Saturday, August 30, 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
Sunday, August 31 // Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wednesday, September 3 // Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church
Friday, September 5 // Optional Memorial of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Virgin
Letter from the Editor //
Dear Sister,
On the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time we hear a call to “conduct your affairs with humility” (Sirach 3:17)—to see ourselves as little and as loved as we truly are, created by an omnipotent God Who gave us all we have. But He is also a God Who wants to give us more and more. He wants us to love and serve Him humbly, so that He can raise us up beside Him in Heaven at the “wedding banquet” that will be our life in Heaven. Like those in the Gospel, we are “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” who are invited to the Lamb’s Supper and are unable to repay the Lord for the gift of being created by Him, loved by Him, and redeemed by Him (Luke 14:13-14). He does not ask us to make ourselves great, but simply to receive and return His love.
He shows His love with His grace, which is a “bountiful rain” that is “showered down” upon us (Psalm 68:10). It is given to us through “Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant” and His “sprinkled blood” which makes the “spirits of the just” perfect (Hebrews 12:23-24). When we willingly receive this gift of grace, our lives are changed—we are changed now and into eternity. It is only because God humbled Himself to become a Man that we can now approach the heavenly Jerusalem, never fearing to touch and be touched by the living God in the Holy Eucharist where Heaven touches earth. Sister, let us humbly accept this gift and never take it for granted.
In Christ’s Love,
Susanna
Read the Readings for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time:
First Reading // Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
Psalm // Psalm 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11
Second Reading // Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a
Gospel // Luke 14:1, 7-14
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-in-training living with her philosopher husband and four kids in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She loves reading theology, 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, and Abide in His Love: A Meditation on John. She was narrator for Found: Advent With the Good Shepherd and Rescued: Lent With the Lamb of God and a 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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