The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost - August 24, 2025 Artwork

The Preaching Moment

A moment each week when all is well for a mom and priest. The sermons of Mother Suzanne Weidner-Smith, Rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Alvin, Texas. The Rev. Suzanne Smith came to Grace, Alvin, first as Deacon-in-Charge in July 2018, after graduation from the Seminary of the Southwest with a Diploma in Anglican Studies in May 2018. She was ordained to the Episcopal Priesthood in January 2019, and since 2020, has been the Rector of Grace. After earning her Bachelor of Science degree at A&M in Corpus Christi, she went to Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, where she earned a Master of Divinity degree, and was ordained a minister in the Baptist Church. In the first decade of her ministry, Suzanne was a practicing Hospice Chaplain, where she learned how to provide pastoral care at the bedside of patients transitioning from this world to the next. Listening to their stories, and telling stories of her own, she realized the power of sharing the Gospel in story form. Passionate about liturgy, she weaves scripture and story to communicate the Gospel today. Suzanne is the proud mother of Luke, Noah, and Andrew. Together, they enjoy Cub and Boy Scouts, soccer, and basketball.

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The Preaching Moment

The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost - August 24, 2025

December 23, 2025 • The Reverend Suzanne Weidner-Smith • Season 4 • Episode 35

Summary

Mother Suzanne preaches on Luke's story of Jesus healing a woman who had been bent over for 18 years, emphasizing how Jesus saw her when others overlooked her and called her "daughter of Abraham." She challenges the congregation to recognize that we all live "bent over" by various burdens and struggles, but Jesus calls us to "stand up straight" as God's beloved children. The core message is that no matter what weighs us down, we are perfectly made and loved because we are God's beloved.

THE GOSPEL Luke 13:10-17

Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

Artwork: Jesus Healing the Sick, by Kenneth D Dowdy