5th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for fifth Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 6: 1-7
2. Psalms 33: 1-2, 4-5, 18-19
3. 1 Peter 2: 4-9
4. John 14: 1-12

• Serving others
• Fr. Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries tells of a parish that he served in the LA inner city.  They started sheltering the homeless in their church, but that created some unexpected challenges.  No amount of incense on Sunday morning was quite enough to remove the smell of all those homeless people who had spent the night there.
• Do you think Fr. Boyle's church went "over the top" caring for the poor?
• How should they have done things differently?
• Is a church an inappropriate place for the homeless to sleep?
• Is someone's bedroom an inappropriate place to worship God? 

• I am not alone
• God is always with us.  We are pretty confident of that.
• When have you felt the presence of God powerfully in your life?
• What difference did that Presence make in the here and now?
• How did that Presence change you in the time since then?
• What do you do to try to be in that Presence all the time? 

• Finding your purpose
• How would you define a priest?
• Does a priest have to be ordained?
• Who are some priests who have made a difference in your life?
• Do they have anything in common?
• Do you have anything in common with them?
• Would you like to? 

• Be the miracle
• How would you define "miracle"?
• How do such things happen?
• What role does God play in miracles?
• What role do we play in them?
• What are some miracles that you've seen?
• What are some miracles that you'd like to see? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me to work for justice in some small way?
• Who in my life needs a companion?
• Where is God building humility in me?
• How might God be calling me to participate in a miracle? 

Give me Ears to Listen

I am convinced that the Spirit manifests Himself in creativity.
That ability to see things in a new way unlike any other.
That ability to see a path through the present where there is none.
That ability to bring dreams barely whispered into full-throated reality.

The Spirit calls in the whispers of the day to day.
When we are able to stop and listen to what the day is telling us.
And when we are willing to silence the shouts from all sides.
And ask ourselves: "where was I closest to God today?"

And also ask ourselves "where did I feel absent, cut off, removed from God?"
How did that happen to me?
What did I do about that estrangement, that isolation?
What does that isolation tell me about God, His will for me?

Sadly, we'll never get it right.
God's direction is seldom crystal clear, at least for now.
But the only way to learn to listen is to learn to obey.
And trust God in the mistakes along the way.

For if we wait for perfect clarity before obedience - 
We'll never make mistakes, which would be a mistake.
We'll never learn confidence in our ears.
We'll never learn courage in the face of our fears.

Come, sit a spell with me and pray.
That we might both hear His voice in our separate lives together.
And learn how to build His Kingdom.
One imperfect living stone at a time. 

Shalom!

4th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for fourth Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 2: 2: 14a, 36-41
2. Psalms 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
3. 1 Peter 2: 20b-25
4. John 10: 1-10

• Survivalists
• Survivalists come in several flavors, but none of them want to depend on "the grid" for essential services because they are certain that it is just a matter of time before the conventional infrastructure has a catastrophic failure.  Sort of hard to argue with that perspective when you watch the evening news.
• What corruption do you see in our world today?
• How can we, as God's elect, save ourselves from such corruption?
• How can we help each other achieve such salvation?
• Can we have an impact on any of the corruption around us? 

• I am not alone
• I love the story of Veronica from the Mater Dolorosa.  She risked a great deal by stepping away from the crowd to minister to Jesus, no matter how briefly.  Wiping His face probably did little to relieve His physical suffering.  But it meant all the world to Him, I'm sure.
• When is a time that you have been able to be a companion to someone else?
• How did you help them through their challenges of the moment?
• How did that make you feel?
• How did that encounter with another help you in your own challenges? 

• Finding meaning
• Suffering, regardless of the nature of that suffering, often feels unfair.  We do our best to follow God's direction, and yet things go wrong in spite of our best efforts.  That's hard to understand.
• What has caused you suffering, or still causes you suffering?
• Do you feel that God owes you an explanation?
• If Jesus suffered for us, what purpose can our suffering serve?
• Which virtue(s) do you think would help you through suffering the most? 

• Finding your mission
• Jesus the gate leads us into His fold as well as outward to mission.  The two rely on each other for their renewal and meaning.
• How have others helped you find your mission(s) through the years?
• How have you helped others to find their mission?
• Why do you think that we need each other that way?
• How can we be better at helping others find where they belong?
• Does that "place of belonging" ever change?

