Complaints against God are not in themselves a sin; they figure in scripture on many occasions. It’s what they lead to that’s important.

This week’s Letter to the Ephesians, though probably not composed by Paul, captures his spirit and his consistent call for unity: One body, spirit, hope, faith, baptism, and God of all.

What can you do to create unity with and among those around you—to make “one new person in place of the two”—even if this effort requires some sacrifice?

Jesus’ “sending” of the apostles (in Greek: apostolos, “one who is sent”) to extend his mission of healing reflects the missionary strategy of the Early Church: travel light and keep moving, do what is good, and put your trust completely in God.

When I am weak, Saint Paul said, “then I am strong.” Despite his human weaknesses and what he has suffered, God’s power was still working in him as an apostle of Jesus.

You get to wholeness, the readings say, by healing—or, maybe one should say, by getting back to the original wholeness God gave human beings.

Where has God amazed you? Helped you to say something? What do you bless God for today?

The readings this week show that what is small, hard to see, and even invisible can have vast importance. Whether it’s the tender shoot of the cedar tree or the tiny seed of the mustard plant, what seems slight now will become something mighty.

While all the sprinkling of blood in the first reading may be a little more gory detail than you might have wanted, the story of this ritual offers you something to consider for the celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ.

Saint Paul says an incredible thing: Through Jesus you can become a true child of God, and not only children but heirs, welcomed with full membership into God’s family, and not only heirs but “joint heirs,” able to call God “Father” just as Jesus does.