Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary TIme Year C *Alternate* First Reading

The sacrament of communion, manifest in outdoor brunches with beloveds and sourdough loaves dropped on neighbors’ porches and weekly homemade meals for the students I chaplain. Mulberries plucked in the heat of summer, staining my hands. Birdfeeders bursting with sunflower seeds, the squirrels and chipmunks and cardinals and tufted titmice and sparrows and woodpeckers all taking their turns. The coconut lime bar and iced tea a friend brought to share on the patio, along with laughter and tears, for a how is it with your soul? check in. Peaches sliced and shared, juice running down chins. Ice cold water on a hot, summer day.

The words of Anna Blaedel.