10th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
1 Kings 17:17-24 | Psalm 29:2,4-6,11-13 | Galatians 1:11-19 | Luke 7:11-17
The son of the mistress of the house fell sick; his illness was so severe that in the end he had no breath left in him. […] ‘O Lord my God, may the soul of this child, I beg you, come into him again!’ The Lord heard the prayer of Elijah and the soul of the child returned to him again and he revived. (1 Kings 17:17,21b,22)
I’m currently recovering from a severe bout of flu that’s literally breath-taking. As I’ve previously written, “breath” and “spirit” are intertwined both in the Bible and in real life, so as you can imagine and have probably experienced too, I’m also rather dis-spirited right now. I can temporarily infuse myself with spirit by taking a deep breath, but it quickly gets released in violent coughing.
I hope, dear brothers and sisters, that you are breathing deeply and filling yourself with life-giving spirit, and I will pray for your continued good health in body, mind and soul.
O Lord my God, may my life breath, I beg you, come into me again, so that I may sing your praises with heartfelt joy and thunderous volume. Amen.