Category Archives: Church

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Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 7: That Was Then…

Hello World,

Tonight’s episode was one of those turning point episodes and was aptly titled “That Was Then” so keep reading for this Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 7: That Was Then…

We’ve Only Just Begun…

The episode begins with Grace reading about the Coralie Hunter murder case on her computer as she is planning to take on the case with the newly created legal defense fund for victims of domestic violence. She takes in some gory images that must have been sent to her by Darius. Photographs with blood strewn about the bed like red paint had been spilled. A bloody hammer was the focus of another one of the photographs. The blood and gore take her back to the night she squared off with uncle in a fight for her very life. She recalls the cracked bottle that she used to sink into his neck, which proved to be a fatal blow. Her daughter Sophia interrupts her thankfully, taking her away from that dark place in her memory. But Sophia is still smarting from being told she is sterile. She wants her mother to tell a pastor at Calvary that she is done teaching the Little Saints class. “I’m never going to talk to them like I used to,” Sophia says. This is a new phase in Sophia’s life, a phase that calls for her to believe in the goodness of God even though her current experience doesn’t feel good. This is not easy.

This is also a new phase in Zora’s life. It’s her 18th birthday! Lest Zora believe that her Bible reading will be postponed for the next day, Lady Mae tells her they will have less time with the text in light of her birthday breakfast but their reading will still be done. Also, to help her celebrate her birthday, Jacob & Kerissa have been invited to breakfast. Kerissa tries to give Zora tickets to a Broadway musical that they can attend together, but Lady Mae says she is not allowed to go because it’s past her curfew! “Actions have consequences,” Lady Mae says in front of Zora’s parents.

Charity and Bishop share a tender moment in her suite. Since Charity doesn’t leave her room very much at this point, Bishop updates her on the goings-on in the estate including that Lady Mae has Zora on a 7 p.m. lockdown even on her birthday! Charity says, “When is she going to get herself together?” in reference to her wayward niece. Bishop responds, “When are you?” Charity changes the subject and asks him when he is leaving, but Bishop doesn’t get offended. Instead he tells her that he misses her. While they hug, she says, “I’m gonna miss you too.”

Plans have begun for “A Day With Lady Mae” but Maxine’s assistant Gloria doesn’t believe the space at the Templeton hotel will be big enough. Karine, Bishop and Lady Mae’s assistant, clearly doesn’t like Gloria (I guess it’s because they are both assistants.), but she agrees that with Maxine Patterson, maybe a bigger venue is needed. Gloria suggests that “A Day With Lady Mae” should be held at Calvary. Lady Mae and Karine like the idea as well. However, Karine checks Bishop’s schedule and as it turns out he will be hosting a “Silver Jubilee” on the same day. Karine worries about having to run the idea of having Lady Mae’s event at Calvary instead of off-site by Bishop. Lady Mae responds by saying, “Let me caution you about overvaluing Bishop’s opinion in this time of rapid evolution.” That woman stays speaking in poetry, doesn’t she?

To make matters worse, Lady Mae tries to enlist Grace’s help in meeting with the Boys & Girls Club of Memphis. She wants this organization to be involved somehow with “A Day With Lady Mae,” but her daughter tells her she cannot meet with the organization’s representative. Instead, she has a meeting scheduled with Coralie Hunter. Lady Mae refers to her as a “murderess” and a “tawdry woman who bludgeoned her husband to death with a hammer while he was sleeping.” She is incensed that Grace is choosing Coralie over the “flagship event for the church” and accuses her of doing so out of “sadism and spite.” Calling her mother’s event a “pep rally” and with sarcasm, Grace says, “You understand me perfectly.” Lady Mae says, “You don’t understand me at all.” Somehow and in some way, these two need to begin their relationship again…

Shake It Off…

From his office, Bishop places a call to his friend, Percy Lee Thompson, the funeral home owner. Just like his name suggests, the man is country. When Percy realizes it is his friend not a business call, he says, “When you call, use your cell phone. You had me talking like white folks for nothing.” Bwaaahhaaa! For my white readers, some black people do change how they speak when they are talking to people of different races…

