The Calling

 

29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  30This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

35The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” 37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.  38When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). 42He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

John 1:29-42

 

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The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew

CARAVAGGIO, Michelangelo Merisi da

1602-1604

Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace

London

Great Britain

 

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20230109331368740&code=ACT&RC=56285&Row=12

 

 

 

 

Comments about the painting:

          https://www.rct.uk/collection/402824/the-calling-of-saints-peter-and-andrew

 

Comments about Caravaggio:

Caravaggio’s transfer to Malta and, thereafter, to Sicily is one of the most brilliant chapters in the history of art of both islands. As a fugitive from Papal Rome, the artist first arrived in Malta in mid-July 1607. The powerful current of Realism that had taken Rome and Naples by storm and surprise was now to surprise Malta. Fifteen months later, in a dramatic shift of events that culminated early in October 1608, the artist fled the island as a disgraced fugitive. The Maltese period was a milestone period in the exciting context of Caravaggio’s late years. It was a period when Caravaggio, a fugitive yearning to return to Rome, produced outstanding masterpieces that ironically only a handful of the great artists of the younger generation saw.

 

https://italianjournal.it/the-double-fugitive-the-artist-simultaneously-revered-and-exiled-throughout-his-life/





 

 

 

People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong.
Why not try and see positive things,
to just touch those things and make them bloom?
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

 

 

When one door closes, another opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the one which has opened for us.

~ Alexander Graham Bell

 

 

 

 

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Tina Yoshioka got to go to preschool in her pjs!

 

At last!

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The fallen tree has finally been removed!

 

 

At Rotary on Friday morning, we had a large turnout to honor Annette Bradley.

Kimra gave a thoughtful recap of Annette’s life, how she met Bob, and her daily commitment to Service Above Self.  Annette wanted to be known as a person of faith who built good in the world.

 

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Photo by Kimra Perkins

 

A life of service above self – Annette Bradley – in our hearts foreverRotary 4 - 6.jpeg

Everyone stood and observed a moment of silence in remembrance of Annette.    https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/lakewood-co/annette-bradley-12705976

 

 

 

I’ve told my children that when I die, 

to release balloons in the sky 

to celebrate that I graduated.

For me, death is a graduation.

~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross*

 

 

 

January 21, 2026  Second Sunday after the Epiphany - Year A 

                     Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Previous OPQs may be found at:

     http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

 

* Kubler-Ross was one of Annette’s favorite authors. She was a Swiss-American psychiatrist, a pioneer in near-death studies, author, and developer of the five stages of grief, also known as the "Kübler-Ross model”.

 

 

 

Agnus Day, by James Weinstein

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Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

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MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY 

January 19, 2026

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LECTIONARY

Isaiah 49:1–7 

Psalm 40:1–11 

1 Corinthians 1:1–9 

John 1:29–42

 

God's people do not exist for themselves alone, nor is their restoration an end in itself. ~ Isaiah 49:1-7

  

First Reading Isaiah 49:1-7

   1Listen to me, O coastlands, 
          pay attention, you peoples from far away! 
     The LORD called me before I was born, 
          while I was in my mother’s womb he named me. 
2   He made my mouth like a sharp sword, 
          in the shadow of his hand he hid me; 
     he made me a polished arrow, 
          in his quiver he hid me away. 
3   And he said to me, “You are my servant, 
          Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” 
4   But I said, “I have labored in vain, 
          I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; 
     yet surely my cause is with the LORD, 
          and my reward with my God.”

5   And now the LORD says, 
          who formed me in the womb to be his servant, 
     to bring Jacob back to him, 
          and that Israel might be gathered to him, 
     for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, 
          and my God has become my strength — 
6   he says, 
     “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant 
          to raise up the tribes of Jacob 
          and to restore the survivors of Israel; 
     I will give you as a light to the nations, 
          that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

7   Thus says the LORD, 
          the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, 
     to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, 
          the slave of rulers, 
     “Kings shall see and stand up, princes, 
          and they shall prostrate themselves, 
     because of the LORD, who is faithful, 
          the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

Psalm 40:1-11

1   I waited patiently for the LORD; 
          he inclined to me and heard my cry. 
2   He drew me up from the desolate pit, 
          out of the miry bog, 
     and set my feet upon a rock, 
          making my steps secure. 
3   He put a new song in my mouth, 
          a song of praise to our God. 
     Many will see and fear, 
          and put their trust in the LORD.

4   Happy are those who make 
          the LORD their trust, 
     who do not turn to the proud, 
          to those who go astray after false gods. 
5   You have multiplied, O LORD my God, 
          your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; 
          none can compare with you. 
     Were I to proclaim and tell of them, 
          they would be more than can be counted.

6   Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, 
          but you have given me an open ear. 
     Burnt offering and sin offering 
          you have not required. 
7   Then I said, “Here I am; 
          in the scroll of the book it is written of me. 
8   I delight to do your will, O my God; 
          your law is within my heart.”

9   I have told the glad news of deliverance 
          in the great congregation; 
     see, I have not restrained my lips, 
          as you know, O LORD. 
10  I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, 
          I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; 
     I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness 
          from the great congregation.

11  Do not, O LORD, withhold 
          your mercy from me; 
     let your steadfast love and your faithfulness 
          keep me safe forever.

Second Reading 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

1Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

2To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 

3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind — 6just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you — 7so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Gospel John 1:29-42

29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  30This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

35The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” 37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.  38When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). 42He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).