Ordinary Time 
Pause
“We belong in a bundle of life. We say, ‘A person is a person through other persons.’ It is not, ‘I think therefore I am.’ It says rather, ‘I am human because I belong. I participate, I share.’”
from No Future Without Forgiveness by Desmond Tutu (1999)
Listen
Elijah was a person just like us. When he earnestly prayed that it wouldn’t rain, no rain fell for three and a half years. He prayed again, God sent rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
James 5:17-18
Think
Do you ever wonder if prayer makes a difference? It did to Elijah. Elijah prayed, and it changed the weather. The writer of James makes it clear that Elijah was just like us, which means: our prayers can change things too. Prayer changes us. It changes how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we see the world.
Sit down for a conversation with God and talk. Talk about anything: what you need, what you think others need, or what you think the world needs. What your hopes are, what your fears are, how you’re feeling today.
Whether our prayers change the weather or not, who knows? Anything is possible with God. What do we know for sure is that God uses ordinary people just like you, me, and Elijah to do powerful things.
Kim Crowley
Pray
God of all people, thank you for the reminder that ordinary people can do powerful things. May I be like Elijah and believe in the prayers I pray to you. Amen.
Go
Go and remember: you belong to the body of Christ. The body needs you in order to work as it should.
Go out and share your gifts, so that the body of Christ may be the healing love of God to the world.
