Thursday - February 22, 2024

SCRIPTURE John 10.27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. WORDS OF HOPE I heard a comedian recently describe a relationship in the simplest, most basic terms: “A relationship is two people deciding what to eat until one of them dies.” I chuckled—but there’s a strange truth in it. Aren’t relationships, whether with people or with God, exactly what we make of them? What you give is usually what you get, in just about everything. Take artists, for example—painters in particular. Some are minimalists: less is more. Others add and refine, layering detail right up to the edge, knowing they must stop before the work becomes overworked. Both approaches can succeed, but only when the artist understands where that line is. That seems to be the key in so many areas of life: knowing when less is more, and when too much begins to take away from the whole. There’s a kind of balance point—a place of optimization—that shows up whether you’re painting a canvas or even doing your taxes. Preparation matters. Thinking things through matters. And somewhere in that process, you begin to recognize when enough is enough. Chuck Jones once described the dynamic between the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote as a kind of insanity cycle—essentially redoubling effort for the same or even lesser result. That idea sticks. It’s a reminder that effort alone isn’t the answer; thoughtful direction matters just as much. And yet, we’re surrounded by people—ourselves included—who sometimes just need a little grace, or a gentle nudge in a different direction. Whether they take it or not is another story. Maybe that’s part of what a relationship with God looks like: learning to recognize the right moment to act, to pause, or to adjust course entirely. So, what’s the balance? Mind your own business? Live and let live? There’s wisdom there—but I think I’ll keep listening for that quiet, steady God-voice. More often than not, it has a way of guiding relationships—of every kind—back to where they need to be. PRAYER May I always take the time to be open to your guidance, to listen for your voice, and to adjust course according to your perfect will. DEVOTION AUTHOR Charlie C. Rose Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE Matthew 25.35-40 ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” WORDS OF HOPE World Give Day 2026 is on Monday, May 4, 2026, aimed at fostering global kindness through acts of giving and volunteering. Volunteering and giving are amazing acts of service for Cathedral of Hope. We don't need a day like today to call us to serve our community! Every day our church family is actively serving those in need. Our members are giving out blessing bags to strangers in need on the corner, helping cook meals to serve to those in the community who are home insecure, going to our community partners to rescue food and share it with other agencies and with food insecure neighbors, buying our monthly groceries for Pac the Pantry or planning for boxes of food for our local school for spring break or the baskets for 500 families at Thanksgiving. Why do we do that? Because we are blessed by God and cannot help but serve others because of our gratitude to God for all we have received in finding CoH as our home and family! These times we live in currently are difficult. Gas and food and everything are more expensive. BUT we are still blessed and realize these stresses are even more difficult for those who are home insecure in our city whose circumstances are far worse than ours. To whom much is given, much is expected. Not just on Give Day, but continually. God calls us to be faithful in helping others! If you are not bringing groceries on the last Sunday of the month for Pac the Pantry, or coming in on various Saturdays to help make blessing bags, or volunteering on Monday for iCare, or Tuesday to cook or help plate food for Taste of Hope, or Saturday mornings to help with BACH (Breakfast at Cathedral of Hope), PLEASE figure what you can do to help those in need. Even if your help is a smile and an encouraging word to those in need. Making them feel seen is a very important gift to them. PRAYER God who cares for us all. Help us remember to be giving to those in need always so all feel valued and loved. DEVOTION AUTHOR Jan Nunn Cathedral of Hope Volunteer

