21st Sunday in Ordinary TIme

Our readings for 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Isaiah 66: 18-21
2. Psalms 117: 1, 2
3. Hebrews 12: 5-7, 11-13
4. Luke 13: 22-30

• Radical inclusion
• God wants us all, and He wants all of each of us.  Yet it's sometimes difficult to accept others into our midst when they hail from a different culture, denomination, political perspective, you name it.
• Think of a time when someone new came into your life.  Maybe they were a soon to be in-law, maybe they were a new colleague at work, or someone looking into joining a ministry group that you had been a part of.
• Were you personally welcoming to them?
• If so, what did you actually say/do to help them feel welcome?
• If not, what lessons did you learn about hospitality from that?

• Telling the good news
• We have received "the Good News."  But what does that really mean?
• Do you have friends, family even, who you know would be much happier, more blessed if they could just see & appreciate God the way that you do?
• Do you think that they know that?
• What would have to happen before you might be tempted to share your faith with them?
• What scares you most about starting that dialogue?
• What scares you most about not starting that dialogue? 

• Forged in discipline
• Matthew Kelly has a chilling quote "you're only as good as your worst habits."
• What are some habits that you've accumulated through the years?  If you don't think that you have any, ask a close friend or spouse.
• Which of those habits bring you closer to God in some way?
• Why do you still have the rest of your habits?
• What is one habit that you wished that you had?  This could be something simple, like "the habit of being grateful for everything that comes my way", or "finding the best in other people, no matter what the circumstances. 

• State of grace
• It's too easy to judge others.  Not so easy to really take a hard look at ourselves.  Ignatius (and others) offer us the examen prayer to meditate fruitfully on our place in time and space, and see how best to move forward.
• Where has God been evident in the past 24 hours for you?
• What are you thankful for today?
•  What were the decisions that you made today?
• Were your motives always pure, did you take the appropriate time to pray through those decisions, were you listening to/for the voice of God?
• How can you do better tomorrow? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How is God calling me to greater trust?
• How is my life drawing others to God? 
• What are my worst habits?
• How is God calling me to greater self-awareness?

Is it OK to Pray Here?

My wife and I were on our way home from Mass.
People were already streaming into the parking lot for the next Mass.

A gentleman, on foot, looking lost in the parking lot approached me.
"Is it OK if I pray here?  I'm not Catholic, but my friend was."

He went on: "I thought that if I prayed for them in a Catholic Church, God might hear me."
I wanted to get home, start the rest of my day.  So I just said "sure thing, the door's over there."

So many better responses have come to mind since then.
I could have told him "God loves to hear from His beloved, no matter where they are."

Better yet, "let me show you to the door and get you seated."
Better yet, "when you're done, I'd love to hear about your friend so that we can pray for them too."

Better yet, "who told you that you're not Catholic.  How do you know?
I am sure that your friend is very grateful that you're praying for them.  And God is too."

Perhaps best of all would have been "remember that you're always welcome to come back."
I pray to God that He'll help me remember this the next time he sends someone across my path.

Shalom!

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Wisdom 18: 6-9
2. Psalms 33: 1, 12, 18-19, 20-22
3. Hebrews 11: 1-2, 8-19
4. Luke 12: 32-48

• At the ready
• The children of Israel had to be ready.  Ready to leave all that they knew, most of their possessions, their homes and take off into an unknown future.  I imagine the young children asking why they cannot afford to bring along treasured possessions, why they have to leave at all, and why this night, among all others.  I would not want to be their parents.
• What are some things that you are particularly attached to?  That might be a place, a job, a position within your company, a daily routine that you love.
• If God told you that He had something that was even better that He was offering you in exchange for that treasured item, would you be able to let go?
• How would you even make such a decision?
• Have you ever been faced with such a discernment in your past?
• Why do you think that is? 

• Stoking your hope
• Hope sustains us through the worst of times.  But hope is not always easy to find.
• At bottom, what do you hope for most?  Is it to be the next powerball winner, to get that coveted promotion at work, that your mother-in-law would finally stop nagging at you, ...?
• Does that hope help bring you closer to God?
• What sort of hope would draw you closer to God?
• What would be the foundation, the root of such a hope?
• How do you think that you might strengthen that hope starting today? 

