29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 45: 1, 4-6
2. Psalms 96: 1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10
3. 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-5b
4. Matthew 22: 15-21

• I feel so used
• None of us likes to feel like a pawn on the chessboard of life.  For one thing, the pawns tend to die early in the game.  God uses us to His own good will and purpose, yet (for the most part) we don't feel used.
• How/what do you do to put yourself at God's disposal?
• When did you start that practice?
• How has it worked for you?
• Assuming that you firmly believe that God has the highest good for all of us in His plans for us, don't you think that it would help if He'd share those plans from time to time?
• If there was one thing that you could ask of God to make it easier for you to follow Him, what might that be? 

• God of all nations
• At one time, it was thought that each nation had their own god(s) firmly rooted in their land.  When one nation triumphed over another in battle, it was, by extension, a victory for their god(s) over the other.  But our God tells us that He is God of all, a unifier, not a divider.
• Do you think that God has anything to say about international politics?
• What would a just world look like?
• How do we get there?
• Is that too much to hope for this side of eternity?
• How did we get here? 

• Enduring hope
• The first person who will live to be 120 is alive today.  Or at least that's what a financial planner has on a billboard that I saw.  Once we remove the physical barriers to long life, I wonder how we will manage the spiritual and emotional ones.  Living to be 120 without hope sounds like a pretty harsh sentence to me.
• What is it that you hope for in this life?
• What do you hope for in the next life?
• What does that first list have to do with the second list?
• Where do our deepest hopes and dreams come from?
• What are you doing about yours? 

• Hope at the crossroads
• Sometimes its hard to remember that all good things flow from God, He is the author of all authority, our ultimate destiny is in His hands.  Once you believe all that, the only challenge is what to do in the meantime while the Kingdom of God is emerging.
• What do you hope for from our leaders, both within and without the Church?
• As children of God, what do you think that we owe those leaders?
• What can we do to help them be the best leaders that they are capable of?
• What happens if Church or civic leaders don't "stay in their lane"?  Church leaders trying to tell us how to be good citizens or civic leaders venturing into maters of religion?
• How do we tell when they have strayed that way? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• What am I doing to help me follow God more closely?
• Where is God inviting me to bring others together in Him?
• How do I nurture my hopes?
• Where might God be calling me be a better, more authentic leader myself?

Prayer for Courage

 

Fr. Brian mentioned St. Oscar Romero in his homily a couple of weeks ago, and I felt led to do a little looking into his life and I stumbled onto this prayer of his that really seemed to fit.  I offer that this week as a way to set the proper context for what we do, who we are, and who we are striving to become.

 

Shalom!

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 25: 6-10a
2. Psalms 23: 1-3a,3b-4, 5, 6
3. Philippians 4: 12-14, 19-20
4. Matthew 22: 1-14

• The riches of God's love
• God is generous, maybe not in the ways that we expect, but He is never stingy.  So it would seem that we, His servants, would learn generosity from Him as well.  Yet there is so much need all around us.
• In days gone by, the Catholic Church built orphanages, hospitals, schools, and churches.  Each of those contributed to the betterment of their respective communities.  What's happened since?
• Are we still called to that same sort of generosity?
• What can we learn from that past and apply to today?
• What might we have to do differently today in order to be generously holy and holy in our generosity? 

• The valley of the shadow
• Frightening events come to just about all of us.  Its easy to let fear blind us to what we know to be true about our God, His care for us, even forget times in the past when He has proven Himself to be faithful and merciful.
• When you are fearful of some outcome, what do you do?
• If you answered "pray", how do you pray in those circumstances?
• What do you really expect God to do to/for you?
• When you look back over your life, does that fill you with trust, or uncertainty?
• Why? 

