How important is Jesus in your life? Is Christ your life? What is taking up your attention, your focus, your time? In the letter to Philippians, St. Paul calls us to “conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.” If we don’t know the gospel, we will not know what is important and how to live our lives to the fullest. Getting to know the gospel of Christ is the foundation of all that we do. Spending time with the word of God helps us to encounter the life of Christ and uncover what life is all about.
It has been a joy this past week to spend time with the Word of God with those I have hiked with. Discovering how God speaks to us in nature and understanding how that resonates with His Word is fascinating. Take the Sunday scriptures outside this week and see how they connect with what God has made. It will be an inspiring time of prayer for you.
It was also a delight to spend time with those who came to Scriptures at the Pavilion. We simply prayed with the scriptures for this coming Sunday. By giving time for God’s Word to speak to us, I know it will change our attitudes, outlooks and lives as his inspiring truth resonates in our hearts.
The 2nd reading for this Sunday comes from the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians. As we prayed with this passage, a few questions surfaced about St. Paul and his writings. Unpacking verses, understanding the historical context and perspective of St. Paul is so important for us as Christians.
If further studying the ways of St. Paul interest you, I encourage you to sign up for the study on Philippians. Starting the week of October 5th, you can enter into a scripture study that, with the help of Dr. Tim Gray and formed.org, we will explore the beautiful letter addressed to the community St. Paul loved. You can sign up virtually or in person.
Whatever you choose to do this fall, as Fr. Bearer has invited us to do in so many of his homilies, make scripture a priority and let it change your life!
God’s joy and peace be with you,
Fr. Jeremy Merzweiler