• Living in between
• A liminal space is a transition, a doorway into something new.  I expect that most of us want to get to the other side of such chapters in our lives as quickly as possible so that we can once more "settle in" to a new routine, get past that awkward stage of caught leaving one state behind in favor of another, and not having a clear picture of what the future holds.
• What are some of the transitions that you are undergoing right now?  That might be mourning the loss of a loved one, your children moving out of the house, graduating from an education into something new, creating a new relationship with someone else, ...
• Why did you embark on this transition in the first place?
• How much of that decision was the fruit of prayer for you?
• How much of the way in which you navigate this season in your life the fruit of prayer?
• If you could go back to the fork in the road that led you to this place, would you make the same decision, knowing then what you know now?
• Do you think that we ever get to a place of just resting in life? 

• Where is your heart?
• Balance is hard.  Renouncing all possessions and earthly ties is tough, but trying to "live in the world and not be of the world" is perhaps even tougher.  Somehow, we are called to love people, not use them, and use the things of this world for God's glory, but not love them.
• How do you make sure that nothing in your life gets to be too important to you?
• If you find that you have developed an unhealthy attachment to someone/something/some place/some experience, ... how to you get free of that?
• Why do you think that process of achieving freedom can be so painful? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me from my comfort zone? 
• What can I do to get closer to what I hope for in my life in God? 
• Is there anywhere in my life where I might be rushing to get through something that might be an invitation to draw closer to God?
• How is God calling me to greater trust?

Shalom!

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Ecclesiastes 1: 2; 2: 21-23
2. Psalms 90: 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17
3. Colossians 3: 1-5, 9-11
4. Luke 12: 13-21

• Pep talk
• It's always a good exercise to occasionally compose your own eulogy.  It also helps to think about who you would want to be delivering that eulogy.
• Would you rather be remembered for what you were able to give others, or what you were able to acquire?
• When you think about taking on a new effort in your life, how do you decide whether or not to make that commitment?
• Do you sometimes wonder whether some significant part of your life's work has been in vain?
• What makes you feel that way?
• How do you feel God looks at the things that you have labored over? 

• Numbering my days
• My days on this planet are numbered.  I just don't know what that number is yet.  Maybe that's a good thing.
• When you were young(er) what did you dream of doing with your life?
• Have those dreams come true in any measure?
• Why?
• Do you think that God has dreams for your life?
• Do you know what those are?
• Should you ask? 

• Setting my mind on things above
• I'm beginning to think that Jesus never had to make a mortgage payment.  Life is full of things that must be attended to.  Watching the rising cost of homeowner's insurance, trying to find the best deals on groceries, and the fact that the new puppy has decided to chew on the area rugs for some reason, just to name a few.
• How do you make sure that the mundane things of this life are set in proper perspective?
• How can you tell when you've let that proper perspective slip?
• What is it like for you when the "things above" get their proper attention? 

• False security
• I remember a skit that Steve Martin did on Saturday Night Live advertising insurance insurance.  In the skit, you could pay for insurance that would cover the rising costs of insurance.  We all laughed back then...  "The Lord will provide" certainly rings true.  But how does that work out in practice?
• How has the Lord provided for you in the past?
• What have you learned from those episodes in your life?
• Do you think that you can predict what God will do in the future, based on what He has done in your life in the past?
• Does it reflect a lack of trust on your part to set aside money for retirement? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• What might God be calling me to give of myself today? 
• Will what I have planned for today bring me closer to God's dream for me? 
• Where do my priorities come from?
• How is God calling me to greater trust? 

Shalom!

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Genesis 18: 20-32
2. Psalms 138: 1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8
3. Colossians 2: 12-14
4. Luke 11: 1-13

• Invited to pray
• I'm struck that God hung back with Abraham and let His two companions go on ahead, as though God wanted a word alone with Abraham.  The thought that God enjoys time alone with me, that He finds my company enjoyable is both liberating and moving.
• We all have favorite people that we like to share things with.  One person might be your go to when your kids do something wonderful, someone else might be your favorite person to tell about some accomplishment you had at work the other day.  What sort of things do you like to share with God?
• What sorts of things do you think God actually enjoys hearing about?
• A good leader receives more than just the bare facts in a report, they are looking for how those facts impact the one reporting them, how the reporter perceives those facts, and what the reporter wants to see coming out of those events.  How much of that do you share with God?
• If we believe that God is the Universe's best listener, what should we be telling Him about? 

• Lord give me strength
• I love Morgan Freeman in this video.  When we encounter challenging circumstances, it's easy to ask God to remove the challenges, let life get back to "normal", whatever that is.  I suspect the next rung up on the prayer ladder is to pray for strength to get through that challenge.  Still survival mode, but better.  I'm beginning to realize that maybe the next rung up is to ask that I might draw closer to God in the course of making my way in that challenge.
• When are some times that God has given you strength?
• Did it come about that you got to a place where you no longer needed that strength?
• Why do you think that God uses circumstances in our lives to teach us and build us, rather than just "zap" us with whatever grace we're looking for? 

