Grace and Peace To You

From today’s reading…

In today’s second reading, we are given just three verses from the opening of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, which is comprised of merely two sentences and is simply Paul’s greeting and blessing.

I actually read this at yesterday’s vigil Mass I served and was intrigued by what I considered its brevity and limited scope.

But I think its power comes from its succinctness, particularly verse three, because it’s the first sentence after Paul’s thorough and eloquent greeting and clarification as to whom he is writing.

Paul wants his fellow Christians to know that God wants them to be filled with grace and with peace. Are you filled with grace and peace?

“Grace and peace? Are you crazy, Wes? Eggs cost more than my mortgage. Biden is coming for my gas stove. Layoffs are accelerating. And the Chargers blew it last night against the Jaguars. My blood pressure is up just thinking about this. Time for a champagne brunch…heavy on the champagne.”

You know that little diatribe is steeped heavily in the truth.

Why do we allow so many tiny, transient things to disrupt our grace and our peace?

Take a deep breath.

Count to ten.

Internalize Paul’s message today because God sent it to us to help us…

Stay the course.Keep the faith.Endure.

Market like you mean it. Now go sell something.