Lectionary Commentaries

There are many commentary sites to help you get a better understanding of the lectionary text. Here are some I have used that have helped me better understand the text and possibly some of the meanings that would be clear to a seminary trained person but for me as a layman I missed the sometimes hidden meanings.

Not all are Episcopalian or Anglican there is a Catholic site listed here as well. Reading several different points of view for a particular weeks lessons can be fun. The only caveat is you need to double check the lessons referenced by a site to be sure they are using the same readings you are interested in. While I use the Revised Common Lectionary from The Episcopal Church the Catholic and Lutheran denominations also use a Common Lectionary and there can be and are subtle differences and choices.

A site that has multiple resources for commentary is The Text This Week. There are links to sites with commentaries, music suggestions, daily lectionary resources, movie index’s, art index’s and more. The site is well organized and contains a long list of additional and interesting sites.

The Anglican Diocese of Montreal, Canada web site Comments is designed as brief commentaries on the readings from the Revised Common Lectionary suitable for any adult who wants to understand the lessons for the week. Each lesson has a brief commentary, with a link to the biblical text, and a brief outline of the whole biblical book. I have used this site when I was doing a weekly study with a group of men before we headed to work.

Dong Hanh is a Vietnamese Catholic site. Most of the site is in Vietnamese but the commentaries are available in both English and Vietnamese. They provide a good history about the lesson as well as interesting subject matter questions. The site only provides comments on the Gospel lesson but presents some interesting discussion questions.

Home Brewed Christianity is a site that is designed for those who are looking for information to help with sermon preparation. Each week they do a 30 minute podcast outlining the potential themes that a sermon might use. It also provides a great learning resource for those of us that are interested hearing other aspects of the readings that we might not get from the Sunday sermon at our home church.

As I come across others I will add to this listing. If you have a favorite site please send me an email via the contact page with the site name and URL.