• Nailing it
• God calls us to be people of hope.  That hope looks forward to something better than the sorts of things that most folks hope for: promotion at work, a house in a nicer neighborhood, our kids finally getting serious about their schoolwork.  While all of these things are good, they need to be set in the proper context, the hope for freedom from sin and ever greater closeness to God.
• What limitations, fears, bad habits, ... that you have that in one way or another hinder you from getting closer to God?
• Can you imagine what it would be like if those shackles were to somehow be removed?
• How do you think that God might go about making that happen?
• Are you ready for one or more of those shackles to be broken? 

• The ultimate gift
• Everything around us can be looked at as props on a stage.  They are here to help us to learn how to be more trusting, righteous, holy before God.  They are nothing but a means to an end.  We cannot take them with us, because we will have no need nor desire to take them with us when we die.
• What are some of the best gifts that God has given you in your life?
• Do you think those all came to you by way of prayer (yours or someone praying for you)?
• How did each of those gifts bring you closer to God?
• If God had asked you ahead of time, would you have suggested that He bring you closer to Him in some other way? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How can I make room in my life for more/better prayer? 
• Where do I need greater strength and courage? 
• Where can I be more free in my walk with God?
• How is God drawing me closer to Him today?

Open My Eyes Lord

Funerals are painful for a lot of reasons.

Sharing your grief with other grieving souls is never easy.

Each of the bereft have a different set of memories,

Looking at the departed through a different prism.

 

Finding that all of us carry different facets of the departed,

Sharing stories with one another

Reconciling our personal picture

With the rest of the community of grief can be a challenge.

 

Its a rare person who loses a loved one without regrets.

Rarer still the one whose heart is more full of thanksgiving than sadness 

When a once vibrate part of your life is now gone forever.

Leaving you wondering how it might have been if only you'd known.

 

"I told you I was sick" is a humorous headstone.

Reminding us that life is short, death often unexpected.

And we need to live with each other knowing that we might be in the last days:

Either yours or mine.

 

I think it all comes down to being sensitive,

Bold,

Brave,

Courageous.

 

So that when God comes knocking at our door in the form of a loved one,

We see them, we see Him for who they are in our lives.

And graciously welcome them in knowing that the present is always ripe.

And trust that the knock at the door is an answer to prayer.

 

Whether we know it or not.

 

Shalom!

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Genesis 18: 1-10a
2. Psalms 15: 2-3, 3-4, 5
3. Colossians 1: 24-28
4. Luke 10: 38-42

• A receptive heart
• I don't know about you, but I prefer to have a clear plan for how I'm going to spend my time.  I don't know that plans are bad, but I'm beginning to think that getting too attached to a plan leaves me less open, less sensitive, to God's presence and guidance in my life.  I would probably have been a little annoyed that someone would approach my camp in the heat of the day, when things typically slow down for a bit.
• When have you been "in the moment" with God?  Maybe you had a perfectly fine Confirmation lesson planned, but when you got to class, something totally new, and even better came to mind and you went with it.
• Or maybe you had an "interruption" crop up unexpectedly but you felt led to let that into your schedule anyway, and it turned out to be a real blessing.
• How did you know to "go with the flow"?
• Were your original plans necessarily wrong?
• Why do you think this sort of thing happens to us? 

• Redefining success
• It seems as though each generation of us have their own definition of success.  My father once told me that at one time he thought that "making it" consisted of wife, two kids, brick house in the suburbs, a late-model Buick in the driveway, and a dog.  Not necessarily in that order.
• How do you define success?
• Are you there yet?
• Is your notion of success in this life at all tied to your idea of success in heaven?
• How has your notion of success changed through the years?
• How might your notion of success continue to change? 

• Fully mature in Christ
• Maturity doesn't come easily or quickly.  I am beginning to suspect that maturity gradually blossoms in each of us at a different rate.  Even if we could measure a person's maturity, such a measurement would have little value and less meaning.
• Do you feel that you are more mature today than you were, say, ten years ago?
• What makes you say that?
• How have you achieved that maturity?
• Was any of that intentional? 