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me to work for justice in some small way?
• Who in my life needs a companion?
• Where is God building humility in me?
• Am I where I belong in all things?

Shalom!

3rd Sunday of Easter

Our readings for third Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 2: 14: 22-33
2. Psalms 16: 1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
3. 1 Peter 1: 17-21
4. Luke 24: 13-35

• Finding your voice
• Peter must have felt himself a total failure at Jesus' crucifixion, but Jesus showed him mercy and forgiveness, and caused a resurrection in Peter that was a true transformation.  Peter had been afraid to speak up, but he found his voice.
• Speaking up can happen in many ways.  We can "speak up" by giving our time, talent, treasure away.  We can speak up by written and other artistic forms of expression.  We can speak up by helping the poor.
• How do you "speak up" about the Kingdom?
• Do you think that your voice is making a difference?
• Do you feel called in your work?
• If not, why not? 

• My Body in Confidence
• Most of us have one of two relationships to our own body: it's working pretty well so we take it for granted, or for one reason or another, we're uncomfortably aware of it and it's slow evolution as we grow ever more aged.  But there's a third option, we can learn to listen to our bodies.
• When you get tense, or tired out, or anxious, where does that emotion tend to center in your body?
• Do you ever stop to ask yourself why you are feeling that way, or do you just "power through it" since you probably don't have time to try to deal with such things as feelings?
• Have you ever "sat down" with your body and try to figure out why it's feeling the way that it does?
• What has it told you lately? 

• Divine Mercy
•  The Good News of Jesus resurrection is not so much an affirmation of God's power as it is a lesson in God's ability to transform disappointment, betrayal, suffering, death into abundant life.  But we have to find hope first.
• When have your hopes been dashed in life?
• How did you handle that disappointment?
• How did you learn to hope again?
• What do you hope for lately? 

• Faith sharing
• Things can happen in our lives that isolate us, and make us feel as though we're all alone.  That could be a dire medical diagnosis, a death close to us, depression that won't go away.  Those are the times that we must stand fast in our discipleship and weather the storm.
• Have you ever felt alone, as though you were going through something that no one else would really understand?
• What did you do to try to get through that time of isolation?
• How did you finally make it through?
• What did you learn about such occasions in your life?
• Do you think that you're prepared for the next one? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me to work for justice in some small way?
• Where might God be speaking to me through my own body?
• What in my life makes me worry about the way that God sees me?
• Can I trust God enough to share my faith with others?

I'm Forgiven

We had set out for Emmaus to try to pick up the pieces.
Neither of us had any idea what lay ahead of us.
But Jerusalem, the defeated disciples, the triumphant Jews,
None of those had anything that either of us wanted going forward.

Most of all, I worried what I would say to my parents, my siblings.
I had left all of them to follow Jesus.  None of them understood.
I could hardly articulate where I was going, why I was going.
I probably sounded mildly deranged to them back then.

Now, now I would be going back home, a mere shell of my former self.
I felt like I had aged twenty years in the past three.
The life had gone from my step, the light from my eyes.
Now, now I was just surviving, only because there was nought else to do.

But then Jesus came upon us, spent the day with us.
Broke bread with us, and in that moment of hospitality -
We knew Him for who He was, who we were with Him -
And who He is within us.

 It wasn't until we were half way back to Jerusalem -
The shadows on the road growing longer, and the night growing chill -
That I realized that I had been as big a disappointment to Him -
As He had been to us.  But He never left us.

And I realized then that He had forgiven me.
Absolved me of my despair, and doubts, and fears.
Entrusted us with the Good News for the rest of the disciples.
And all Jerusalem, all God's children.

I dropped to my knees and thanked God for seeking me out.
Finding me even as I fled the scene.
Knowing that I would not have the courage to stay.
Certain of my uncertainty.

He is alive.
He is alive in me.
Because I am forgiven.

And now, and now, I can even forgive myself. 

Shalom!

