Rediscover Reasons to Hope

 

10Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." 13When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." 15But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" 17When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

Luke 13:10-17 

 

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Tree of Hope

LEUTHOLD, Julie

2013

      

This painting was auctioned to benefit the American Cancer Association

http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20190821270479123&code=ACT&RC=57033&Row=11

 

"TREE OF HOPE" Breast Cancer Survivor Tree 

 

"I donated this tree to an auction in honor of my Mother's survival 25 years ago. She is such a brave woman.

 

This painting was auctioned for The American Cancer Assoc. I guess there was a bidding war between 2 woman!!!!! Makes me so happy."

 

 

It is also featured in the AUGUSTA MAGAZINE in an article on the BRAC gene in the Nov 2013 issue.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/julieleuthold/7521645058

 

 

 

 

The difference between hope and despair

is a different way of telling stories

from the same facts.

~ Alain de Botton

 

 

 

Fear grows out of the things we think;

it lives in our minds.

Compassion grows out of the things we are,

and lives in our hearts.

~ Barbara Garrison 

 

 

 

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Aunt Carolyn with Abby Yoshioka

 

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Renewal of Wedding Vows After 50 Years

Doug and Sue Brown

After retirement, Doug and Sue have extended their countries visited to 110!!!

 

 

Painted Toe Art Society

Golden Hotel

August Birthday Celebration for FIVE of us!

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Pat Foster, Johanna Morrell, Gail Gilbert, Dennis Kristensen, Carolyn “CV” Martyn, Carolyn Alexander, Sheryl Wasinger, Nancy Priest

 

 

Dinner With the Moores

There were only seven of us this time

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Connie Ning, Ann Moore

 

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Ted Ning

 

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Marsha and Bill Manning

AND Mande Mischler and Kevin Malone joined us from California!

 

Evergreen Rotary Club

Welcomed our District Governor 2025-26

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Kimra Perkins greeted DG (District Governor) Cindy Rold 

(on the left) with meaningful delights.

 

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DG Cindy Rold, District 5450

 

 

 

Did I offer peace today?

Did I bring a smile to someone’s face?

Did I say words of healing?

Did I let go of my anger and resentment?

Did I forgive?

Did I love?

These are the real questions.

I must trust that the little bit of love 

that I sow now will bear many fruits,

here in this world and the life to come.

~ Henri Nouwen

 

 

 

 

 

August 17, 2025  Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost - Year C - [Prop. 16C] 

Previous OPQs may be found at:

 

18You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, 19and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. 20(For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death." 21Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear.") 22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! 26At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven." 27This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of what is shaken-that is, created things-so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; 29for indeed our God is a consuming fire.

Hebrews 12:18-29

Agnus Day, by James Weinstein

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

 

 

Robert H. Schuller - Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape....jpeg

 

 

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LECTIONARY

Jeremiah 1:4–10 

Psalm 71:1–6 

Hebrews 12:18–29 

Luke 13:10–17 

 

THE WORD:

The curing of the crippled woman on the Sabbath is found only in Luke’s Gospel (though Jesus performs similar miracles on the Sabbath in the other Gospels).  In this account, Jesus defies the sensibilities of the synagogue leader and cures a crippled woman on the Sabbath day.  In reprimanding Jesus, the elder argues that healing is a form of work and that any form of work profanes the Lord’s Day.  Jesus counters that the healing of this woman – a manifestation of God’s compassion – does not defame the Lord’s Day but sanctifies it. The official has become so obsessed with adhering to the letter of the law that he is unable to embrace the spirit of the law.  

In the healing of this woman – poor, sick, marginalized and female – Jesus again (as he does throughout Luke’s Gospel) proclaims that God’s reign has dawned and belongs not to the rich but to the people of the Beatitudes: the meek, the humble, the lowly, the suffering, the struggling.

HOMILY POINTS:

Jesus’ healing of the woman does not undermine the holiness of the Sabbath – on the contrary, the healing irrevocably links Sabbath prayer and ritual to the unlimited and unconditional mercy of God 

The healing Christ has entrusted us, who would be his disciples, with the work of God: compassion and forgiveness, reconciliation and justice, healing and peace.

To be healed requires change, to consciously move beyond your own pain and to embrace the pain of others, to see beyond the bad we are experiencing to find the good, to refuse to be swallowed up in hopelessness and rediscover reasons to hope.  As Jesus says to the crippled woman, “you are set free of your ailment.”  While the pain does not disappear, the grace of God “frees” us to transform our lives and find new purpose in our broken but still very much meaningful lives.   

https://connectionsmediaworks.com/sundaygospel.html#aug24b

 

First Reading Jeremiah 1:4-10

4Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, 5"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." 6Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy." 7But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a boy'; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you, 8Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD." 9Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, "Now I have put my words in your mouth. 10See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."

Psalm 71:1-6

1In you, O LORD, I take refuge;

let me never be put to shame.

2In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;

incline your ear to me and save me.

3Be to me a rock of refuge,

a strong fortress, to save me,

for you are my rock and my fortress.

4Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.

5For you, O Lord, are my hope,

my trust, O LORD, from my youth.

6Upon you I have leaned from my birth;

it was you who took me from my mother's womb.

My praise is continually of you.

Second Reading Hebrews 12:18-29

18You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, 19and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. 20(For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death." 21Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear.") 22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! 26At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven." 27This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of what is shaken-that is, created things-so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; 29for indeed our God is a consuming fire.

Gospel Luke 13:10-17

10Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." 13When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." 15But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" 17When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.