But before the men can continue their conversation, Lady Mae comes into her soon-to-be ex-husband’s office. Lady Mae tells Bishop that their daughter is sponsoring a murderess like she is a child from Africa! “Is this good pr?” she asks. Behind them is this magnificent cross metal sculpture that is embedded in the wall, but I digress. Speaking of cross, Bishop tells Lady Mae that Rochelle Cross is advising him to invest in crytocurrency and this is how he will get the money to pay the IRS. However, he needs more money than what is in his personal account. He also wants to take money from their shared account. Calling her a “strumpet with a bad reputation,” Lady Mae cautions Bishop about accepting her financial advice. “She’s broken our family in half. Do you have to let her take our money too?” She compares him to the old foolish king in Ecclesiastes 4:13. “Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning.” Lady Mae knows how to rightly divide the word, right?! He needs to shake off Rochelle some kind of way. That’s for sure.

Grace goes to the jail to meet Coralie Hunter, but before she is able to do, the Memphis DA, who I presume is there on official business, stops her. He reminds her that he elected not to try her for manslaughter and warns her not to help Ms. Hunter. “Coralie Hunter is no victim.” She tells him that Ms. Hunter was abused by her husband. He responds with, “There is no shred of admissible evidence that he ever abused her. That pond you are about to step into is deeper than you think.” What does he mean by that? Once Grace is allowed inside of inner sanctum of the jail to actually see Coralie Hunter, she is reminded that the jail is where she could have easily been after what happened with Uncle Mac. She can’t shake those feelings off. Ms. Hunter notices Grace’s demeanor and Grace says, “I was once very close to sitting where you are.” She explains exactly what happened to Grace and how murdering her husband was self defense.

Now we discover why Bishop called Percy. Percy reaches out to Charity after a singer cancelled on singing at a memorial service for a dearly departed grandmother to be held at his funeral home. All he has at this point is “prerecorded music and Spotify.” With an open bottle of something next to her, Charity hesitantly agrees. But once she is there and singing for the grieving relatives, it’s clear that she is in her element. Awww, that was sweet of Bishop — getting his daughter out of the house and singing, what she was born to do.

Across town at Triumph, Jacob and Kerissa are still in disagreement about Zora being discipled and disciplined by Lady Mae. Kerissa thinks Lady Mae is just too strict. Jacob asks, “Isn’t being strict your whole brand?” Kerissa says, “If she knew what she was doing, it wouldn’t have taken me 20 years to get you to straighten up and fly right!” And this line was the best line of the episode. In that once sentence, we now know why Zora is willing to accept abuse. Her own mother did and for 20 years. No, it wasn’t physical abuse, but the end result is still the same. Her mother allowed herself to be devalued. Why should she be any different? Jacob is mad that his wife cannot shake the memories of who he used to be and discusses the matter with Tasha Skanks. As expected, she sympathizes and says she wasn’t always First Lady material and that she used to get her swerve on on Saturday nights and come to church the next morning. And instead of proving that they have changed, the two kiss! We all saw this coming…The thing is I feel like Tasha is truly feeling Jacob but at same time, her last name aine Skanks for nothing! Shake Tasha off Jacob!!!

And back at Calvary, Karine tries to get Bishop to sign some papers. I think she hopes he doesn’t pay attention to what he is signing, but he does. He sees that additional security will be needed to secure “A Day With Lady Mae” to be held at Calvary. He confronts Lady Mae about the additional security and the change of venue. Lady Mae explains that with Maxine Patterson more security and space is a must. He agrees but reminds of their deal. Once “A Day With Lady Mae” is over Lady Mae must leave the building. Lady Mae says, “As for me and my future plans, I will go where the Lord leads me to go.” In other words, she aine going nowhere but Bishop is in her sanctified imagination. Bishop and Lady Mae just can’t shake off where they are in their marriage.

Bye Bye Bye…

Darius and Grace discuss her conversation with the DA. “This DA is going to use my story against her and me.” Darius says she need not worry. “That was self-defense too, right?” She flashes back to the moment Grace could have called someone to save Mac who was bleeding his life out of his neck. “I’m not going to call anybody till you tell me where my daughter is.” Self-defense? Hmmm….Will Grace have to go bye bye bye during season for the death of her Uncle Mac? She returns to the jail to tell Coralie that she is going to bail her out of jail! Coralie is astonished at her generosity. Grace says, “You should have more faith.”

