06/01/2026
Life Thoughts in the Church Year for May 31
(Three Year Lectionary) May 31 – The Holy Trinity: First Sunday after Pentecost: “O Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1). The Triune God who made heaven and earth and all things, and who breathed into Adam the breath of life (Genesis 1), is the same God into whose name we are baptized—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19-20). This Jesus, who was crucified by men, but whom God raised from the dead (Acts 2:23-24), brings hope and courage to those who have lost their way in life. Through the forgiveness of sins in Christ, the past can no longer haunt us, and we are free to live in the light of God’s Word. Whether the woman facing an unexpected pregnancy, or the person who has received a terminal medical diagnosis, or the one who feels as though their life no longer has purpose or value, Jesus—the Lord of Life—will not forsake us. The promise of Christ stands: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
(Three Year Lectionary) May 31 (The Visitation) – Today we journey with Mary to the hill country of Judah to visit her relative Elizabeth. Both women were blessed by God with miraculous pregnancies. Even in the womb a child can be filled with God’s Spirit and recognize the Savior’s presence! (Luke 1:39-45). The pregnancies in our midst may not be as miraculous, but every new human life is a cause of rejoicing. And every child in the womb is in fact a blessing from God.
(One Year Lectionary) May 31 – The Holy Trinity: Life is precious. It is a gift. We cannot fathom all that God has intended and has in store for His people. “Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Romans 11). Yet we come before the Lord, like Isaiah, as those with “unclean lips,” and we dwell “in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6). The willful taking of an innocent human life in abortion is an abomination on our nation. Those who are given a new birth by Jesus in Holy Baptism by water and the Spirit (John 3) must be people who speak the truth of God’s Word: “You shall not murder.” We are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” We dare not sit on the fence when it comes to life and death issues such as abortion or physician-assisted su***de. The same voice of the Lord that “thunders” over the waters of creation and the flood (Psalm 29) now resounds over the waters of Holy Baptism, making us God’s own special people and calling us to be the voice of hope in a world shrouded by sin and death.
lutheransforlife.org/resources/life-thoughts/
