Corpus Christi Sunday

Our readings for Corpus Christi Sunday:

1. Genesis 14: 19-20
2. Psalms 110: 1, 2, 3, 4
3. I Corinthians 11: 23-26
4. Luke 9: 11b-17

• Exchange of gifts
• To be in right relationship with God entails an exchange of gifts, not to bribe God, but to celebrate that everything comes from and returns to God
• What do you think that God wants from you?
• What do you think that God wants for you?
• What do you really, deep down inside, want from God?
• What do you think God's chances are for getting what He wants?
• What do you think your chances are for getting what you want?
• Do you think that will make you happy? 

• Priesthood of believers
• Ordained or not, we are all called to be priests, it's a fundamental aspect of our identity.
• Define priest.  Get creative.
• Does anyone come to mind who has filled that role especially well in your life?
• What made them a good priest?
• Why do you think that all of us are called to be priests in one fashion or another? 

• A friend like no other
• It's hard to know how much Jesus knew about His passion going in.  My bet is that the revelation of just what was coming was gradual, and that Jesus had to process that revelation a piece at a time.  I also bet that He took a very bittersweet comfort from celebrating one last Passover with His friends, knowing that it was never going to be quite like this again.
• Who are some special friends that have been a support for you?
• Would you say that God had worked through them in your life?
• What is about one of those friends that you treasure the most?
• What do you think they might treasure about you? 

• Basket case
• Jesus never did tell His disciples what was coming, He just gave them the next thing that needed to be done.  In so doing, He invited them into a miracle.  In so doing He invited them into the fellowship of the Trinity, into the ongoing creation story that is still unfolding.
•  When is a time that you felt called of God to do something where you had no idea how it would turn out?
• How did you come to be certain of that direction, not knowing how it was to end?
• How did that turn out?
• How do you know that the effects of that act of faith are played out even today?
• How does that make you feel about God, about yourself? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where is God calling you into greater happiness?
• How is your priesthood progressing lately?
• Are your friendships making a better person of you?
• Where might God be calling you to reckless obedience?

Bread Unnoticed

Indeed, that was a day of miracles.

 

It started with Jesus' welcome of the crowds.
He had gone there to get some rest,

But still He welcomed the crowds when they gathered.
As though He somehow found a second wind.

Then, wave after wave of needy villagers came.

All of them touched, healed, loved.

Every one of them transformed in the encounter

No matter where they came from.

But the rest of us, we could tell that this could get ugly.

All of those folks far from home, kith and kin,

Transformed they may be, but soon, soon

They were going to need food and shelter.

 

Besides, all of us were nearing the end of our endurance.
Striving to find the inner reserves needed to meet the seemingly endless need.

But instead of sending them away, Jesus told us to "lean in" and meet the need -

Meet the needy.

The next miracle was that we somehow found the trust we needed.

The trust we needed to put one foot in front of the other one more time.

Get the people seated to receive, we knew not what.

We prayed with Him over a few loaves and fishes, to what purpose we knew not.

Then He asked us to give from our need, our lack, our fatigue.

After all, by then, those were the only gifts we had left.

The next miracle was that we found just enough strength and just enough courage

To distribute the little that we had to those massed there that day.

I wanted to apologize for such miserable offerings.

But I saw understanding in their eyes.  They knew.

And so we moved among them, as needy as they were.

And gave away all that we had, no longer caring whether it was enough.

 

Only, only desiring that we could see this last miracle through.

Some saw only bread and fish that day.

Some saw a divine gift-giver in full riot. 

I, I saw resurrection within my own poor heart.

 

Shalom!

Trinity Sunday

Our readings for Trinity Sunday:

1. Proverbs 8: 22-31
2. Psalms 8: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. Romans 5: 1-5
4. John 16: 12-15

• Playing before God
• We speak of attaining a good work/life balance.  Maybe we're going at this wrong.
• Is play mutually exclusive to work?
• Why can't work be holy, and fun at the same time?
• Have you ever experienced that?
• Did it pay the bills too?
• Does it have to? 

• The mind of God
• How do you learn what's on God's mind?
• Does nature help you in that regard?
• Does that revelation give you anything that you can put into words?
• Is it still valuable? 

• Forged in affliction
• The so-called prosperity gospel would have us believe that God shows his generosity to His elect in this life.  At the other end of the spectrum is the perspective that this life was meant to be short, brutish, and mean, and we should only expect happiness and fulfillment in the next life.  I think that God wants to offer us yet a third way.
• Do you think that God brings hard times into our lives on purpose?
• Or, do you think that God works to transform those hardships into opportunities?
•  If you feel that way, what sort of opportunities are we talking about here?
• Does that have to be in the context of affliction? 