I want to say “Boy Bye” when Bishop meets with Rochelle Cross. He tells her that he has more money to invest. “I trust you and your expertise.” And then they both drink something! Is Bishop actually drinking liquor, and brown likka at that, in the house of God? Where dey do dat at? Lady Mae later discovers that Bishop has emptied their shared account! He assures her that their account will be full again in two weeks. She told him NOT to take money from their account. And now he must say good-bye. “You will leave tonight and this time, you will take every last tie and purple robe and gaudy knickknack!” LOL. Bishop goes to stay with Percy the undertaker at his funeral home, which makes sense because it represents the ultimate death of Bishop’s marriage.

In another part of the house, Sophia is trying to find a way to say good-bye to her faith. She literally tears out sheets from the Bible her grandfather gave her and flushes them down the toilet. “The Bible is all lies,” she says. At the same time, she is crying hysterically when Grace finds her. She wants to flush her faith down the toilet, but she can’t forget how her faith in God made her feel. “I don’t want to love someone who treats me this badly.” (Tell that to Zora.) “Why won’t He just let me go?” Because that’s how God is. Chile, there have been times that I’ve been so mad with God, I just want to shut Him out but where else is there to go but to God, particularly when you’re heartbroken?! Sophia is starting to realize that, but she doesn’t want to. God help her.

Meanwhile, Jacob wants to forget his dalliance with Tasha, but he cannot say good-bye to his guilt just like that. Instead, he tries to make amends somehow, telling Kerissa that Zora can home after all. Kerissa is elated because now that her daughter is 18, she realizes that their parental control is coming to an end. She also apologizes for bringing up Jacob’s past.

But before Zora’s parents can tell her that they are taking her home, Zora decides to emancipate herself from her grandmother’s jail, Lady Mae refers to it as a “grand escape,” now that she is 18 years old! That’s is what she meant when she said, it won’t be much longer in a previous episode. Right in front of Lady Mae, she packs her things and flies out of the Greenleaf home where Christian Breezy aka Isaiah is waiting for her in a black BMW jeep! Bye Bye Bye Zora 🙁

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 7: That Was Then and my other recaps so far. If you would like to keep up with OWN’s “Greenleaf,” and my recaps, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!

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Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 6: She Changes Everything…

Hello World,

Although OWN’s “Greenleaf” had a bye week last week, they got right back in the game with this week’s episode so keep reading for my Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 6: She Changes Everything…

Since I used an NFL term (bye week), one might expect that I would continue on the theme of male empowerment as depicted by sports, but I’m a switch hitter (baseball reference) because this episode was all about female empowerment and how women are changing the game! As least that is what Lady Mae would like to do, but more on that later…

Alright, let’s go…

She’s a Bad Mama Jama…

Lady Mae comes down the stairs with a revised proposal of what she and Bishop will say to the congregation about their divorce. “Oh the long awaited rewrite,” Bishop says. “I’ve printed it in large print so that you can read it on Sunday.” That was low-key shade although you’re supposed to print a speech in big letters so that you can see the words without straining. Y’all know Lady Mae has no problem with shade. She is the ultimate bad mama jama. Bishop notices that there is “nothing about saying good-bye” in the speech. Lady Mae says she has come to the conclusion that she is staying. Bishop and Lady Mae exchange more words before Lady Mae screams, “I will be praying for you.” If you have to scream that you will be praying for someone, maybe you shouldn’t…

Instead of a bad mama jama, Charity is a bad mama right now. She is face down on her coach passed out while her son Nathan is screaming his head off. It’s so loud that Lady Mae and Marisol, holding Nathan, confront her. Lady Mae says that Marisol heard the child over the dryer in another part of the house. After asking Charity if she is under the influence, she says, “I’m going to take this pharmacy of yours and throw it in the toilet.” And then she gets gully with it. “Don’t put me in the position where I have to agree with Kevin,” Lady Mae says. “On what?” Charity asks. “Your fitness as a mother.” Wow.

It seems that not even Sophia’s mother can comfort her daughter right now. And even Zora in all of her self-centered stupidity realizes it. She goes to Sophia’s room and apologizes for how she treated her cousin just before she was taken to the emergency room. “I didn’t know you were really sick.” Sophia says, “I forgive you. Now go to hell!” Yeah, she’s mad…”You made a joke about me getting pregnant,” Sophia says. “I don’t want an apology from anyone like you.” Was that Sophia’s way of calling her cousin a heathen?!

