Ordinary Time 2023: A Welcoming People

Word of Life Church St Joseph

Ordinary Time 2023: A Welcoming People

July 2, 2023 • Derek Vreeland

Jesus taught and lived in a way to create a welcoming people who practice radical hospitality. Jesus told his disciples that if we welcome his apostles we are welcoming him. If we welcome a prophet, then we can expect to receive a prophet's reward. A welcoming community looks like a church that practices Christian hospitality where we make room for new people. Jesus stretched out his arms of love in order to welcome us. As we walk in his ways we welcome others as well, inviting them to belong, believe, and become more like Jesus.

Joy Comes in the Mourning

October 29, 2023 • Jacob Taylor

We live in between that first morning of new creation when Mary encountered the risen Christ and the realization of our hope when one day all things will be made new. We await that day when all tears will be wiped away and all sorrow turned to joy. May we be reminded that with every new morning we awake to the presence of the one who is able to turn to our sorrow to joy. When we ask, “Where is Jesus?” We can be confident, whether we recognize him or not, he is with us.

The Jesus Prayer

October 22, 2023 • Derek Vreeland

Prayer is to our soul what breathing is to our body. But we don’t need to learn how to breathe; our bodies do that automatically. We do need to learn how to pray. One prayer we can quickly learn is the Jesus Prayer—Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. It has the potential to open us up more fully to the mercy of God. Prayer is about carving out time and space to attend to the presence of God which is often found in stillness and silence. The Jesus Prayer helps us get there.

A Feast For All

October 15, 2023 • Jacob Taylor

"On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food..." With these words Isaiah begins to paint a vivid picture of a salvation feast prepared for all. The early church would come to embrace and enact this vision of the kingdom of God. Their weekly feasts marked by radical hospitality and informed by the table practice and teachings of Jesus. In a world suffering from grief and division, it is this weekly meal, a feast of salvation that we need most.