• Holy indifference
• Our deepest desires come from God.  The world that we live in, however, manipulates us with other desires, ones that are not deep, not from God.  Our challenge is to sift our desires, and use those deep desires to help us find God's will in our lives.  Ignatius terms this openness to whatever God intends for us: "indifference".  It's not despairing of ever getting what we want, but finding the freedom to seek what God has planted deep within.
• Have you ever wanted something really strongly.  You thought that you just could not "live" without that?
• Did you pray for it?
• What happened in that prayer?
• If you eventually received that object of your desire, how did that make you feel?
• How long did that feeling last?
• What can you learn from that? 

• Desiring transformation
• I'm told that in Jesus' day, a wealthy host would provide his guests a festive outer garment when they arrived.  To refuse to wear such a garment would be seen as a rejection of the host's hospitality and generosity, and ultimately a rejection of the host themselves.  One reading of the wedding garment is that to wear it bears witness to an internal transformation on our part as we accept God's graces.
• Sometimes the truths that we sing of may be just a bit outside of our own experience to date.  Is it authentic on our part to sing those lyrics anyway?
• Is there room for us, as ministers, to grow into an attitude, belief, and actions even as we call upon our gathered assembly to do the same?
• How can we be sure that we're doing more than just mouthing the words, making the music?
• Do you think that anyone can tell?
• What can we do so that we are always growing in grace, and be true leaders? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where could I bring more justice to those that I care for, that I care about?
• Am I trusting God with my fears?
• Do I deliberately discern, or do I just react?
• Where might God be calling me be a better, more authentic leader?

The Garment

 

The wedding invitation arrived.

Recognizing the seal, I tore it open eagerly.

I was not disappointed, I had been chosen.

Chosen to celebrate a most momentous occasion.

 

I presumed it was in recognition of my steady service.

That I had been called to this celebration in appreciation.

That I was finally getting recognized for my generosity -

Of time, talent, and treasure all these years.

 

The day of, I bathed, trimmed and oiled by beard.

Donned my best robs and sandals.

Hired a liter to bear me there in discrete splendor.

And arrived right on time.

 

The doorkeeper greeted me warmly,

Handing me a garment to wear over my robes.

I gazed at it closely.

And saw that it was not nearly as fine as what I had on.

 

I asked the doorkeeper whether this was truly necessary.

After all, if the host was looking for festive, I had that in spades.

The doorman could only tell me it was required.

He did not have anything else to share.

 

I thought this a horrible idea.

I put on the proffered garment with a grumble.

Then slipped into the hall and quickly took it off.

Throwing it into a corner hoping it would not be found.

 

After all, I am special, I am important.

Hiding all of that under someone else's clothes seemed a shame.

I had earned the right to wear whatever I wished.

I had worked hard to afford my own clothing.

 

I soon found myself surrounded by people of all sorts.

Some I recognized from my other doings.

Most were strangers to me, a rangy lot overall.

Not the sort that I would normally associate with.

 

All the rest of them wore the host's garment.

And I stood out among them.

As well I should, I thought.

After all, I worked hard to get here.

 

Everyone was staring at me.

I looked up to see our host looking at me.

"I gave you the chance to become community with my other guests.

But you chose to flaunt your wealth and position instead."

 

"I had hoped that we could all learn humility.

Learn that what binds us together is more important -

More important than than what sets us apart.

That we all might celebrate together." 

"I will honor your choice to be apart from us -

Your evident desire to stand out.

Be honest with yourself, and leave us.

And we will mourn your passing."

  

Shalom!

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 5: 1-5
2. Psalms 80: 9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
3. Philippians 4: 6-9
4. Matthew 21: 33-43

• Stolen land
• At Long Beach State, high level meetings and convocations will often start with a land acknowledgement in which we voice the fact that the land that we occupy today was once inhabited by others.  I'm never sure what to do with that.  If we're not going to give the land back, why bring it up?  Folks from the far left tell us that we have no right to secure borders since we are occupying land that we have stolen from the indigenous peoples.
• How do you spend your resources of time, talent, and treasure?
• How do you decide how you spend those resources?
• If the world were totally just (not necessarily fair), how do you think those resources would be allocated and spent?
• Where would God be in such distribution? 