Grace is able to distract herself a bit from her daughter’s woes when her man Darius calls. He asks her is the legal defense fund she has created up and running as woman who was apparently abused has now killed her husband.

Speaking of husbands, Rochelle is still trying to steal Lady Mae’s soon-to-be ex-husband. Rochelle meets with Bishop at his office and says she can help him with his tax bill. After telling him about crytocurrency, she says, “People are getting rich quick.” “Can we?” Bishop asks.

Also now in her office as well, Lady Mae calls home to check on Charity. After Marisol informs Lady Mae that Charity is still on her sofa, she tells Marisol to have the power turned off in her suite. That should wake her up! But Lady Mae, like Bishop, also has a guest to entertain in her office. Maxine Patterson shows up at Calvary to much fanfare. After Maxine promises everyone that she will sign autographs and take pictures later, the two, called “sister warriors” by Lady Mae’s starstruck assistant Karine, retire to Lady Mae’s office.

Bishop and Rochelle come out of his office due to all of the hubbub. Rochelle says, “I wonder what Mae’s up to?” (Why does she feel comfortable calling her Mae rather than Lady Mae?) Bishop replies, “The devil only knows.”

Minutes later, Rochelle meets with Grace and Darius. Darius tells Rochelle about the abused woman who finally killed her husband, but all Rochelle can do is gawk at Darius right in front of his girlfriend! “Is that a custom shirt? It fits you so well.” Rather than be straight up offended, Grace is kind of amused by it probably it confirms something she already knows: Rochelle cannot be trusted. She has to keep an eye on her.

Meanwhile, back in Lady Mae’s office, their two assistants agree on a date that Maxine will speak at Calvary. But then, Lady Mae tells the two assistants to leave as a private matter needs to be discussed. Lady Mae tells her about Charity. Maxine says, “I know a soul doctor.” “But is she discreet?” Lady Mae asks. “No, but that’s not her gift.” LOL

She Wolf…

I am so through with Zora!!! The girl took Marisol’s cell phone from her purse to call Christian Breezy aka Isaiah. She played nice with her grandmother Lady Mae when she first came to stay with her at the estate, but now, she is acting like she was raised by a pack of wolves. After Lady Mae reminds her of the rules (no computer and no phone and no talking to that boy) Lady Mae rightly calls her out for her disrespect and Zora responds with, “I hate it here.” Lady Mae says, “What you hate is yourself.” Exactly. Any girl that would continue to be with a boy who beats and disrespects her on some level hates herself! Zora calls her mother Kerissa to tell her that she wants to come home, but Jacob vetoes that request.

Meanwhile in another part of the house, the Iyanla Vanzant (who is playing herself), Maxine Patterson’s soul doctor,  is also attempting to have a breakthough with Charity who looks like she was raised by wolves at this point – hair and eyes all wild… She asks her, “Why take painkillers? All I see is pain” with her trademark term of endearment “Beloved.” (Why is it that every time I hear her use this term, I want to laugh? It’s not right, but I know it’s okay! LOL. Y’all pray for me.).

Charity tells her that “no one cares about me.” Iyanla asks her “Did you embarrass yourself by marrying a man who is gay?” “He hid it from me,” she replies. “I find it hard to believe that he was able to hide a secret that big!” Iyanla says. Say that, Iyanla! I knew from the the first episode of “Greenleaf” that Kevin was gay! Charity goes on to tell her that she married Kevin because he made her feel safe in her home. Iyanla asks, “What would it take for you to feel safe and wanted?” I bet Iyanla helped to write her lines, don’t you?

And yet in another part of estate, Sophia is still in pain (and she will be for quite some time). It must feel like she’s been thrown to the wolves after learning that she is sterile in the last episode. I still find it harsh that the writers feel it necessary to put her through so much. But her boyfriend Roberto is trying to help her through it. He brings a pink teddy bear to her in her bedroom. Still in her pajamas, she says, “Sorry I’m such a buzzkill.” He says, “Want to pray about it?” Sophia responds with, “Not really.” She is feeling sorry for herself and says, “I will never have kids, and I have to take hormones for the rest of my life. He did this.” I’m a bit surprised that she shared all of the details with her boyfriend. I thought she would have kept some of the details to herself, but it’s good that she shared all of it with him. He’s pretty mature for a teenage boy as he is trying to be there for her when it seems that many teenage boys would have have just stopped seeing her. He tells her that the Bible is full of women who were barren but later had kids. She yells, “I’m not barren. I’m sterile.” Aren’t they pretty much the same thing?

