The 13th week after Trinity
Jesus is our Good Samaritan
Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023 – Lord God, heavenly Father, when we were dead in our trespasses, You rescued us in the waters of Baptism, reviving, healing, and restoring us through the benefits won by Your Son in His death and resurrection. You have called and gathered us to Your inn on the hill here in Catalina to receive these very gifts through Your innkeeper, our Pastor, through Your Word properly divided and Your Sacraments rightly administered. As sinner-saints, we continually lapse and head downhill, but You always carry us back. We most heartily thank You that, in Your boundless love for us, You have granted us to be born and live in this time and place, in which we may behold Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, receive Your gifts and invite others to join us. We confess that we often forget that it is here at Catalina Lutheran Church that You give us all that we ultimately need. For this we are heartily sorry and we sincerely repent. We most humbly beseech you, govern our hearts by Your Holy Spirit that we remain steadfast in Your Word and ever thankful for the gifts You give us in this place, and that by returning to You that which is Yours, we are enabled to provide for the expansion of Your inn here in Catalina, that in the end many may be revived, healed and restored, until Your Son returns on the clouds; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, world without end. Amen.