Ordinary Time 
Pause
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; / naught be all else to me, save that thou art– / thou my best thought by day or by night, / waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
from "Be Thou My Vision," ancient Irish poem, translated by Mary Byrne (1905)
Listen
From Paul, called by God’s will to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, and from Sosthenes our brother.
To God’s church that is in Corinth:
To those who have been made holy to God in Christ Jesus, who are called to be God’s people.
Together with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place—he’s their Lord and ours!
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:1-3
Think
When I was first learning to write, my mother suggested that I start being a pen pal with my grandmother. She lived about 1000 miles away, and we rarely got to see her face-to-face. I didn’t know how to start my letters, so my mom suggested the beginning, “Dear Grandma, How are you? I am fine.” Every couple of weeks a letter would arrive and I’d send one back. We wrote back and forth for a few years, and every letter I wrote began the same: Dear Grandma, How are you?
When Paul begins a letter, it also has a particular formula addressing the recipient in which he writes a little about the nature of the church body who will receive the letter. In the first letter to Corinth, Paul is celebrating and sending blessings with his note, sending praise to God.
This formula in Paul’s letter shows us another way of praising God in writing to one another. What words of encouragement are needed in your life and for those around you? Don’t put it off – speak or write down these words today!
Sarah Karber
Pray
Adoring Creator, help me to remember to praise you in all I do, from writing letters to daily chores. Remind me that you are in all things and I am in you. Amen.
Go
Speak to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; sing and make music to the Lord in your hearts.
Ephesians 5:19