• Shifting priorities
• Some years back I chaperoned a Confirmation retreat and I had a wonderful time.  I realized that was the one place where I did not have to constantly wonder whether I was doing the most important thing for the moment.  Life was simple.  A rare experience for me.
• I don't think that Jesus felt that Martha's hospitality was a bad thing, I think that her resentment, and her priorities were what concerned him. 
• How do you decide how to invest your time each day?  Do you have a set schedule that you execute exactly the same each day, do you set goals for yourself of what you want to accomplish, do you set goals for your self of how much time you'll spend at each task, regardless of what you accomplish, ...?
• At the end of the day, how do you tell whether it's been a "good day" or not?
• How might you do that "end of day recap" in prayer? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How could you be a better listener to God's call in your life? 
• What do you think are God's deepest desires for you? 
• How are you partnering with God to grow in your maturity?
• Where has God led you to be generous that you might not have realized?

Apparitions in the heat

I love this time of day.

It's too hot to worry about the flocks.

Most of them are napping about this time.

Supper is hours away.

 

I love to take this time to review the day.

Ask myself whether I've been a good servant to our God.

Review the day and ask where God has touched me,

And where I accepted that touch.

 

Often, I surprise myself.

I find God in the strangest places in my life.

Beckoning, me deeper into His embrace.

Inviting me into His love in a new way.

 

Just when I was settling into meditation,

These three travelers appear out of nowhere.

On a journey when they should be resting.

Looking as though they could use some hospitality.

 

Quickly I arose, afraid that they would pass by in their haste.

Provided the necessities for them as best I could without warning.

And then we companioned together.

Easy and slow, each of us making time for the others.

 

I finally realized who they were -

When one of them repeated a promise to me that only God, Sarah and I knew.

A promise that seemed at once amazing and so generous.

Inviting me and Sarah into all of the joys and sorrows of parenthood.

 

You would think that a promise repeated is more believable.

But Sarah and I had given up hope of ever having a child of our own long ago.

Better to give up, and make peace with that.

Than keep hoping that for a miracle that will never happen.

 

I've come to see that those three travelers who visited that day -

Were not an interruption to my prayer.

I was able to meet them where they were, at that precise moment -

Because of my prayer in the heat of the day.

 

Sometimes God's promises just take time to arrive.

Sometimes my faith takes time to mature.

Sometimes miracles happen when you least expect them.

And there is no "sometimes" about God's mercy. 

 

Shalom!

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Deuteronomy 30: 10-14 
2. Psalms 69: 14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37
3. Colossians 1: 15-20
4. Luke 10: 25-37

• Finding God in your heart
• Once upon a time, I prayed for greater clarity.  I asked God to make His desires for me more clear, speak to me more plainly, relieve me from the challenge of hearing that still small voice.  Now I pray for greater sensitivity on my part that I might be more in tune with His voice, more inclined to listen, more aware of when I drift from His side.
• How does God let you know that you are wandering from the best that He has for you?
• How have His ways of revealing Himself to you changed through the years?
• Do you find that you are better at listening over time?
• Do you think that you can follow God even closer? 

• Finding your needs
• I used to scoff at those who only sought God's help when they had hit bottom.  I imagined God sitting in His favorite recliner with His arms crossed looking at such opportunists saying "where were you during the good times?  Why turn to me now?  Where will you go once you don't think that you need me anymore?"
• I'm beginning to realize that a) God never withholds His mercy from us just because we do not think to seek Him consistently and b) we always need God.
• When is a time that you have called on God to be with you to help you lately?
• Would you have thought to look to God for that earlier in life?
• What happened along the way? 

• Seeking harmony
• Harmony in music is not unison.  Rather, the various voices weave in and out in a dialogue with each other, each making their own contribution, making the result richer.
• Where do you see Jesus bringing diverse points of view, diverse backgrounds, diverse voices together into harmony among us today?
• What can we do to foster that harmony?
• Why can't everyone else just see reason and agree with you? 

• Finding a generous heart
• The words generous and generate share a common root: genus - to give birth, to beget.  Being generous to others brings new life into the world, brings about the Kingdom of God.
• What are some ways that God has called you to be generous in a new, unexpected way?
• How did that turn out?
• How did you come to recognize that God was behind that request?
• How did your generosity change you? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How could you be a better listener to God's call in your life? 
• What do you need God that you've failed to ask for His help? 
• Where do you see a need for greater harmony in your life?
• Where has God led you to be generous that you might not have realized?

Looking for a schedule

I would dearly love it if God would just learn to update my Google calendar.

Better yet, put His wants, desires, events in there with just a couple days notice.

