Saturday, August 16, 2025
Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord.
Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days
Saturday, August 16 (today) // Optional Memorial of Saint Stephen of Hungary
Sunday, August 17 // Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Tuesday, August 19 // Optional Memorial of Saint John Eudes, priest
Wednesday, August 20 // Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church
Thursday, August 21 // Memorial of Saint Pius X, Pope
Friday, August 22 // Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Letter from the Editor //
Dear Sister,
In the Readings for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we witness the zeal of Jesus to draw all people to Himself. “I have come to set the earth on fire!” He cries out in the Gospel (Luke 12:49). But He also recognizes the reality of free will and sin. The truth causes division, anger, and hate, because when we are attached to sin and set in our ways, we find the person who speaks the truth to be intolerable. Like the princes in the First Reading from Jeremiah, we tend to criticize someone who speaks the truth to us. Rather than humbly face our faults, we cast that person out and wish him or her to leave us alone. Only when we let the blazing fire of love burn away our selfish desires, do we become open to the Lord and the truth.
With the example of the “cloud of witnesses” of the Saints who came before us to those running this race alongside us, we are not alone in our desire to become holy; we can be inspired and helped by our fellow members of the Body of Christ to “rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us” and “persevere in running the race” (Hebrews 12:1). Within the Church and united to Jesus, we will endure His Cross with Him, as we give up our attachments to sins and face our trials. We can “look on in awe and trust in the LORD,” Who is our help and deliverer (Psalm 40:4). May we press on, bearing it all, “for the sake of the joy that lies before us” (Hebrews 12:2).
In Christ’s Love,
Susanna
Read the Readings for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time:
First Reading // Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
Psalm // Psalm 40:2, 3, 4, 18
Second Reading // Hebrews 12:1-4
Gospel // Luke 12:49-53
Susanna Spencer holds a master's in Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and is the Devotions Editor for Blessed is She. She is a freelance writer and editor and a teacher. She lives with her philosopher husband, three teen daughters, one pre-teen son, and a miracle baby girl in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She loves reading theology and novels, attending beautiful liturgies, cooking delicious food, and casually following baseball. She is the author of the Gospel Studies including Seek His Kingdom: A Meditation on Matthew , Listen to Him: A Meditation on Mark, Preach in His Name: A Meditation on Luke, and Abide in His Love: A Meditation on John. She was the contributing author and editor for our children’s devotional prayer book, Rise Up. She was the Theological Editor of the Blessed Conversations Studies. Find out more about her here.
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