These September days in the Midwest offer beautiful examples of the arrival of the season of autumn.  The morning air is cool and crisp.  Fall flowers have replaced those from spring and summer in gardens and pots.  The hours of daylight are getting shorter.  The leaves on the trees are just beginning to change to shades of red, yellow and orange.  And the flavor and scent of pumpkin spice is everywhere.  From my front porch I enjoy these signs of autumn as I read and pray with today’s scripture.

In today’s first reading we hear Paul teaching the Corinthians a fundamental belief of our Christian faith, our belief in the resurrected Christ and our own resurrection.  Paul is confronting those who doubt the resurrection of the dead.  I can hear the frustration in his words, but I also hear his patient teaching.  Paul states:  For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.  Paul’s clarification is profound.  We have the gift of the Eucharist to be grounded in the resurrection of Christ.

The gospel today from Luke is a simple account of Jesus traveling from one village to another preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.  Luke mentions the disciples and women traveling with Jesus.  As I picture Jesus and his companions, I am reminded what a good teacher Jesus was and how he so skillfully taught using stories and metaphors.  This helps me more deeply appreciate the responsibility Paul had teaching the early Christians.

As I experience autumn with all of my senses, I ask that the seasonal changes become a metaphor for our dying and resurrection. I pray to stay focused on my baptismal promises.   I pray in gratitude for the beauty I see around me.  I pray for the grace when at liturgy to more deeply engage with the prayers we pray as community and to fully embrace the wonder of the Eucharist.