Wrap yourself in God's Love

From safari….

This is the only Sunday this month when we celebrate a Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We are just two weeks away from the start of a new liturgical year. A time to look back at the story of our salvation, as told by the writer Luke. What are some of your favorite scripture readings from the past year? God’s grace is amazing!

Outdoors we are preparing for the coming of winter. The outdoor growing season ended this past Saturday for me.

An Elephant Ear Plant and a White Dinner Plate Dahlia, which I had protected previously from frost, succumbed to the frost. Sunday saw the first snow flurries of the season. Ready or not -- cold days and snow covered ground are here.

The arrival of colder weather is a prompt to pull out the quilts. Patchwork quilts are a testimony to patience and creativity. From a spiritual perspective, each piece of our spiritual quilt, is a fragment of our life story, representing the good and the bad. In those various moments, if we look closely, we will see the hand of God at work.

Between the quilt top and back is the batting. In our lives the batting is the Spirit prompting us to lives of gratitude and hospitality. Our gratitude expressed in actions and attitudes of love, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, joy, perseverance, and mercy.

Quilting secures the three layers of the quilt and provides a decorative element to the finished project. In our lives it is God’s hand that secures the events of our lives together. Our willingness to receive God’s love, mercy, acceptance, and comfort, shapes our character.

As you wrap yourself in the warmth of a quilt feel the love of God and as you look at the quilt top recall the events of your life and express gratitude for God’s companionship on your pilgrimage of life. Recall the words found in Ecclesiastes,

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, … a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance … time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” The one constant between the actions is God’s presence. Much like the free space on a BINGO card, God is always present and can be counted on.

God pours abundance into our lives. God desires us to say yes to living with him for all eternity.

Fr. Ron