• Good seed
• Not knowing the first thing about wine making, I'm still pretty confident that good fruit comes from good plants.
• How has God nurtured you through your life experiences so that you're able to minister the ways that you do now?
• Do you have any ideas about what His next steps might be in your life?
• How will you know that it's time to move into something new? 

• Whatever is lovely
• There is much in our world today that is base, crude, gross that circulates in all of the media, even our schools.  Avoiding such trash is nearly impossible, particularly given the ubiquitous cell phone.
• What are those things that you do on a regular basis that bring you up, make you a better person, inspire you?
• If those things that call you higher, bring you closer to God were all that you spent your time and energy on, what would happen to you?
• Would you be able to make a living?
• Would you be able to keep all of your friends, even your family? 

• What's your produce?
• Each of us has a commission, several actually.  Some of that is completely within our control, some we can only accomplish with others.  Sometimes we need to influence our leaders so that they provide us the leadership needed for us to follow God at our best.
• What are you doing to help others produce their best produce, live their best life, draw closer to God?
• Do you feel that your leadership always helps you be that best servant?
• What do you think God might be calling you to do about that?
• Are you sure that God is still calling you to be right where you are? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where could I bring more justice to those that I care for, that I care about?
• Where might God be calling me into something new?
• How might God be calling me to greater loveliness?
• Where might God be calling me to be prophetic where I am?

Sour Grapes

 

Large organizations have a way of becoming hard to change. 

"That's way above my pay grade" often means "I've given up hope".

Sometimes the backstory is that you've tried and failed to make it better.

The pain of disappointment is too bitter to put up with any longer.

The smart money is to disengage, ride it out.

You'll retire soon enough, and this will all become a distant memory.

 

But we don't have the option to retire from service to God.

In His mercy, He finds ways for us to build His Kingdom

Right to the very end.

And the question becomes one of tools, functions, and people.

Are the tools we need going to be there, or do we build them?

Will it be clear what our role is or do we carve that out?

 

No one is an island, 

We are called to minister in community.

And that community needs constant care and attention.

Or it slowly dies in place.

Perhaps still going through the motions of past decades.

Still maintaining the appearance of meeting real needs.

 

God counts upon His people to bring His kingdom.

God counts upon His people to build His community -

The living stones built upon His cornerstone.

Every human endeavor needs organization.

But we are called to be something more.

The very Presence of God among His children.

 

Shalom!

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Ezekiel 18: 25-28
2. Psalms 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. Philippians 2: 1-11
4. Matthew 21: 28-32

• If only I knew when I was going to die
• The pragmatist might look at God's mercy and conclude that if they can just make that death-bed conversion, slide into home plate as it were, then the rest of their life leading up to that final moment could be dedicated to self-gratification and indulgence.  I still remember Fr. Peter telling us that true happiness springs from holiness.
•  How would you define happiness based on your experience?
•  Is true happiness a state of mind, an emotion, a thought that you have, ...?
•  Is sadness the opposite of true happiness?
•  How do you tell when you are in a state of true happiness?

• The hope of mercy
•  Life is hard.  We need each other.  Building trust takes time.  Overcoming sin in our lives is a daily miracle that God calls us to.  Sometimes I think that each of us would benefit from the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous in some way or another.
• Are there repeated sin patterns that you fall into in your life?
• When you fall into one of those, how do you respond?  Do you despair of ever leaving that behind for good, do you beat yourself up for being weak, how do you pray your way through that?
• When you think about the ways that God has shown you His mercy through the years, how do you feel?  Does His mercy inspire you?
• Do you think this sort of meditation might be a good prayer form for you? 