Divine Mercy Sunday (AKA 2nd Sunday of Easter)

Our readings for Divine Mercy Sunday day are:

1. Acts 2: 42-47
2. Psalms 118: 2-4, 13-15, 22-24
3. 1 Peter 1: 3-9
4. John 20: 19-31

• Community living
• In the book Kisses From Katie a young missionary to Uganda is confronted by unimaginable poverty and suffering.  One of the principles that illuminates her service is the simple statement "God doesn't make extra babies" which I take to mean that all children are God's children, regardless of how they come into this world.
• How would you define justice?
• Can justice be measured?
• Is it possible for there to be justice as long as any of us have any more than anyone else?
• How can we help to bring about justice in our immediate vicinity?
• Is that enough? 

• Finding victory
• Victory can mean a lot of different things.
• What are some things that God has given you victory over?
• How did you pray for that victory?  What were you looking for in that victory?
• Is a victory in our lives necessarily always permanent?
• Why is that? 

• Finding true joy
• Joy is a funny emotion.  We might tell others that landing that dream job gives you joy, or, if you're lucky, your children give you joy.  Or maybe your spouse gives you joy.
• Is all joy the same?
• What are some things that give you joy that never change, that are solid, despite anything else going on in your life?
• Is joy incompatible with sorrow in your life?
• What do you do to fill your life with more joy? 

• Faith sharing
• There is no second-hand faith.  I cannot give you my faith as a gift, as much as I might wish that I could.  We can share with each other of our faith, we can share experiences of God that we have had because we had faith.  But faith has to come from within.
• Have you ever become discouraged when you're trying to share your faith with others?
• If that person or persons had received faith, what would you want to see them do with that faith?
• What changes would you want to see in their lives?
• Why is faith so hard?
• Is it worse today than before?
• Why? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me to work for justice in some small way?
• Am I settling for a stale-mate when God has a victory for me?
• What brings me joy?
• Can I trust God enough to share my faith with others?

 

Shalom!

Easter Sunday

Our readings for Easter Sunday day are:

1. Acts 10: 34a, 37-43
2. Psalms 118: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23
3. 1 Corinthians 5: 6b-8
4. John 20: 1-9

• Finding your voice
• Peter shrank away from being accountable for following Jesus when all looked dark and dying.  I imagine that Peter came very close to taking his own life like Judas.  Wishing instead that he had died for Jesus so that he, Peter would not have been such an abject failure.  Yet Jesus was able to pull life from that death of Peter's.
• We have all failed in ways large and small.  Have any of your failures drawn you closer to God?
• What was the sequence of events that you went through as that failure was transformed, resurrected in your life?
• How were you praying during that transformation? 

• Finding the Cornerstone
• Jesus was rejected because He and His life, His ministry didn't fit the mold.  No one seemed to know what to do with Him, what to make of Him.
• What are some things that have helped you find humility?
• How have those things changed you?
• How did you manage to accept that grace of humility in your life?
• Has humility gotten any easier with time? 

• Finding sincerity
• It's easy to lie to ourselves and others about our motives, our desires.  But God can only call forth the best from us if we're willing and able to face that which we typically want to hide.
• How do you identify and acknowledge where you are weak, a failure, in poverty?
• Do you make a regular practice of that?
• Does it ever get any easier?
• Is it worth it? 

• It takes a village
• In those first few hours of Easter Sunday morning, I suspect that each disciple achieved a different perspective on the resurrection.  That was based on where they were in their faith journey at the time, what they saw and experienced, and their openness to the Gospel unfolding before them.  As they joyously shared their faith, a fuller and even more wondrous vision began to emerge.
• How are some ways that you share your faith with others?
•  As you share your faith, has that faith deepened in the sharing?
• Who are some folks who have shared their faith with you?
• How has their sharing deepened your faith?
• Why is that sort of faith sharing so necessary?

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• What of my failures might God be transforming to life?
• Am I OK with God leading to ministries that look like failure?
• Where might God be calling me to greater freedom?
• Are there any folks sharing their faith with me that I'm not aware of?

Who Do You Run To?

It was still dark, and cold.

Not so dark, not near as cold -

As where they had laid Him.

And I shuddered thinking of His pale, lifeless, form.

 

I so desperately wanted to say "good bye" properly.

Let Him know that He meant the world to me.

Let Him know that I planned to go a journeying.

Telling anyone who would listen what He meant to me.

 

Out of the limited options open to me,

That seemed the only one worth pursuing.