Even better yet, ask me whether I feel up to the call before He changes my schedule.

 

But maybe the unexpected request is an unexpected mercy.

The need unseen (as yet) gives me time to prepare for the I know not what,

Before I have the chance to throw up my defenses my "not this times".

 

Lord, help me to be resilient in the face of need.

Always listening to your call in my life.

Always ready to set aside what has given me joy -

 

That I might embrace an even greater gift -

A gift that you have been growing in me all along -

A gift that has come to bear fruit in the giving it away.

 

Shalom!

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Isaiah 44: 10-14c
2. Psalms 66: 1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
3. Galatians 6: 14-18
4. Luke 10: 1-12, 17-20

• Looking for hope
• Do you see God at work around you?
• How does that make you feel?
• Do you think that God is diligently working some master plan?
• Do you think that you have an important role to play in that plan?
• Do you think that God will clue you in to just what that role might be?
• With all of that reason to hope, why don't you feel more hopeful?
• What does that say about God?
• What does that say about you? 

• Wondrous deeds
• A friend comes up to you and says "I hear that you're Christian.  Why?"
• What would you say to such a person?
• How far back in your life would you start that narrative?
• What characteristics of God would you think would come through in the telling of such a narrative?
• How might telling that story shape you today? 

• Discovering what's important
• In once heard an old Jesuit priest say "As I get older, it's harder and harder for me to get around, and I find greater and greater freedom to follow Jesus."
• Would you agree?
• Why do you think that happens to us, that gradual letting go of things/people/grudges/ ... that never really gave us any happiness to begin with?
• Why do you think it takes so long to find and hold to that freedom?
• Does it have to take this long? 

• I'm not Billy Graham
• When I was growing up, we Evangelicals looked up to Billy Graham.  He never let up, never rested on his laurels, was always humble, and he was truly out there, bringing people to Jesus by the hundreds.  Trouble was, not all of us are called to that sort of ministry, and it can be tough to tell sometimes what you are called to.
• Do you think that some people, or some personality types are just naturally better at spreading the Gospel?
• Do you think that those who are naturals at it should be the ones doing that work so that the rest of us can go about doing other things?
• How would you define "saving a soul"?
• What should happen to/for those folks once they get "saved"?  Who should look after them?
• If you had never been exposed to Christianity until today, how would you want to be approached?  How would you be most likely to accept the Gospel in your life? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• What in your life is robing you of hope? 
• What are you doing to help God be wondrous? 
• Are you shedding anything unimportant lately?
• Where might God be drawing you to share His word to others?

Tent Meeting:

The guest preacher was really getting his rhythm on this evening.

Cries of "amen" and "praise the Lord" were gradually building.

Just like a tidal wave coming into shore as it gathers itself.

 

I was working the meeting as an usher.

Well, really, I was just whatever needed done at the moment.

I knew the knots that held up the tent,

 

I knew the preacher's schedule to the minute so he didn't have to.

I knew all of the other ushers, what they did, and why.

I knew that this preacher was really special.

 

There was an old man in the back, by one of the doors.

I made my way over to him and asked if he wanted to sit.

"I'd love to, but that would mean taking someone else's seat" he said.

 

I left and came back with an old rickety folding chair that I had tucked away.

I told him to take it, but be careful when leaning back, it might throw him.

He looked at me with piercing eyes and asked how I was going to sit.

 

I told him it was my place to circulate, look for folks in need, do what I can.

He asked if I ever got tired.  I said "no", this work is all that I need.

Seeing the folks coming from miles around.  Singing and clapping and praising.

 

That was more than enough for me.  All that, and I get to meet some nice people.

He asked me "don't you ever get tired of being in the background, out of the spotlight?"

I told him that's not for me, I prefer to do the little stuff, what I can handle.

 

I asked him whether I could get him anything to drink, or eat.

He said that a bite would be very appreciated.

I came back with my supper and we shared it together.

 

Again those piercing eyes.  "What are you going to do for the next hungry person you meet?"

I told him that I didn't know, but that I was sure provisions would be there if needed.

I just had to trust and obey.

 

The old man put his hand on my head and said a private prayer over me.

Thanking me for my witness.

I was confused.  I hadn't told him anything about Jesus, just shared a chair and a sandwich.

 

Then he said "sometimes, that's all that is needed."

He got up and walked off.

The creaky old chair was silent as he got up.

 

And he didn't leave footprints as he walked away.

But I knew that I had grown a little that day,

By giving away without regrets or worry, just trust. 

 

Shalom!