Minutes later, Sophia asks her mother to take her place on Sunday and teach her Little Saints class. “How can I stand there and tell them that God is good when He isn’t?” She says that her mother shouldn’t be concerned that she won’t be in church on Sunday. “You quit going for 20 years!”

Everything She Wants…

Bishop and Lady Mae seem to have finally made peace with the fact that their marriage is over as they calmly discuss the statement they will be making come Sunday morning. Still, Bishop tells her to make sure that she adds a farewell because “there won’t be another chance to say it.” Has he met his soon-to-be ex-wife before? She always gets everything she wants…But in this moment, she doesn’t cause a ruckus as the two plan to meet with Iyanla and Charity before they go to church.

Iyanla encourages Charity to share her truth with her parents. “When I was growing up, I felt scared.” Y’all, I thought she was going to follow up that with she was also molested by Uncle Mac! But she said she felt like Faith and Grace were scared too. Then she says she didn’t tell her mother because “I knew you didn’t want to hear it. That scared me even more.” Lady Mae starts to get upset now because it’s evident that Charity has disclosed all of the Greenleaf’s business! And instead of hearing and trying to understand Charity’s pain, she tells her that she needs to get a “backbone.” She tells her that her childhood wasn’t perfect (i.e. she was molested by her father), but “I’ve never blamed my mother for any of it.” Wow, Lady Mae, it always comes back to you. Lady Mae should have blamed her mother to some degree. Lady Mae says, “The world is scary, but don’t look at me. You fix it. That’s how Jesus works not me.”  Lady Mae is a woman in denial and expects everyone else to play along…That’s how Satan works, Lady Mae. So it looks like if Charity wants to get some healing, Lady Mae is not truly going to help…

After this meeting and before church, Bishop says to Lady Mae, “You can have the house. I will take care of the IRS bill, but you have to leave the church.” Surprisingly, she agrees with one stipulation. “I want ‘A Day With Lady Mae.'” (I guess this is a Women’s Service of some sort) Bishop agrees but tells her that after that she has to move on.

At church, Zora is still intent on getting everything she wants and calls that boy while she is in someone’s office. That child is off the rails.

After Charity sings about the “Balm in Gilead,” Bishop, who is in royal blue, and Lady Mae, who is in continuous black,” announce that they have some “news to share. We’re only human and we’ve never claimed to be anything but. We’re divorcing.” Gasps can be heard from all points of the sanctuary, but Bishop continues. “Some of you may ask, ‘Have they prayed about it? Have they tried to work it out? We did. We have.”

Lady Mae goes on to tell the church that she will be still hosting ‘A Day With Lady Mae” and her special guest will be Maxine Patterson, who is in the audience. The theme of the all-day seminar will be “She Changes Everything.”

After the service, Grace walks out in the hallway and hears the chatter about the announcement. Among the statements that she overhears is “I can’t have a pastor who is divorced.” Outside in the parking lot, Maxine shares her plan with Lady Mae. It is one of Sankofa. “We’re reaching back and picking up what you dropped.” In other words, Maxine hopes to help Lady Mae take over Calvary, but she also has a Plan B if Plan A doesn’t work. “We will march up the road and plant a new one.”

Will Lady Mae get everything she wants?

There She Goes…

Instead of thanking Iyanla for getting through to Charity, Lady Mae tells her that she didn’t appreciate being “bushwhacked.” Iyanla points that it was her daughter’s truth. Lady Mae says Iyanla made it seem like her problems were all of her fault. There Lady Mae goes again…deflecting like the devil wants her to… She points that she is already blamed by her eldest daughter but she won’t be blamed by her youngest daughter. And there you have it. Why Lady Mae cannot stand Grace. Grace calls her mother out on her issues. Iyanla sees through the smoke screen and says she can come to her when she is ready to deal with her own pain.