• Triple colloquy 
• A painting The Two Trinities offers a different perspective on the place of Jesus as a member of the Holy Family a Jesus as a member of the Triune God at the same time.  This might offer a different take on how we can approach God in prayer.
• When you pray, do you ever pray to the Holy Spirit?
• How is that experience different from when you pray to God?
• Do you ever ask Jesus to intercede for you, get you an "in" with the Big Guy?
• Why or why not?
• How about Mary?
• Or Joseph for that matter? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling you to play more, or differently?
• How is God revealing Himself to me today?
• How might the Trinity help me improve my prayer life?
• What is your image of God like these days?  

Shalom!

Pentecost Sunday

Our readings for Pentecost Sunday of Easter:

1. Acts 2: 1-11
2. Psalms 104: 1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
3. 1 Corinthians 12: 3b-7, 12-13
4. John 20: 19-23

• Getting the word out
• Its understandable to look back at those early days of the Church and feel some long-term nostalgia.  Those first disciples didn't have Jesus in bodily form anymore.  Threats of persecution from the Jews and the Romans were present.  Doctrinal differences from within were emerging.  Yet, in spite of those challenges, the early Church managed to not only survive but thrive.
• Do you think that our Church today is doing any better or worse at addressing the challenges before us?
• What do you think was the secret of those earliest Christians?
• Can we apply any of their approach to the challenges that we face today?
• Where can we start here, now? 

• The mind of God
• Unlike us, God is able to multi-task quite well.  We are individually and corporately in His thoughts every minute of every day.  We are each part of the ongoing miracle of the abundant life that He has in store for all of His creatures.
• If you could have a face to face with God, would you?
• Would you come with an agenda, things that you wanted to be sure came up in the conversation?
• How much would such an encounter be different from normal time that you spend in prayer?
• Why is that? 

• Finding your charism(s)
• A charism is a gift of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon a community (such as the teaching charism that the Sr.s of St. Louis share with their students) or an individual.  God gives charisms to build up His Kingdom.
• What do you think your charism(s) are?
• Do you think that your closest friends would agree?
• Do you think that you are making the best use of those gifts?
• How would you know? 
  

• Go, you are sent
• There are a number of things that Jesus didn't say in this passage.  He didn't say that there was no danger to His disciples.  He didn't say that everything was always going to go their way.  What He did do was to give them a mission, and that transformed them.
• Where have you seen the Presence of the Holy Spirit at work?
• What had to happen before the Holy Spirit could work in that situation?
• How can we as a community be more open to the Holy Spirit in our community?
• How do you think that you, as an individual could be more open to the Holy Spirit in your life? 
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• What of your life in Christ would you most want to share?
• What is getting in the way of a better prayer life for you?
• Are you making full use of God's gifts to you?
• What in your life is robbing you of peace? 

 Peace Give I to Thee

Lo

I am with you always

Even unto the end of time.

 

Dangers,

Uncertainty,

And more will come your way.

 

But know that none of that -

In any way -

Changes your call, nor my promise.

 

 Lord, give me your peace and no other.

Help me to look to you above all else.

And in you, find the true meaning of all else.

 

That I might see the life that You have given -

In its proper light.

Your gift, to serve Your Kingdom.

 

I give up my claim to security, certainty, clarity.

None of them were mine to begin with.

Help me to know your great "I am" in all things.

 

And in giving up all to you, I find you in all. 

 

Shalom!

Ascension Sunday

Our readings for Ascension Sunday of Easter:

1. Acts 1: 1-11
2. Psalms 43: 2-3, 6-7, 8-9
3. Ephesians 1: 17-12
4. John 24: 46-53

• Waiting on, and for, the Lord
• One of the struggles of the early Church revolved around the time table for Jesus' return.  If He was coming right back, there's no point in buying green bananas.  On the other hand, if it is going to be years, decades, millennia before He comes again, that's a horse of a very different color.
•  If you knew that Jesus was returning tomorrow, what would change in your life?
• How about in a year?
• Or five?
• Maybe fifty (for you younger disciples)?
• Why does it make a difference?
• Should it?
  

• The Light of Christ
• Power.  Apart from the understanding of that term in physics, we are conditioned to never seek power.  Perhaps that is because power is so often abused by us and among us.  But what if that didn't have to be the case?  What if power could be used for the good?
• What sort of power do you think it is that Jesus wants to confer on us as His disciples, His community, His Church?
• What are some examples of power that you have seen in your life?
• Do you feel that any of that power came from God?
• What should we, as His people, be doing with the power that we have?
• How do we find what that power is?
  