• Unity in humility
• In some ways its easy to regard other faiths, other denominations the same way that we do sovereign nations: you stay within your borders, and you can handle your own affairs any way that you like as long as you let us handle things within our borders the way that we see fit.  I like to think that God has something better for us.  I just don't know how to get there.
• Where do divisions among us begin?
• What's the difference between a mere matter of taste such as whether the celebrant really needs to vest for a worship service or not, and something foundational, like the Trinity?
• Even if "they" are confused about some tenet, can we still learn anything from them?
• Can they learn anything from us?
• Where might such an exchange lead? 

• The magic of action
• Discernment is a process, and like all journeys, sometimes it has false starts, blind alleys, and U-turns.  But eventually, we figure out what to do and commit.  And even then, there's room for a change of mind and heart.
• What are some warning signs that you've made a poor, even sinful decision?
• What do you do to make yourself more sensitive to those sinful decisions?
• Do you think that good intentions make a difference in life?
• Do you think that God will always prosper the work of our hands if we follow His will in our lives?
• What does "prosper" really mean when it comes to following God? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• What am I doing to increase holiness in my life?
• Where might I benefit more from the mercy that God's shown me?
• How/where can I help bring about greater/deeper unity?
• Am I humble enough to pray for guidance when I need it?

Lost

 

I lose my way from time to time.

I used to long for a clear path ahead of me,

Clear directions for the journey,

Plenty of good signage along the way.

 

Then I began to see perhaps

The better part is to become sensitive.

Better at listening.

Better at knowing when I've strayed.

 

Lately, I'm trying to learn greater awareness.

Awareness of who I'm becoming.

Awareness of how better to serve where I find myself.

Awareness of new horizons opening up in front of me.

 

The trail ahead is not marked as well as I'd like.

But gradually, that means less to me.

As I learn that each step is a journey of its own.

To be savored, reflected on, celebrated.

 

Learning to trust God in the moment.

Giving Him the freedom to help me find freedom.

The freedom to follow with no guarantees.

The freedom to find fulfillment in the everyday. 

 

Shalom!

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 55: 6-9
2. Psalms 145: 2-3, 8-9, 17-18
3. Philippians 1: 20c-24, 27a
4. Matthew 20: 1-16a

• God is other
• We're not allowed to make God into our own image.  His priorities, His goals, His dreams do not necessarily align with ours, and that can be a hard reality to embrace.
• Have you ever really, really, wanted something to go a particular way, and wondered how you should pray?
• How did you find the peace to hear what God wanted in that case?
• How did you find the courage to pray for what God desired for you?
• How did that turn out? 

• Our God is near
• Deists believe that God set the universe in motion like a cosmic clock maker, and then just watched it run.  We don't worship that God, but just whom do we worship?
• How close is God to you?  How would you describe that closeness?
• A popular bumper sticker used to read "Does God feel far away?  Guess who moved."  Do you feel that is always the case?
• What does God's intimacy with you really amount to?  What are the benefits of that closeness?
• Do you think that God gets anything from that intimacy? 

• Fruitful labor
• Some labor is easily quantifiable: the annual revenue from your small business, the number of customers that you contacted in a week, your billable hours.  Some is not so easy to measure: the comfort that you were able to give a friend when they needed you, the joy that you imparted to someone when God gave you just the right words for them, the hope that you conveyed along with that casserole that you shared with a friend in need.
• How can you tell whether anything that you do is truly fruitful?
• How can you tell that you're making the best use of your time here on earth?
• How can we work to be as fruitful as possible?
• How can we continue to be fruitful as our minds and bodies gradually (or maybe not so gradually) begin to fail us? 

• The measure of success
• Some folks are just more accomplished.  The wonderfully prolific composers, the academics with multiple college degrees to their names, even the fellow parishioner who seems to be everywhere at once in the parish.  Yet each of us has our own way to holiness charted out for us, and it's our job to find that path and walk it.
• What are some times/places/events that have made you feel really appreciated for your work?
• How did that appreciation help you in that ministry?
• Why do you think that appreciation was expressed in the first place?
• During times when you have not gotten any appreciation for your work, how did that make you feel?
• What can you conclude from that lack of appreciation?
• Do you think that God is at all obliged to thank us?
• Why? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where do I need more peace in my life?
• Where might God be calling me to draw closer to Him?
• Am I where I belong, or am I staying in a place just because its comfortable?
• Where might I be letting a perceived lack of appreciation fill me with anger or resentment?

