Listen!

and HEAR!

 

38Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. 40But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." 41But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.

Luke 10:38-42

image001.jpeg

Martha

GLANZMAN, Louis

Mixed Medium, 2002(?)

Women of the New Testament

http://www.louisglanzman.com/martha.html

 

 

 

 

 

People generally see what they look for,

and hear what they listen for.

~ Harper Lee

 

 

 

 

You cannot truly listen to anyone

and do anything else at the same time.

~ M. Scott Peck 

 

 

The word listen contains the same letters

as the word silent.

                                                            ~ Alfred Brendel

 

 

 

 

 

 

Church of the Hills

Evergreen, Colorado

847b410f-e150-4c74-9690-a34c86f9ede2.jpg

Laying on of Hands - new officer installation

 

IMG_8743.jpeg  IMG_8748.jpeg

 

IMG_8751.jpeg  IMG_8752.jpeg

 

IMG_8755.jpeg

Dine Around with the Scripps

 

IMG_8749.jpeg

 

 

 

IMG_8759.jpeg  IMG_8763.jpeg

 

IMG_8764.jpeg  IMG_8769.jpeg

 

IMG_8768.jpeg

Salad Luncheon with our Bible Study Group

 

 

IMG_8834.jpeg

 

IMG_8828.jpeg  IMG_8829.jpeg

 

IMG_8862.jpeg  IMG_8872.jpeg

 

IMG_8881.jpeg

 

 

IMG_8887.jpeg  IMG_8896.jpeg

 

IMG_8903.jpeg  IMG_8905.jpeg

 

IMG_8911.jpeg

 

IMG_6803.jpeg

An exciting day at Evergreen Lake with the Yoshiokas

 

 

 

 

The greatest compliment that was ever paid me 

was when one asked me what I thought, 

and attended to my answer.

~ Henry David Thoreau

 

 

 

 

July 20, 2025  Sixth Sunday after Pentecost - Year C

 

Previous OPQs may be found at:

     http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

 

 

 

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

comic.jpeg

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

 

image007.jpeg

 

 

image.tiff

Illustration by Maurice Sendak from Open House for Butterflies by Ruth Krauss

 

 

image009.jpg

LECTIONARY

Amos 8:1-12

Psalm 52 

Colossians 1:15–28 

Luke 10:38–42

 

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.  There is need of only one thing.  Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
Luke 10: 38-42

THE WORD:

The sisters Martha and Mary mirror the two expressions of the disciple’s call: loving service to others (Martha) and prayer and contemplation (Mary).  But, as Martha comes to realize in today's Gospel, discipleship begins with hearing the Word of God, with opening our hearts and spirits to the presence of God.

We are all like Martha in our own anxiety over making all the pieces fit; we obsess about the details and peripherals at the expense of the important and lasting.  “The better part” embraced by Mary transcends the pragmatic and practical concerns of the everyday and sees the hand of God in all things; the “better part” is to realize the gratitude all of creation owes its loving Creator for the gift of life.

With so many agendas demanding our time and attention, Jesus calls us to consciously choose and seek out “the better part”: to make a place in our lives for the joy and love of family and friends that is the presence of God.

It is a motto of Benedictine monasteries around the world:  “Let all be received here as would Christ” (The Rule of St. Benedict, chapter 53).  Like the welcome Martha, Mary and Lazarus extend to Jesus in Bethany, hospitality is not only a holy responsibility but also a joyful opportunity to welcome and serve Jesus in the persons of those who come to our tables.

https://connectionsmediaworks.com/sundaygospel.html#july17

 

 

First Reading Amos 8:1-12

1This is what the Lord GOD showed me-a basket of summer fruit. 2He said, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me, The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by. 3The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day," says the Lord GOD; "the dead bodies shall be many, cast out in every place. Be silent!" 4Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, 5saying, "When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, 6buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat."

7The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. 8Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who lives in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?

9On that day, says the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.

11The time is surely coming, says the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. 12They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.

Psalm 52

1Why do you boast, O mighty 

one, 

of mischief done against the godly?

All day long 2you are plotting destruction.

Your tongue is like a sharp razor,

you worker of treachery.

3You love evil more than good,

and lying more than speaking the truth. 

Selah

4You love all words that devour,

O deceitful tongue.

5But God will break you down forever;

he will snatch and tear you from your tent;

he will uproot you from the land of the living.

Selah

6The righteous will see, and fear,

and will laugh at the evildoer, saying,

7"See the one who would not take

refuge in God,

but trusted in abundant riches,

and sought refuge in wealth!"

8But I am like a green olive tree

in the house of God.

I trust in the steadfast love of God

forever and ever.

9I will thank you forever,

because of what you have done.

In the presence of the faithful

I will proclaim your name, for it is good.

Second Reading Colossians 1:15-28

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers-all things have been created through him and for him. 17He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

21And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him-23provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

24I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 25I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Gospel Luke 10:38-42

38Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. 40But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." 41But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

enormoussmallness10.jpeg

Page from Enormous Smallness by Matthew Burgess

 

 

image.png