It would be lonely, and dangerous.

But I needed to continue His work.

 

I needed to be the resolute woman that He saw in me.

I needed to be faithful to my true self -

The one that He called forth into the light.

The "me" that only He could see.

 

But before I would leave,

I needed just one last moment with Him.

To promise to be faithful.

And thank Him.

 

My plans were shattered in an instant.

When I saw that the stone was rolled away.

That something profound had happened.

Something that none of us anticipated.

 

I had to tell someone.

I had to discern what this meant.

As shattered as the other disciples were -

They would have to find community again.

 

I knew then where to run to.

Where I needed to share this troubling news.

Where I could find meaning.

In the midst of His baffled followers.

 

So I ran, heedless of my appearance.

Disdainful of the danger that might be afoot.

Back to the bosom of the trauma victims

That I had come to love so dearly.

 

And you, you who now come after me.

You are going to be challenged

And shaken to your core along this journey.

Where will you run to? 

 

 

Shalom!

Palm Sunday

Our readings for Palm Sunday are:

1. Isaiah 50: 4-7
2. Psalms 22: 8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
3. Philippians 2: 6-11
4. Matthew 27: 11-54

• The cost of a well-trained tongue
• Sometimes, words may be true, but they can be spoken from a person who is in a place that makes them ring false.  Until we have learned what it is like to be in another's shoes, it is hard to give them a word that will truly reach them.  It is hard to show mercy until you have come to terms with your own need for mercy, and accepted that mercy from God.
• When was a time that you felt that you had nothing that you could say to someone else in need?
• What did you end up doing/saying for/to them at that time?
• How did you find it in your heart to relate to them that way?
• How did you grow in that encounter? 

• Awesome God
• Someone or something is awesome when they inspire awe, wonder, amazement.  Our culture tells us that awesome is about power, accomplishment, success, respect.  Jesus tells us differently.
• What has God done that is awesome in your life lately?
• Why was that particularly awesome for you?
• Have you thanked Him for that? 

• Emptying Himself
• Jesus was not afraid to give himself away.  But most of us, for our parts, wonder what will be left if we give too much of ourselves away.  We look at the story of the widow's mite and see only starvation. 
• Who is someone that inspires you with their generosity?
• Do they ever seem to run out of what they give away?
• Have you ever felt depleted because of something that you did for another?
• Why do you think that is? 

• Standing with, standing for Jesus
• Scripture doesn't mention anyone standing up for Jesus in this narrative.  It can feel as though the world, our culture, all those in power, have somehow been aligned together in one great conspiracy and the only sensible option is to get out of the way.
• Does standing up for Jesus have to make a difference in order for that stand to be successful?
• How would you even tell if something that you did actually was successful, in that your action brought the Kingdom of God closer?
• What did that stand cost you? 
• Would it make it worth it knowing that you made a real difference? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be teaching me how to reach other?
• What does God desire for me of His awesomeness?
• Where might God be calling me to greater freedom?
• Where might God be calling me to greater freedom?

Splinters

I had important business in the Holy City that day.

Little time for visiting family, even less for sight seeing.

And yet, here I am, trudging along in this death parade.

Struggling next to someone I hardly even know by reputation.

 

When I took that cross beam from Him, He looked deep into my eyes.

Holding that lock as though we both had hours for the exchange.

Then he very softly breathed "thank you".

And then it was time to pick up the pace and keep going.

 

No time for pleasantries.

No time for listing our family lineage.

No time even to ask how of us is doing.

Both of us breathless, Each for his own reasons.

 

At first, I wanted to quietly walk away.

Leave that cursed, loathsome timber in some ditch -

And go about my way -

And try to salvage what I could of this day.

 

But as the rotted fruit and spit meant for Him

That landed instead on me,

And the two of us became more and more alike,

I gradually came to marvel at His freedom.

 

He was trudging along, giving everything.

Freely, without reservation.

And I realized how very bound I was.

Bound to schedules, agreements, patterns

 

All of which told me -

That I was just as bound as He was -

That He was freer than  I was.

And that my shackles were worse than His.

 

And I began to see the occasional spittle,

Dirt,

Even rocks raining down on us -

As evidence that we were becoming one in disgrace.

