential season of Lent with a scriptural grounding in the theology of temptation and sin. Our first reading draws from the second creation legend in Genesis: Eve and Adam are tempted, give in, and eat the fruit that God had told them not to touch. Not even God’s warning that the fruit would bring death was strong enough to block the overpowering temptation that came with the crafty serpent’s promise: Godlike knowledge of good and evil? Yes, please! Temptation can be powerful, but so is the shame that comes with realizing that we have distorted our relationship with God and each other, a loss of loving connection that we know as sin.
Psalm: Psalm 32
Profound guilt may indeed come with the recognition that we have done wrong, failed in our trust, and separated ourselves from God through sin, as we hear in Psalm 22. Guilt’s heavy hand weighs on us, the Psalmist sings. Guilt dries us out, withering our bones, leaving us groaning in pain. But then comes the joy: the relief and glad cries that burst out when we acknowledge our wrongdoing, confess our transgressions, and receive God’s loving deliverance from the pain of sin.
Second Reading: Romans 5:12-19
In his letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul draws a direct connection between the sin of Adam and the divinity of Jesus Christ, the son of God. This would have been an important image for the members of the church in Rome as they struggled to restore relationships between the church’s pagan converts and its Jewish Christians who were returning from exile. Paul reminds this community that Adam, the first of creation, gave in to the temptation of the fruit and brought death into the world. But now, he goes on, Jesus has been incarnated as one of us. This act of righteousness restores all with justification and life through God’s free gift of grace.
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
This passage follows immediately after Jesus was baptized by John, when Jesus hears the voice of God declaring him God’s beloved Son. Now, in what seems a startling change of direction, the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This may seem a very strange thing for the Holy Spirit to do, but the Spirit works in mysterious ways. Jesus, famished after 40 days of fasting, encounters the devil – not a scary red-horned creature but a figure akin to the Adversary who tested Job’s faith in that familiar Hebrew Bible story. The devil tries to test Jesus, tempting him three times to perform miracles to help himself. But Jesus holds steadfast, resisting all the temptations and ordering Satan away.
First Reading: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Sunday’s readings begin the penitential season of Lent with a scriptural grounding in the theology of temptation and sin. Our first reading draws from the second creation legend in Genesis: Eve and Adam are tempted, give in, and eat the fruit that God had told them not to touch. Not even God’s warning that the fruit would bring death was strong enough to block the overpowering temptation that came with the crafty serpent’s promise: Godlike knowledge of good and evil? Yes, please! Temptation can be powerful, but so is the shame that comes with realizing that we have distorted our relationship with God and each other, a loss of loving connection that we know as sin.
Psalm: Psalm 32
Profound guilt may indeed come with the recognition that we have done wrong, failed in our trust, and separated ourselves from God through sin, as we hear in Psalm 22. Guilt’s heavy hand weighs on us, the Psalmist sings. Guilt dries us out, withering our bones, leaving us groaning in pain. But then comes the joy: the relief and glad cries that burst out when we acknowledge our wrongdoing, confess our transgressions, and receive God’s loving deliverance from the pain of sin.
Second Reading: Romans 5:12-19
In his letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul draws a direct connection between the sin of Adam and the divinity of Jesus Christ, the son of God. This would have been an important image for the members of the church in Rome as they struggled to restore relationships between the church’s pagan converts and its Jewish Christians who were returning from exile. Paul reminds this community that Adam, the first of creation, gave in to the temptation of the fruit and brought death into the world. But now, he goes on, Jesus has been incarnated as one of us. This act of righteousness restores all with justification and life through God’s free gift of grace.
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
This passage follows immediately after Jesus was baptized by John, when Jesus hears the voice of God declaring him God’s beloved Son. Now, in what seems a startling change of direction, the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This may seem a very strange thing for the Holy Spirit to do, but the Spirit works in mysterious ways. Jesus, famished after 40 days of fasting, encounters the devil – not a scary red-horned creature but a figure akin to the Adversary who tested Job’s faith in that familiar Hebrew Bible story. The devil tries to test Jesus, tempting him three times to perform miracles to help himself. But Jesus holds steadfast, resisting all the temptations and ordering Satan away.
Dimensions of Faith Lectures
Dimensions of Faith invites thinkers and writers to explore the interface of religion and culture, as we continue as a parish to challenge our minds and renew our spirits.
Upcoming Speakers: Bob Hower and Ted Wathen, February 22, 2026 "Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project"
Previous Speakers Include:
Nadia Bolz-Weber / Diana Butler Bass / Sarah Bessey / Steve Crump Ruby Sales / Dr. Amy-Jill Levine / Marcus Borg / Sara Miles
Robert Putnam / John Dominic Crossan / Brian McLaren / Scott Gunn
John Philip Newell / Silas House/Bishop Marianne Budde / Elizabeth Schrader-Polzcer / John Dear / Dr. Lewis Brogdon
Upcoming Speakers: Bob Hower and Ted Wathen, February 22, 2026 "Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project"
Previous Speakers Include:
Nadia Bolz-Weber / Diana Butler Bass / Sarah Bessey / Steve Crump Ruby Sales / Dr. Amy-Jill Levine / Marcus Borg / Sara Miles
Robert Putnam / John Dominic Crossan / Brian McLaren / Scott Gunn
John Philip Newell / Silas House/Bishop Marianne Budde / Elizabeth Schrader-Polzcer / John Dear / Dr. Lewis Brogdon
