Time after Pentecost: The church season after Easter is sometimes called “Ordinary Time” because of the numbering (ordinals) of the Sunday. It includes summer and fall, with themes of growth, celebration in community, and the renewal of faith and discipleship in the life and teachings of Jesus.
Sunday, July 13: To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind is to reflect God’s mercy in responding to one’s neighbor. That mercy found its most profound expression in the “gospel that has come to you”—namely the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That gospel mercy comes to us again every day. Do we recognize it? It is very near to you.