My Last Days

 

I didn't ask for much from life.

Just that all my days would be characterized by:

Good health

An active lifestyle

Meaningful labor

Great hair.

 

Reality set in a few years later.

My goals became more realistic:

Strength to continue serving God just as I have been.

Courage to face the challenges new and old.

Ministry that builds the community.

An enduring sense of humor about it all.

 

Lately, I'm wondering whether all of that's in the cards for me.

Maybe, maybe I would be happy with:

Strength to serve God however He calls me in the moment.

Perseverance to seek Him with my dying breath.

Grace to be His Presence to others however I'm still able.

A source of hope to those who need it. 

 

Shalom!

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Sirach 27: 30-28: 7
2. Psalms 103: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
3. Romans 14: 7-9
4. Matthew 18: 21-35

• Transforming forgiveness
• On May 13th, 1981, Ali Agca attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II.  The pope forgave his would be assassin, and met with him shortly after the attempt.  It would be heart-warming to be able to say that the Pope's forgiveness was transformative for Agca, but reviews of his life since the attempt are decidedly mixed.
• If forgiving another is no guarantee of making them a better person, what is the point?
• Do you think that forgiving another makes you more or less vulnerable to subsequent injury that they might inflict on you?
• Does it really matter? 

• Kind and merciful
• Mercy and justice would appear to be at odds with each other, yet they are both deeply evident in God.
• Do you think that it is possible to show mercy and justice?
• How would you define justice?
• How would you define mercy?
• Is it possible to show one without the other? 

• What matters in the end
• Day to day living can be so day to day.  Life can feel like a treadmill with no real forward progress, barely keeping your head above water.
• If someone asked you what you are living for, what would you say if you only had a minute?
• What would you say if you had a half hour?
• Given the ultimate goal of your life, how does your work fit into that picture today?
• When was the last time that you asked yourself that question? 

• The freedom of forgiveness
• When someone injures us, we suddenly feel vulnerable.  We ask how such a thing could happen to us at all.  Let alone how it could happen to us at the hands of that person.  If we're at all inclined to neurosis, we might spiral into self-doubt and wonder what we did to somehow deserve that.
• Why do you think that it is so hard to forgive?
• Does our forgiveness of another oblige them to respond in any way?
• Does our forgiveness require that they in any way deserve it?
• When you have asked for forgiveness, how has the asking changed you?
• What would have been your reaction if the other person did not forgive you? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Do I have the courage to forgive?
• How can I bring about more mercy and justice in my immediate circle?
• Am I fulfilling my life calling, my destiny in God?
• How/where might God be calling me to heal with forgiveness?

I Forgive You

 

At my age, memory can be a rather fickle thing.

Hurtful things that I've said and done come back to mind.

Floating to the surface of my memory at the oddest times.

And I don't always know what to do with them.

 

I try to remember who I was back then.

I try to find some reason for that behavior.

Or some deeper lesson from that experience.

Maybe inspiration to do better in the future.

 

I know that I cannot redeem that younger me.

No amount of better behavior will make up for those actions.

But perhaps, by the grace of God

I can still bring about some healing.

 

Now I ask God to forgive me

Just in case I've never asked for that.

Where its possible I strive to make amends.

But the hardest thing is to forgive myself.

 

No excuses, no "boys will be boys"

Just a realization that I've been hurtful, spiteful

Nevermind the real or imagined motivations.

And let that younger me know that he is loved.

 

Eternity knows no bounds of time as we know it.

I like to think that I can reach back to that younger me

Claim my right as a child of the Eternal.

And lay a loving hand on his shoulder.

 

And maybe start some healing at the source.