Grace tells Sofia what happened in church and Sofia says she knew something was up because everyone was blowing up her phone all day. Then Grace tells her that although she didn’t go to church, she is going to have to come back. But Sophia sets her straight. “I’m not going to church ever again. “

She goes outside to the pier and throws her chain (I think she received it when she was baptized.) in the lake. And there she goes. Walking away from God. Not Good. But I understand.

Any thoughts?

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 6: She Changes Everything and my other recaps so far. If you would like to keep up with OWN’s “Greenleaf,” and my recaps, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!

 

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Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 5: Closing Doors…

Hello World,

I must say that this was the saddest episode I’ve watched of OWN’s “Greenleaf” (which has been renewed for Season 4!)  thus far and I will tell you why if you continue reading this Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 5: Closing Doors.

Per usual, I will incorporate the title of this week’s episode in the recap and hopefully in doing so, I can illuminate some of the themes explored. And I’m sure y’all will let me know if I have done that successfully or not!

So without further ado…

Knock Knock…

Behind the closed door of her Calvary office, Lady Mae peruses a brochure for Howard Divinity School. (Is she really going to our nation’s capital to study there? I can’t see that. Now, I can see her doing a correspondence course or something like that but that’s about it. She’s too prissy at this stage in her life to submit to classroom rules. What y’all think?) She is interrupted by a call from Ms. Clara who has decided to NOT give the $2 million to Calvary.

Lady Mae tells this unfortunate news to Bishop in his office. He had already heard the bad news and they discuss why this happened when Ms. Clara had originally agreed to bail them out. Apparently, first of all, she learned that their IRS debt was a personal not institutional debt and secondly, she learned that Bishop and Lady Mae are on the brink of divorce. Her family values would not allow her to financially support a church led by a divorced bishop. Then the blame game and bickering start! “Mac was your brother,” Bishop says. “You told me those offerings were not taxable,” Lady Mae says. “I believed what Mac told me,” Bishop says. Lady Mae has a solution. “You’ll step aside and I’ll take over.” She reminds me Bishop that she had a calling and dumped it in the dirt for him and what did she get for her trouble? Bishop says, “Chanel and Tiffany!” Amen! (That’s me not Lady Mae LOL) And Lady Mae’s solution is not a solution at all according to Bishop. “You are sorely mistaken. If we divorce, it will be you who will exit the building not me. That’s nature’s way.” SMH…These two…They are so alike it’s ridiculous…

So I think someone should take a Bible and knock Zora over the head with it, but instead Lady Mae, who is now at home, knocks on her granddaughter’s door to tell her that Bible study will be in 15 minutes. It is now morning, but barely, as it 5:45! Yikes!  Zora thought she would be luxuriating at the Greenleaf estate, but Zora is the one who was truly sorely mistaken. As a new day dawns, Lady Mae and Zora read from the Bible together. Lady Mae has Zora read Isaiah 54:7. “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back.” I know this message is for Zora but I cannot help but think that Lady Mae thinks this verse applies to her calling as well. In fact, below is the entire passage in a different version.

For the LORD has called you, Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” says your God.  “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of anger, I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.

As Lady Mae and Zora are reading together, Sophia stops by on her way out of the door for a morning run. Zora scowls.  They have such a good girl/bad girl competition going on.

In another part of the house, Charity seems like someone knocked her out. She is an angry stupor and stares at a bottle of oxycontin pills. When Grace comes into her sister’s room to check on her, Charity spews out her anger. “Are you okay?” Grace says. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Charity replies. She blames her sister for her arrest at the Four Seasons hotel.

It’s obvious that not only a new day but trouble is on the horizon when Sophia clutches her side in front of the Greenleaf home after she finishes her morning run.

Sitting By Heaven’s Door…

Now that Clara aine coming up with the cash, Bishop is scrounging around for another solution. He tells his assistant Karine, who is Clara’s granddaughter by the way, to call Percy Thompson. Remember he is the one who introduced Lady Mae and Bishop and was in last week’s episode. Karine says, “I’m sorry about Nana” to Bishop. Bishop replies with, “God will provide,” but Karine doesn’t know how as she has a bemused expression on her face. Man will always let you down in one way or another, but God in Heaven is always our help!