SCRIPTURE  Esther 4.14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” WORDS OF HOPE In such a time as this, could you use another holiday about now? I’m sure Queen Esther, the recipient of the message in today’s reading, would have welcomed a celebration and a little time off from the daily turmoil that was her life. Her older cousin Mordecai had spoken these fateful words to the young queen, reminding her that she was the single person with the ability to save her entire nation as they faced annihilation at the hands of the ultimate minions of evil. Most of us know the story of Esther and realize that she did accomplish the impossible and the descendants of her people still celebrate her victory in a yearly holiday celebration called Purim. Esther herself was never to know the extent of her victory that future generations would commemorate. She just did what was right at exactly the right time. Each generation has the opportunity, or even duty, to make a difference in their unique time in history. As we witness the serious threats to our Republic perpetrated by elected leaders who swore to preserve it, we each know in our hearts that such a time as this requires our full attention to do what is right as peaceful, but unyielding followers of God’s initiative. The Book of Esther is the only Book of the Bible to make no mention of God, prayer, or a spiritual agenda. Esther knew who she was and had the courage to aggressively do the work of God for others rather than sit down and expect a miracle. If we want peace on our planet, we must be the peace, pursue the peace, and teach the peace. We must become a nation of Esthers. Most of us have already made that commitment as we endeavor to live the life Jesus himself lived. If not yet how about today? It’s May Day, a holiday much of the world still observes as they welcome a new season into their lives. It may not be Purim, but wouldn’t it be comforting to know that future generations could indeed look back on our lives and set aside holidays to remember the people of peace who changed their history? PRAYER Here we are, Lord. You have shown us the way of peace. May we be your way for such a time as this. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Dan Peeler Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE Psalm 62. 1-2 Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly God is my rock and my salvation; God is my fortress, I will never be shaken. WORDS OF HOPE Our Firm Foundation "How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in God's excellent word. What more can be said than what God has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?" This is a quotation from the hymn Our Firm Foundation with words taken from the Rippon Selection of Hymns 1787. Did you ever ask yourself, “What is my foundation?” Can you with assurance say: "God alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold, so that I will not be greatly shaken” [or filled with stress and fear]? In today’s atmosphere of uncertainty or fear, the quest for a true foundation in our lives can be overwhelming to all of us. Can we find true foundations in our political leaders, in news sources we trust, or in the endless discussions of friends, family, or mostly strangers on social media? Or, is our actual foundation where it has been all along, waiting patiently, and just a prayer away? For many centuries, the practice of silent prayer has been the principle source for the saints of old to eliminate the cacophony of the world and hear that still small voice of our true foundation, our assurance of comfort. We don’t have to be a Saint of old to hear it, or even better, to feel it. Find a place today, or tonight before bedtime, where you can take a few moments for a time of silence. Here’s a prayer that I often repeat; one that works for me: “I wait for you alone, my God; my hope is in you. You alone are my rock of assurance and safety; I will put my trust in You always, pouring out my heart's concerns to You, my refuge.” God is known for the steadfast love as stated in the Psalm of today’s reading. God is our sure foundation as we journey through this time of distress and uncertainty. Today’s news can be overwhelming to all of us. But these are the best of times to press together the palms of our hands and remember: "God is sovereign, and God is our firm support!" PRAYER Only you, Lord, can focus my heart to be present to you. In the multiplicity of things and distractions of my mind and every day's routine, the one necessity, the one place where my heart can rest is you. May your Spirit help me in my weakness and my distress. May the gift of your presence and comfort speak to my soul.* Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Donald (Luke) Day Order of St. Francis and St. Clare *modified from the words of Karl Rahner

SCRIPTURE  James 5: 1-6 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts on a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you. WORDS OF HOPE Sometimes we overlook or fail to appreciate things because we are so used to them. We don’t even think about them. Sometimes these are big things. I suspect, unless there is some unusual sound, most of us ignore the flyover of planes. But I suspect most of these things that we fail to notice are the small things. And sometimes it is the smallest things that make the biggest changes. One of my favorite little-known holidays is Punctuation Day. A day to celebrate those small marks that we are so used to and that our English teachers so often got onto us about. We don’t even think about them as we read most of the time. I was curious about the origin of punctuation and found some things that were kind of interesting; at least to me. While the ancient Greeks had some marks in their writings that were meant to help auditors as they read, it was not until almost the seventh century CE that punctuation was really used. Isidore of Seville introduced the comma the period and the colon. Prior to this no punctuation was used. One of my favorite teachers in college said that often times Romans didn’t even use spaces between words. Needless to say uppercase letters versus lowercase letters were nonexistent. Soimaginereadingsomethingwrittenlikethis When I read this, it made me think about the people who first wrote, and who first read the gospels and other Christian writings. Most of these things were not available in written form to the general public until the invention of the printing press in the 1400’s. Someone educated who had access to these writings would have to read them out loud to everyone. And because the writings were so valuable, they were kept in a place that was considered safe. People did not have the kind of leisure we have today; one of those small things we sometimes fail to think about. Nor did they have the education or reading materials we have. You worked from the sunup to sundown; usually at some form of manual labor. You maybe had a candle or oil lamp that you could use after dark but probably did not stay up that late. So, you got your gospel on Sundays in church from someone there; a priest who had been educated enough to read from the gospels and write a passage assigned by the church. This was often done in a way that within a specific time span, specific parts of the Bible would be read. So often we take for granted the simple things that make life easier. Punctuation, so simple and like so many things so obvious, makes communication clearer. Yet we do not stop to think about what it does and how much we rely on it. It is frequently this way with God’s creation. We see bugs; small animals. We often kill or chase them away. We fail to stop and think what the world would be like without these little miracles cleaning up our refuse. We worry about our own comfort without thought to the circle of life and death that is part of our universe. We give God thanks for the big things of life but often forget to thank God for the system of existence that is Creation. PRAYER Great and loving Creator, gives us pause to see all parts of your Creation and to appreciate those little things which keep that Creation in order. Remind us that the dominion which we have means care not just mastery. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Weber Baker Order of Saint Francis and Saint Clare