• A joyful noise
• Not all of us are talented.  Some may find it hard to bring anything offer God in worship.
• We tell the gathered assembly that they don't have to sound ethereally beautiful in order to properly worship the Lord in congregational singing.  If the sound isn't the point, what is?
• Conversely, is it possible for a soloist, or even an entire choir to sound glorious, and not be properly worshiping the Lord?
• What is that proper worship that God is looking for?
• How can we foster such worship in our hearts and the hearts of the gathered assembly?
  

• Go, you are sent
• Sacramentally, we believe that the Holy Spirit falls on us a Confirmation.  Fair enough.  But then what?
• Is the anointing of the Spirit a one time event, a process, perhaps a sequence of anointings?
• How do you tell that you have been anointed?
• Once that Spirit has come upon you, then what?  How do we find what to do next?
• Is that "finding what to do next" an event or a process?
• How do we know when we have it right?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Are you ready for Jesus to return?  If not today, when?
• Where might God be inviting you to offer the less than perfect parts of you?
• Where might God want you to better use the power that He has given you?
• Where is God sending you? 

 A Power Like No Other

Once upon a time, in a remote village in the northern foothills,
There was a an old brother named Matthias.

He had seen many years, dozens of kings.
Famines plagues, wars come and go.

And now, in the sunset of his life,
He fashioned poetry in the clay.

Fired in a hearth of his own making.
A few pieces at a time, but enough, just enough.

Matthias' needs were simple,
All he needed was time and health enough to pray.

Occasionally, one or another of the villagers would seek Matthias out.
Looking for the meaning of their lives.

Especially after some calamity, or senseless tragedy.
Matthias would listen, softly ask questions.

Help them talk it out.  And eventually lead them to silence.
Not as much because they had run out of things to say.

But because his guests finally realized that they needed to listen.
And Matthias would help them hear more clearly, with greater boldness.

Once a mighty king came to town on foot.
Clad simply, with a single companion to keep him company.

The king had just one question:
Why am I here?

Matthias did not answer for the longest time.
While the king spilled his years of frustration and longing.

Finally Matthias said "you already know the answer.  You just don't know that you know."
The king replied "my people, in the end, I just want to help them find happiness in who they are."

Matthias said "and that, your majesty, is your power in these lands.
You see, we each have power we scarcely know.

And until we find the courage to use that power,
We are useless, weak, and weary."

"What then, is your power might I ask" queried the king.
"My power lies helping others wait for the clamor in their hearts to find inner peace.

That they may finally ask the real questions.
And learn why there are here, now, in this sacred space and time.

And how to honor that holy destiny
With their whole body soul and spirit."

Shalom!

6th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 5th Sunday of Easter:

1. Acts 15: 1-2, 22-29
2. Psalms 67: 2-3, 5, 6, 8
3. Revelation 21: 10-14, 22-23
4. John 14: 23-29

• Discernment
• Discernment consists of seeking and finding God's will in a situation.  In a way, it is prophetic - searching for where the Spirit is leading right here, right now.
• When tough decisions have to get made in your home, how does that happen?
• What sort of preparation do you do (long term and short term) to ensure that everyone involved is able and willing to listen to God's still small voice?
• What about at the parish level?  How do you think decisions get made there?
• How can you contribute to that process?
• How would that make the outcomes better?
  

• All the nations
• The Good News has spread throughout the world.  But along the way, challenges regarding how that Good News is expressed, preached, celebrated, and appropriated to different peoples, different lands, different cultures have come up.
• How can we be more welcoming to those who come from different cultures?
• How do we do that without compromising the core of our lived message?
• Is that inculturation even necessary?
  

• Let your light shine
• Jesus is the light of the world.
• What does it really mean that Jesus is the Light?
• When we talk about the darkness of sin, why is it dark, impenetrable?
• How are we called to be that light in our part of the world?
• How have you learned to be more of a light lately?
  

• Hanging on, or clinging?
• Once Jesus resurrected, got His disciples suitably revved up, it was time for Him to go.  I have to imagine that the disciples were in a near panic at that thought.  So much had changed in their lives in the course of following this Jesus, and now, just when they thought that they had seen everything, he's telling them that He's leaving.
• What are some good things that you had to leave behind in your life?
• How did you come to know that it was time to move on?
• How did you mourn that loss in your life?
• How do you know whether you are clinging to someone, something, some way of doing things just because that is comfortable, versus hanging onto what's truly eternal and transcendent?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Is God truly the Lord of my decision-making?
• Where might God be inviting me into greater openness to others?
• Where might God want me to publish something of His life in me to someone else?
• Where might God be calling me to shed something that was once important?
  

Shalom!