But Rochelle aine worrying about going to heaven’s door when she wants to create hell on earth for the Greenleafs. She meets with her sister-in-law and lawlessness to conspire about how they will take down Bishop and Jacob. Rochelle wants Tasha to get Jacob to sign some papers (to trick him into giving up the church? I’m not sure.) and she is elated that Bishop’s IRS troubles are splashed across the front page of the local newspaper.

Back at Calvary, Lady Mae goes to Deaconness Connie to tell that she need not worry about the IRS scandal. “Bishop will step aside and I am ready to step up and take over.” But Connie is not compliant regarding Lady Mae’s solution. “Mae, it’s my feeling and the deacon board shares my feelings that our best hope for the future is a disinterested third party.” “Who is disinterested?” Lady Mae says. “Why Grace,” Connie says as if it’s obvious. And maybe this is part of the reason that Lady Mae is jealous of her daughter and or gives her such a hard time. Everyone can see that she is called to be a minister and Lady Mae put her calling on the back burner to support her husband’s call.

Also at Calvary, Sophia teaches the little children about faith by blindfolding them and asking them to move around the classroom. Roberto, her boyfriend, comes in and tells her that she is good with children. She says, “I think they’re good with me.” So sweet. He apologizes to her for attempting to push her beyond her sexual boundaries.

And yet in another part of Calvary, in Bishop’s office, Percy has shown up. Bishop inquires about how he got out of his IRS mess. He tells him his lawyer helped him rob Peter to pay Paul. Bishop says that he needs to speak with Percy’s lawyer, but Percy says he already has a ace in the hole. “That pretty little bunny that was prancing about at your party.” He’s been to Rochelle’s website and has discovered that she is involved in crytocurrency. “It’s growing faster than bad grass,” Percy says. He asks Percy for Rochelle’s number and Bishop asks for Percy’s lawyer’s number.

Close The Door…

In the most heartwarming moment of the show, Jacob is spending some quality time with his son behind the closed doors of his office. They are playing chess and his son beats him! This is the first time I’ve seen him and his son alone. Tasha comes into his office, prepared to push these mysterious documents in his face for him to sign. But she is so touched by what she witnesses that she makes up a reason to be there (the ac is too cold) and closes the door behind her. She has a heart after all…

Lady Mae has a heart too but somehow when it comes to Grace, her heart is cold. “So I spoke to Connie and I know about this coup of yours,” she says to her daughter at Calvary. Grace informs her that she is truly disinterested in the job. “I wish the two of you would forgive each other and move on…I don’t know where pride ends and weakness begins. I don’t want the church.” “Good because you will never get it,” Lady Mae tells her daughter. And with that mean-spirited comment, Lady Mae may have sealed her fate. Grace may not have wanted the church before, but now that her mother tells her she will never get it, those just may be fighting words!

After Lady Mae speaks with Grace, Connie has another conversation with Grace about who will take over Calvary if Bishop and Lady Mae divorce. Connie says Lady Mae must be on another planet if she thinks she is the change that Calvary needs at this time. In fact, that change of leadership will lead to a “big for sale sign” on the church. “That will be a change.” Grace continues to resist Connie’s suggestion that she be the one Greenleaf who will change the direction of Calvary. She reminds Connie that the offering went down when she preached last summer and that she will be preaching about Jesus’ unconditional love.

At the Greenleaf estate, Charity is forced to give her son to his father Kevin. She attempts to be stoic as she does so, but when she closes the door of her bedroom, she slides down the door awash in tears. She is coming apart for sure…

Rochelle’s plan is coming apart too because Tasha is having a change of heart about getting Jacob to sign the papers. She tells Rochelle that she hasn’t found the right time to present the papers to him. “Do you want to see Basie again?” Rochelle says. “Then make it the right time.” I’m not exactly sure how these papers are related to Basie’s return, but I miss Bootleg Basie! LOL

After meeting with Percy, Bishop decides that he needs Rochelle’s planning skills as it relates to money to help them pay off their IRS debt. He goes to her office to speak to her in person, but Rochelle Cross is now cross when it comes to Bishop. After he tells her that he feels the Lord led him to her door, she says, “You prayed and it brought you back to this Jezebel? Now why would I want to help you? You can’t throw me out and come back begging for favors.” That door of opportunity was closed.

