Ordinary Time

Pause

I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom's way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every person is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind—
Of such I dream, my world!

from "I Dream A World," by Langston Hughes

Listen

He existed before all things, and all things are held together in him.

He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the one who is firstborn from among the dead so that he might occupy the first place in everything.

Because all the fullness of God was pleased to live in him, and he reconciled all things to himself through him— whether things on earth or in the heavens. He brought peace through the blood of his cross.

Colossians 1:17-20

Think

Some days it seems like everything is falling apart at the seams. People around the world are still fighting for rights that you and I take for granted; there are too many wars and conflicts to comprehend; children are starving even as I type these words. It makes me want to cry, and sometimes I do. And I think that’s okay, because God gave us the holy gift to shed tears at violence and injustice.

The reading today reminds me that when things are falling apart, Jesus holds them together. Jesus holds them so tight that all the broken things are made one again, better than before. Broken bodies, broken places, broken relationships, broken people — Jesus’ love is so big that all these things have room to grow new again. Fears, anxieties, and hate are all washed away because of Christ’s suffering. Whether we deserve it or not we will always have the love of Jesus, ready to receive us, warts and all, with arms wide open.

Will Oxford

Pray

Lord, your love is more powerful than I can comprehend. It heals me when I’m broken and gives me strength when I am weak. Let me be an instrument for your love in my daily life. Amen.

Go

The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.