Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, Priest
September 9, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090924.cfm

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But Jesus realized the Pharisee’s intentions
and said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up and stand before us.”
And he rose and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them,
“I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
Looking around at them all, he then said to him,
“Stretch out your hand.”
He did so and his hand was restored.
Luke 6:8-10

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In this reading, Jesus invites the crippled man to stretch out his hand – to reach beyond himself for the healing grace God offers. Jesus is inviting the Pharisees, who suffer from a crippled faith, to reach out as well. Is Jesus inviting you to stretch?

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
I have included a picture of my beloved statue of giraffes. When I pray with this carving, no words are necessary. The youngster is stretching up to receive grace, nourishment, and love. For me, it is an image of our stretching up to God and God’s tender leaning toward us.

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Poetry: Movement by Denise Levertov

Towards not being 
anyone else’s center 
of gravity

A wanting 
to love: not 
an other, and fall, 
but feel within one 
a flexible steel 
upright, parallel
to the spine but 
longer, from which to stretch; 
one’s own 
grave springboard; the outlying spirit’s 
vertical trampoline.

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Meditative Music: