Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
August 7, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080724.cfm

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As Israel comes forward to be given his rest,
the LORD appears to him from afar:
With age-old love I have loved you;
so I have kept my mercy toward you.
Again I will restore you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin Israel;
Carrying your festive tambourines,
you shall go forth dancing with the merrymakers.
Jeremiah 31:2-4

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What joy to realize that we are loved with an age-old love! Even Jeremiah, one of the gloomiest prophets, finds deep joy in that realization!

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We listen to God assuring us of the ageless Divine Love we have been given. How have we known God’s Mercy? How have we been rebuilt? How have our hearts been returned to innocence? How have our spirits danced and delighted in the love God has for us?

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Poetry: The Avowal – Denise Levertov

As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.

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Music: This Ancient Love – Carolyn McDade