Reflection
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
-Psalm 33:5.
This responsorial psalm verse reminds me of a song we sing at Thanksgiving time, FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH! The first stanza of this hymn,
For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies,/
For the love which from our birth, over and around us
lies:/
Lord of all, to you we raise this our hymn of grateful
praise,
calls us to give praise for all of life in its many forms with which we have been blessed through the goodness of a loving Creator God!
We live in a world where so often the negative gets the loudest attention, and we can get so caught up in the woes, that we forget the blessings that surround us. The blessings of summertime have hopefully afforded us time for recreation and re-creation with family, friends and nature. God has given us so much to be thankful for that it is overwhelming at times just trying to wrap my head around it. These gratitude moments include:
- Watching my Goddaughter and her brother begin a new school year. Their excitement and enthusiasm made it so much fun to be a part of their new adventure.
- I attended a catered dinner event to celebrate the start of another year of formation for women and men in ministry to God’s people. As the evening drew to a close, our server came over to our table to thank us for the privilege of serving us and wished us a good evening. It was a small gesture that spoke of kindness and respect for both sides of the table and left all of us feeling very appreciative!
- I had the opportunity to spend several days with my gardening friends in harvesting and canning the fruits and vegetables many hands had spent time planting and watching grow with God’s help!
- I spent days at the lake with family and friends sharing good times and love.
Today we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. Saint Augustine was richly blessed by God and after a period of soul searching was able to see just how much he had to be grateful for as he committed his life to service to God and God’s people. He had a saintly mother in Saint Monica, a great heart and a brilliant mind. We are ever grateful for his life and service to our Church. Saint Augustine, pray for us.
In a spirit of gratitude and praise, let us joyfully go forth to spread the Gospel message of love and peace to all our sisters and brothers. Amen.
