August 26

Beloved families of Good Shepherd,

Peace be with you! A few weeks ago Fr. Hendree invited our community to enter into a weekly spiritual practice of reading the appointed Gospel for the upcoming Sunday (families can take home the half sheet of paper of next Sunday’s Gospel reading located in our Sunday service bulletin). The practice is pretty simple—we are invited to read the passage, perhaps once a day, and then notice a word, sentence, or image in the Gospel passage which stands out to us.

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading Jesus says to his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

The sentence “those who lose their life for my sake will find it” catches my attention and makes me curious. I wonder what kind of life we’ll find when we lose our life for the sake of Jesus?  

I am currently reading Lacy Finn Borgo’s book, Spiritual Conversations with Children, as part of a continuing education course to learn the art of spiritual listening with children. Borgo’s book helps me to understand the kind of life we’ll find when we lose our life for the sake of Jesus. Borgo says all of us, even before we were born, have been longed into existence by our Creator. God created us for loving relationship with God and one another, which Borgo calls “the trinitarian reality” of existence. One of our early church fathers, St. Augustine, described the Holy Trinity, (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) as “the one who loves, the one who is love, and love itself.” Borgo describes spiritual formation as “the journey of becoming aware of God and participating in the trinitarian reality.“

When we lose our life for the sake of Jesus, we begin the journey of becoming aware of the marvelous presence of God in our lives and enter into the very life of the Holy Trinity. We let go of the illusion that we are separate from God and that we are in charge. Contemplative author Fr. Richard Rohr says, “Life is not about me; it is about God, and God is about love.” (from Everything Belongs: the Gift of Contemplative Prayer)

Baptism initiates the journey for losing our life for the sake of Jesus. In baptism we say “yes” to God’s love and begin our conscious participation in the life of the Holy Trinity. If you and/or your child are considering baptism, we invite you to join our Pre-Baptismal Lunch Meeting on Sunday, September 13, 11:30-12:30 pm. Fr. Hendree will lead a conversation about the theology of baptism and answer any questions families might have. Register for our Pre-Baptismal Meeting on September 13th. Our next two baptismal dates are Sunday, November 1 (All Saints’ Sunday) and January 10, 2027 (Baptism of our Lord Feast Day). Learn more about baptism at Good Shepherd.

We have many worship, formation, and outreach opportunities for families to deepen their participation in the life of the Trinity! View our Fall Engagement Brochure HERE.

We hope to see you this Sunday!

Many Blessings,

Patty