First Reading: Proverbs 3:27-34
Refuse no one the good on which he has a claim
when it is in your power to do it for him.
Say not to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
tomorrow I will give,” when you can give at once.
Plot no evil against your neighbor,
against one who lives at peace with you.
Quarrel not with a man without cause,
with one who has done you no harm.
Envy not the lawless man
and choose none of his ways:
To the LORD the perverse one is an abomination,
but with the upright is his friendship.
The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked,
but the dwelling of the just he blesses;
When dealing with the arrogant, he is stern,
but to the humble he shows kindness.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 15:2-3A, 3BC-4AB, 5
R. (1) The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.
He who walks blamelessly and does justice;
who thinks the truth in his heart
and slanders not with his tongue.
R. The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.
Who harms not his fellow man,
nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
By whom the reprobate is despised,
while he honors those who fear the LORD.
R. The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.
Who lends not his money at usury
and accepts no bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
shall never be disturbed.
R. The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.
Gospel: Luke 8:16-18
Jesus said to the crowd:
“No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel
or sets it under a bed;
rather, he places it on a lampstand
so that those who enter may see the light.
For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible,
and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.
Take care, then, how you hear.
To anyone who has, more will be given,
and from the one who has not,
even what he seems to have will be taken away.”
NAB
I’ve been dreading the month of September for a long, long time. With the turn of the calendar, September brings painful reminders of my miscarriage, my son’s premature birth and the deaths of two beautiful boys from families we adore in our school community.
After my miscarriage, I lost count of the times I wanted to tell God to take a hike. I just could not give one more moment of myself. But my subsequent son’s neonatal intensive care unit stay completely changed the hardwiring of my heart. And I believe it was for one reason: to help me survive the next devastating loss in my life, the death of those two boys.
That state of grace thing people talk about? It’s real, y’all. Crazy real. The suffering, it was tremendous. But boy did God pour out the grace. It was like the floodgates were opened wide. I’ve never seen anything like it. God was asking an entire community to give at once. Not tomorrow, not next month or next year, but now.
I get it. Sometimes giving hurts. It requires you to face your greatest fear. In my case, the death of a child. My view of death was unhealthy, at best. The number of times I cried myself to sleep should not be counted. But through that suffering, through that community, I experienced the vastness of God’s great love and it has changed me.
There is so much evil in this world. So much judgment. Yet, when we take the time to enter into the suffering, to grab it and hold it tightly in an embrace, the judgment melts away. The fear subsides, love finds a place, and the evil has no place to hide.
Let fear subside, let love find a place, and the evil has no place to hide.Click to tweet
Give big, my sweet sisters. You were born to live a life of service.
Kathryn Whitaker and her husband, Scott, have 6 awesome kids, teen to toddler. She is a former public relations consultant turned freelance graphic designer, party planner, organizer, and preemie advocate who hails from the Lone Star state. You can find out more about her here.
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