Ordinary Time

Pause

… for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:26, 28 (NRSV)

Listen

We have also received an inheritance in Christ. We were destined by the plan of God, who accomplishes everything according to his design. We are called to be an honor to God’s glory because we were the first to hope in Christ. You too heard the word of truth in Christ, which is the good news of your salvation. You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit because you believed in Christ. The Holy Spirit is the down payment on our inheritance, which is applied toward our redemption as God’s own people, resulting in the honor of God’s glory.

Ephesians 1:11-14

Think

I haven’t inherited much in my life, but one thing I have inherited is my great-grandfather’s quilt from his childhood. I love this precious, well-loved, more than a hundred-year-old quilt and its teal and white colors with accents of faded red, gray and pink. I love how every time I wrap up in it, I think of all who have been kept warm by the same fabric and stitching. This quilt connects me to something greater than myself — my extended family throughout the years.

While the writer of Ephesians isn’t telling us we’re inheriting a quilt from God, I think what he is saying is that we’re inheriting something very precious and well-loved that has withstood the test of time. In Christ, we’re being wrapped into a loving, all-embracing fabric of the family of God, and that is enough.

Molly Brummett Wudel

Pray

God, may I feel the warmth and comfort of your inheritance through Christ this day. Amen.

Go

Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ in me,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ on my right,

Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down,

Christ when I sit down,

Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

A prayer from St. Patrick