Today is the twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.
I hope you all had a good summer. It went by really fast for me and I’m ready for fall. We’ve been in the mid-nineties for some time now and some cooler weather would be welcome.
The big news from our house is that Connie had to have surgery on an ankle during the summer so our wings have been clipped a bit but she’s recovering well so all is good.
I think I mentioned in a previous post that my nephew Kevin, who lives in South Carolina, and is about to turn 43, has pancreatic cancer. He’s actually doing better than we feared he would. The cancer hasn’t spread yet and we’re hoping for a surgery date at Johns-Hopkins soon. Please include him, and his/our family, in your prayers.
The line in today’s Gospel that gets my attention is about Jesus being present whenever two or more are gathered in His name. That happens at Mass, of course, but it happens lots of other times as well. I’ve been thinking about all the times and places where two or more of us are gathered in His name. Whenever we pray together, break bread together, and lots of other times. I hope you acknowledge His Holy presence in those times. I was in Adoration Friday thinking about that. For many of us He is really with us a lot. That’s a comforting thought and one that should cause us to ask how we can better use some of that time.
In Friday’s First Friday Mass our pastor reminded us that Friday is always a day of penance, even outside of Lent. Of course we all know that but I suspect we kind of take it for granted and don’t think much about it. The global (Church) law is that Friday is a day where we abstain from meat but the US Bishops in 1966 started allowing us to choose a different form of penance on the Fridays outside of Lent. So, whatever makes sense to us individually is allowed. It doesn’t even have to involve food. So this is actually just a reminder for whoever needs to hear it.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace, Bob
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