5th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 5th Sunday of Easter:

1. Acts 14: 21-27
2. Psalms 145: 8-9, 10-11, 12-13
3. Revelation 21: 1-5a
4. John 13: 31-33a, 34-35

• Getting it done
• I'm always fascinated by the accounts of the early Church.  I try to imagine what it must have been like back then.  One thing that I'm always struck by is how the early Church leaders emerged, were trained, and then sent on their way.
• What do you look for in a good leader?
• How do you think that we can/should develop such pastoral skills among us?
• Do you ever get to be too old to lead?
• How do we find such folks in the first place?
  

• God of all
• The psalmists have a world view that includes all of creation in the kingdom of God.  Every rock, tree, gazelle and rainstorm are all His, and each in its way glorifies Him.
• If that's the case, how ought we to treat the world around us?
• How ought we to treat each other?
• How ought we to treat ourselves?
  

• All things new
• Our God makes all things new, rather than all new things.  Often, we wonder why would God not just start with a clean slate.
• Have you ever been in a failed relationship?
• Did you just walk away, or did you try to repair, heal, transform that hurt?
• Why did you work so hard?
• Why do you think God has worked so hard on redeeming us, both corporately and individually?
• Do you think God shares your grief?
  

• Giving consolation, being consolation
•  Consolation is anything that draws (rather than pushes I might add) us towards God.  That could be a gorgeous spring morning bursting with life and pregnant with glory, the fond touch of a loved one just when you need it the most, or even a superb pastrami on rye if you are properly grateful for it.
• Who are some of those who are a consolation for you, in your life?
• How have they come to mean so much to you over the years?
• Did you ever think that they would be that important to you?
• What do you do to foster and nourish that relationship?
• What do you wish you were doing?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be inviting me to be more welcoming?
• Where might God be inviting me into greater openness to others?
• Where might God have joy unexpected waiting for me where I least expect it?
• Where might God be calling me to deeper awareness of my place in the world?
  

 Building the Kingdom In Patience

Her name is Ezri.

She is a female black Labrador Retriever.

All of about fourteen pounds.

And very sure of what she wants, when she wants it.

 

Mary & I have raised puppies just like Ezri for over 20 years.

Every one of them with different personalities, foibles and quirks.

And a small handful of them have gone on to serve.

Furry ambassadors from our home to some other home.

 

They will never know of the countless trips to the back yard to relieve,

The time spent learning how to teach amazing things to that animal,

The times when we have had to take a deep breath in frustration,

And let it out in a laugh at the dog and ourselves.

 

The Kingdom of heaven is built of the little things.

What goes largely unnoticed in this world.

But has the power to transform the giver of such love,

And provide companionship and consolation to the receiver.

 

Each of us has our own puppies to care for and give away.

Sometimes, we just don't see them in that light.

But generous hearts send forth the love of God regardless,

And so are blessed in the giving.

Shalom!

4th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 4th Sunday of Easter:

1. Acts 13: 14, 43-52
2. Psalms 100: 1-2, 3, 5
3. Revelation 7: 9, 14b-17
4. John 10: 27-30

• Filled with joy
• The joy of the Gospel is not meant to be something that is exclusive to an elite few in God's service, but to all of us.  Trouble is, where do you find that joy?
• What is something that has given you joy in your walk with God that surprised you?
• How did you come to find joy in that person/ministry/work?
• What had to change within you before you were able to find that joy?
  

• God of all, even you, even me
• It seems as though there is a great deal of talk about inclusivity these days.  Makes you wonder how well that is aligned with the love of God for all of us, and just how we are to live in such all inclusive love.
• Who are some individuals, groups, peoples that you feel that you have little in common with?
• How are they different from you?
• How much do you think that matters in God's eyes?
• How can you cultivate the same view/attitude toward them that God has?
  

• Wiping away the tears
• Just making the pain go away might be what we think we want.  But is that really best?  Do we want to really forget all that contributed to that pain?  I still miss my father at unexpected times.  Do I want to stop missing him?  If not simple numbing of the pain, what do I really want instead?
• Think of a time of loss in your life.
• Do you think that you have been healed of that loss?
• What did that healing actually mean for you?
• Is it still going on?
• Do you think that this healing will ever be truly over?
• How much of that healing do you expect to take to heaven with you.
  

• I am known
• It is sometimes hard for us as humans to know why we respond/react the way that we do.  Sometimes it takes hard work to get to the root of why certain things affect us they way that they do.  Sometimes that process takes a really good friend.
• Has Jesus ever helped you to get to know yourself better?
• Have you ever thought to ask?
• Has He used other people in your life to help you discover yourself?
• How do you think that self-discovery could be better/deeper in the future?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be inviting me to be more welcoming?
• Where might God be inviting me into greater openness to others?
• Where might God have joy unexpected waiting for me where I least expect it?
• Where might God be calling me to deeper awareness of my place in the world?
  

 

Shalom!