September 15 // 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading I: Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14
Responsorial Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 19
Reading II: 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Gospel: Luke 15:1-32

Parents are grieving the loss of their daughter to alcohol. Despite Colleen’s two DWIs, her boss is supportive and greatly appreciates her good work; her supervisor says, “We have her back.” Her parents are at a loss. Her mom asks, “How can I help her find her way?” She is attending Al Anon and drinking less herself. Colleen’s dad is angry and sad and “helpless.” Will Colleen find herself? Let us pray.

Zoe became so ill that she could not attend school. Her parents sought medical advice and mental health support and found Zoe needed a different kind of school. She has been thriving the last ten months since she started at the alternative school. She was lost and she is found. She has her pets, her music, her family, friends, good grades and she is motivated, reads voraciously and has a life!

Nicholas did not want to live. He was overtired. His doctor referred him to mental health professionals and together, parents, doctors and Nicholas discovered he too needed a different kind of school. He too is thriving.

Zoe and Nicolas were lost and now they are found.

Some of our losses cause grief that never ends. We grieve the death of our grandson and we grieve our son’s brain injury. What God gives us is the ability to pray for them both. And for the Colleens of this world, we pray. And for the Zoes and Nicholases who have returned that they continue to thrive, we pray.

Deni Mack, DMin Pastoral Associate