Saturday, February 22, 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, February 22 (today!) // Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle
Sunday, February 23 // Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Thursday, February 27 // Optional Memorial of Saint Gregory of Narek, Abbot and Doctor of the Church
Letter from the Editor //
Dear Sister,
On the Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time we are shown much about the Lord’s great mercy toward us. We hear in the Psalm, “Not according to our sins does he deal with us” (Psalm 103:10). In the First Reading we enter right into the story of David fleeing from King Saul, who is unjustly seeking to kill David. David finds himself with an opportunity to kill the king in his sleep and chooses not to (see 1 Samuel 26:9, 12). While David knows he is destined to be king after Saul, he is not willing to take matters into his own hands. He knows that the Lord will make any wrong right again.
David’s act of mercy prefigures the mercy which Jesus has shown to us, and David’s inspired words in the Psalm show us how to receive the Lord’s mercy with gratitude and praise. “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2). Yet, we often forget the Lord’s mercy when we are hurt by others. Jesus tells us to “love [our] enemies and do good to them” (Luke 6:35). We are to be as merciful as the Father, the Father Who sent His Son to be the new Adam, so that we can be forgiven, become His anointed ones in Baptism, and “bear the image of the heavenly one” (1 Corinthians 15:49).
In Christ’s Love,
Susanna
Read the readings for the Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time:
First Reading // 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
Psalm // Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
Second Reading // 1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Gospel // Luke 6:27-38
Prayer Practice // Where do you need to receive mercy? Where are you being invited to offer mercy?
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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