Tasha gets back on track with the plan as she figures out a way to get Jacob to sign the papers, but I don’t know if she will give them to Rochelle though. During their conversation, Jacob tells Tasha how much she appreciates her help at Triumph. In fact, he considers her a member of the family!

Back at the Greenleaf estate, Zora is listening to music from rapper Ice-T before his “Law & Order” days. Apparently, she didn’t know that he was a rapper before he was an actor. (I guess these Millennials don’t realize that Will Smith was also a rapper before he was an actor! ) Sophia asks her if she wants to go to Zaxby’s and then she gets that mysterious pain in her side again.

Girl Next Door…

When Grace realizes that her mother is calling her as she is spending some time with Darius, she almost ignores the call. They are discussing him potentially being the First Gentleman of a church! But thankfully, she answers because her mother tells her that Sophia is in the hospital!

At the hospital, Grace learns that Sophia is suffering from an ovarian torsion and surgery is needed to see what is causing the issue. After Grace assures her daughter that she will be nearby when she wakes up, she joins her family in the waiting room. Charity’s behavior is odd to say the least. She yells out, “Being sliced open is not fun” and mumbles about losing her daughter. Her family thinks she is drunk and advises her to drink some water. So now we’re starting to see what is at the root of Charity’s pain. She definitely hasn’t had the chance to grieve the death of her daughter AND the death of her marriage in my opinion.

By the time Grace returns to see Sophia, the anesthesia has kicked in and Sophia is nearly giddy as she tells her mother that Roberto wants to marry her and respects the fact that she is saving herself for marriage. She dreams of having a home filled with children and puppies with him and Grace is excited that her daughter is in love (and feeling at ease in preparation for the surgery).

At the vending machine, Jacob has a quick discussion with Zora about staying with her grandparents. Unlike Sophia, she is perpetually moody and complains about gaining weight, not having access to TV and a computer, early morning Bible study, etc. (Y’all know that child is pregnant, right?) Charity comes over then and says to Kerissa, who replaces Jacob after he walks away, “Y’all really messed her up bad.” She attempts to get a candy bar but the candy bar refuses to come out. Like a woman who is out of her mind, she punches through the glass to get the candy bar. And although her hand is bloody, she uses her other hand to eat the chocolate! “I’m going to need stitches,” she says. Her family is stunned silent.

After Charity is examined and stitched up, the family learns that she is on Oxycontin which she was given after her Cesarean. In the midst of all of this chaos, Bishop pleads with Lady Mae once more. “These kids need their parents. They need us. Please let’s put all of this behind us.” But Lady Mae is no longer the girl next door ready to fit into Bishop’s plan. “I’ve reached a point in my heart where going back would be disrespect to God himself. They need their mother and father but they won’t have their parents again.”

Still, as a family, the Greenleafs, with Jacob pushing Charity in a wheelchair, make their way to the hospital chapel and recite the Lord’s Prayer together. And Bishop receives a text from Rochelle while there…More will be revealed later I’m sure…

Once the surgery is over, Grace receives some heartbreaking news…Sophia had ovarian cysts which were causing organ displacement I think. Her ovaries had to be removed thereby making it impossible for her to have children. Y’all, I’m almost started crying especially since we now know that having children with Roberto is a dream of hers and the fact that she is obviously great with children! Sophia wept in her mother’s arms. “I can’t have children,” she says as her mother holds her.  Grace says, “God has got you. You can lean on Him.” That’s kind of hard for her to believe at the moment. All of her dreams of being the girl next door with the white picket fence, handsome husband, babies and puppies seem to be in jeopardy with this horrible news! (It would be so unfair if Zora ends up being pregnant by a boy that she ultimately won’t marry and Sophia won’t be able to get pregnant by the boy she intends to marry 🙁  )

Speaking of horrible news, Bishop finally seems to be coming to terms with Lady Mae’s decision to move ahead with the divorce. He gives her a draft of what they will say to the church the next Sunday about their pending divorce. After he hands the draft to her, he says, “I’m sorry.” She simply says, “Please close the door behind you.” Wow…

Well, that’s it and that’s all…And it looks like there won’t be an episode next week. Apparently, it will return on Wednesday, Oct. 3.

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 5: Closing Doors and my other recaps so far. If you would like to keep up with OWN’s “Greenleaf,” and my recaps, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!