 

He never issued an invitation to join Him.

But He steadied me with His bloodied hand

As He strove to stay upright along the way.

And I knew community like never before.

 

I have to know more about this Man.

I must search for His disciples -

And join them to join Him

And make all suffering, all insults meaningful.

 

Shalom!

5th Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 5th Sunday in Lent:

1. Ezekiel 37: 12-14
2. Psalms 130: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
3. Romans 8: 8-11
4. John 11: 1-45

• Don't give up hope, no matter how much it hurts
• Hope makes us resilient in the face of adversity, even persecution.  But its easy to lose hope if we take our eyes off the source of all hope.
• Have you ever given up hope for something?  Maybe it was that your children would regain their faith, maybe it was a hope for some political outcome in our country, maybe it was hope for proper recognition of your contributions, ...
• Did you ever regain that hope?
• Did you come to hope for something else, instead?
• Was that new hope better than the old one? 

• What is it that you want?
• God is all knowing, so there is nothing that we can tell Him in prayer that He does not already know.  God is immutable, so we cannot change His mind.  We cannot coerce God in any way.  So what is the point of intercessory prayer anyway?
• What is something that you really prayed for with all your might?
• Why did that matter to you?
• Did you have a good idea of what God wanted in that situation?
• Did you ever find out what God wanted in that situation?
• How did praying that way help you? 

• Indwelling of the Spirit
• We sacramentally confer the gift of the Holy Spirit on our confirmandi.  What does that actually accomplish?
• What are some times/places/events in which you especially felt the presence of the Spirit?
• What did that Presence allow you to accomplish?
• Do you feel/act that way all of the time?
• Would you like to?
• What would that sort of closeness to the Spirit require of you? 

• Take away the stone
• Sometimes, something that was in our lives that served a perfectly legitimate purpose gets to a place where we just have to let it go, in favor of something even better.
• What are some things that you've had to let go of in your life as you've gradually drawn closer to Jesus?
• How did you come to know that that person, place, thing, activity needed to go?
• Was it hard to let go?
• What became possible in your life once you were free of that?
• Would you do anything differently if you had to go through that whole process again? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How can I discern God's calling in others?
• What does God desire for me?
• Where might the Spirit be leading me today?
• Where might God be calling me to greater freedom?

What about my hummus?

When word reached us of Lazarus' death, I knew what to do.

His sisters would likely have half the surrounding villagers at their home.

Food would run out in hours, not to mention the wine.

 

All that I had were some chickpeas and an old press.

I went to one neighbor to barter for a few choice spices.

I went to another for some olive oil on loan.

 

I spent the next morning making a batch of hummus

Not wanting to arrive empty-handed.

And set off for the home of Mary and Martha.

 

My mouth feeling strange that I had to stop before uttering Lazarus' name.

Their home no longer his.

He's now forever confined to a cold, dark, stone house.

 

I arrived and saw what you would expect.

Mourners, professional and amateur milling about.

Mary and Martha trudging through their hospitality.

 

I barely had a chance to give them my hostess gift -

When suddenly word ricocheted through the crowd -

Jesus is here!  Too bad He got here too late to do any good.

 

Like the others, I followed Mary to the tomb.

Not having anything helpful to say, except "I came as soon as I could."

A soft word, a gentle touch, a knowing glance exchanged here and there.

 

And soon I was embraced by the crowd of mourners.

All of us sharing our loss of Lazaras.

All of us in sympathy with the rest of us.

 

Jesus and His disciples were there too.

Then Jesus shocked us telling us to roll away the stone.

All the customary ceremony had been followed.

 

What need had we to disturb the dead?

How would this help us, the living, move forward?

What good would it do?

 

Then Jesus called, and Lazarus answered.

And I asked myself what else might be possible -

If God is willing to even raise the dead.

 

Maybe I can find it in my heart to forgive my brother -

For seizing my share of the inheritance.

And shaming me before the rest of the family.

 

Maybe I can find it in my heart to reach out to Jacob -

My cousin the tax-gatherer.

I miss him and his family so.

 

Maybe I can share some chickpeas with the beggar on my street.

They are not much, but they are all that I have this week.

He has even less. 

 

Maybe I can rise in my own small way. 

 

Shalom!