Maybe learn from him how to show mercy in the hear and now.

To those who need it all around me.

And leave a little more of me in Jesus' loving hands.

 

Shalom!

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Ezekiel 33: 7-9
2. Psalms 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9
3. Romans 13: 8-10
4. Matthew 18: 15-20

• The hazards of speaking out
• It's easy to tell ourselves that someone out there will have the courage to speak up about some corruption that has caught our attention.  But if everyone feels that way, nothing gets said, nothing gets done.
• You no doubt can think of a number of things going on around you that are wrong.  If you were told that you could make a big difference in just one of them, which of those wrongs would you seek to right?
• Where would you start in trying to solve that?
• What would be the risks?
• How do you know that you are not the one to address that wrong? 

• Trust
• There are several different dimensions of trust, each of which supports the others.  First there's trust that God's will always offers us opportunities to draw closer to Him.  Then there's trust that drawing closer to God is, ultimately, the best thing that can possibly happen to us.  Finally, there's trust that God will reveal Himself to us in a manner that we can understand and act on.
• How has God revealed Himself to you over the years?
• Would you be open to Him revealing Himself by some very different means than what He's used with you in the past?
• Do you think that God's revelation is harder than it really needs to be?
• What to do you do to actively seek His will for you?
• What do you do to make sure that you're hearing Him rightly?
• How has that worked out for you? 

• Debt of love
•  Maybe you have a heart big enough to love the world, I'm afraid that I fall short of that.
• Who are some folks in your life that you ended up being called to love that you would not have chosen?
• How did you come to realize that?
• How did your generosity change them?
• How did your generosity change you? 

• I'm here for you
• We live in a culture that celebrates rugged individualism, self-reliance, the "self-made man" (at least in conservative circles) is held up as an ideal.  And all of that has its place.  But, like everything else in life, there is such a thing as "too much of a good thing."
• Have you ever felt called to help someone else see their own error, their own sin?
• Has anyone else ever ministered to you in that way?
• Why do you think that sort of loving connection between us is so rare?
• What can/should we do to improve?
• What can we do to safeguard against creating a community of busybodies?  Even if those busybodies have the best intentions in the world? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me into a prophetic episode?
• What/who do I really trust in my life?
• Who might God be calling me to love in a new way?
• Where might God be calling me into a deeper partnership with Him?

Lost

 

One of the mother goats in my herd died yesterday of thirst.

She looked at me with her eyes clouded with dehydration,

Trying to nurse her newborn kid who was too weak to stand.

Meanwhile, nothing but sand and rocks in view in all directions.

 

I tried to rekindle the excitement of  our escape from Egypt.

That magical night when anything seemed possible.

I pictured in my mind when we thought we were trapped -

Trapped between the Red Sea and Pharoh's wrath.

 

I remembered the days that we spent in front of Mt. Horeb.

Listening to God and Moses communing in the distance.

Wondering what was going on, how long it would go on,

And most of all, what our future held for us.

 

None of that was any help as I watched my dying herd.

Knowing that my family was not far behind.

And wondering where I, my tribe, my nation, had gone wrong.

Was it God, or Moses, our own sin?

 

We were promised freedom from slavery.

And a land flowing with milk and honey.

Which turned out to be populated by war-like giants.

And the freedom seems to just be freedom to starve.

 

No clear way forward, no way to return.

And we cannot just stay here to die.

I wonder what purpose God had for bringing us here.

I wonder what He is telling Moses over yonder.

 

I hate to go back into the tent and face my family.

They were counting on me to lead them, 

Show them the way.

And I have nothing to say, nothing to give them.

 

I have to believe that we're still following the same God.

The one who called us out of slavery to worship Him.

The one who gave us Moses to lead us.

The one who journeys with us in the Tabernacle.

 

It's just so hard to slack your thirst with just belief. 

But at least I can tell them that we will not die alone.

That the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob still walks with us.

And that we are still His chosen. 

 

Shalom!