4th Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 4th Sunday in Lent:

1. 1 Samuel 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13a
2. Psalms 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
3. Ephesians 5: 8-14
4. John 9: 1-41

• God's chosen
•  Usually, we're so grateful for volunteers, that we don't really ask whether the person applying for a particular ministry is God's choice.  We're afraid that if we set standards, we won't have any takers.
• Do you believe that the only reason that someone wants to be in a ministry, be it choir member, priest, catechist, food drive worker ... is that they feel called to that ministry?
• If they feel called, are they called?
• What responsibility do we have to select new members?
• What responsibility do we have to search out new members? 

• What is it that you want?
• If we are following God as best as we can, it's a safe bet that our deepest desires come from Him.  The hard part is finding what those desires are.
• What is your deepest desire?
• Would you ever think to pray for that?
• What else are you doing to make that desire happen? 

• Good fruit
• Fruit on trees is easy to identify.  Sometimes, the fruits of our labors are harder to pin down.  Sometimes, the best thing that can be said of something that we worked on involved fruits that we never thought would come of that work.
• If you were to die tomorrow, what would be some of the fruits of your life, from your vantage point?
• Do you ever think to ask Jesus what He thinks your fruits are?
• What can you do to make your life more fruitful?
• Do you always need to know what fruits have come from your work? 

• Unwelcome apostle
• The thing that I love about these Gospel readings for the scrutinies is the recurring themes that we see in them.  One of them is apostleship - spreading the Good News of who Jesus is.
• Talking about your faith with another believer is one thing, talking about your faith to someone who is not a believer is another.  Why has that been in your life?
• One reason to be reluctant to bring up matters of faith is that we figure that the other person will never change, that they have closed their minds, that they are blinded.  Would Jesus ever want the Gospel to be shared with such a person anyway?
• Just because words are true does not necessarily mean that they are shared in love.  How can we be sure to share the Good News in love, and not judgement, with patience and not bitterness?
• Who are some "blind" people in your life that you would love to share your faith with? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How can I discern God's calling in others?
• What does God desire for me?
• What can I do to be more fruitful?
• Who might I be an apostle to?

Open My Eyes

The Master miraculously opened my eyes.

I could no longer beg for my bread.

I had to learn a trade and earn it for the first time.

 

I went to the village weaver and asked to be taught.

It was hard at first, learning to trust my eyes -

To guide these hands that have been on their own.

 

Eventually, I learned to delight in colors coming together -

Threads interwoven, crossing one another.

Hardly a design visible when first starting.

 

But the true weaver knows where they are going.

They know what the finished product will be.

Even though no one else can tell ahead of time.

 

And I know that my tapestry is still a weaving.

Threads from my deep past, 

Tastes, sights, sounds from today.

 

The touch of a friend, the lift of a verdant smile 

The sound of a beloved footstep on the hard earth

The smell of the first minutes of a gentle spring rain.

 

Even the disappointments and sorrows have their place.

To try to unravel them from my life is foolish.

For they have a sacred place to fulfill as well. 

 

Every one of them a gift, every one of them a grace.

All to be savored, celebrated, and shared.

Until all of us become one tapestry in Jesus. 

 

Shalom!

3rd Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 3rd Sunday in Lent:

1. Exodus 17: 3-7
2. Psalms 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9
3. Romans 5: 1-2, 5-8
4. John 4: 5-42

• Finding your trust
• Stepping into something new can be exciting, exhilarating, scary.  Eventually thought, the novelty wears off, the implications of your decision begin to become clear, and its easy to begin to wonder: "did I really do such a great thing?  Is this really where God wants me?"
• Have you ever done something bold because you felt led to that by God?
• How did that turn out for you?
• Do you still feel as though that was God's leading?
• Why? 

• Seeking a soft heart
• A soft heart is one that is sensitive to the will of God in your life.  The soft heart feels deeply, seeks closeness to God and others, and is willing to bear hurt and pain on the behalf of others because that empathy is what brings us together, what heals us of our hurts and wounds.
• Are there people in your life today that you might not have noticed in years past?  Maybe you were too busy to notice them, or too preoccupied with other things, or afraid of them for one reason or another?
• What made you finally notice them?
• How did that noticing change you? 

• Making peace
• Where do you find peace?
• What can take your peace away?  Maybe it's a painful memory, someone alive today who immediately sets your blood boiling, maybe its a job that you know you have to do, but which you'd rather not.
• How are you praying for that situation?
• How would you like God to change that situation?
• How would like God to change you? 

• Nobody
• A priest is someone within the community who strengthens our relationship to God, and a prophet is someone from without the community who represents God to the community, calling them to justice and reform.
• Do you see yourself as a priest, a prophet, or a little of both?
• Can we ever have too many prophets?
• Can we ever have too many priests?
• Who are some of the local prophets that you admire?
• Who are some of the local priests that you admire?
• How can we help them in their work? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where is God calling me to be bold?
• How can I be more attuned to God's presence in my life?
• What is stealing my peace?
• How can I do more to bring the Kingdom?

Courage to Stay

He's left our village and I miss Him so.

That day at the well, He changed me.

I had been bitter, disappointed, cynical.

And He gave me hope and dignity.

 

Everyone around me in the village looks the same.

But I will never see them the same way again.

All of them, all of us were so eager to hear His voice.

That we all dropped what we were doing.

 

Now, now we are changed.

No longer strangers to one another.

No longer so cold and bitter.

Each seeing in the other another disciple.

 

For whatever reason -

He came here, to our village, 

For all of us, and each of us.

He came for us, and among us.

 

At first, I wanted to follow Him.

Leave behind the jagged memories,

The long list of hurts and sleights.

But I would have missed a greater healing. 

 

It is as us, all of us -

That He offers us healing and peace.

My people and the Jews are one in Him.

Who knows what is next for us?

 

But I know that we can only find our way -

When we travel this road before us

Together.

With Him and each other.

 

Shalom!

2nd Sunday in Lent

Our readings for the 2nd Sunday in Lent:

1. Genesis 12: 1-4a
2. Psalms 33: 4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
3. 2 Timothy 1: 8b-10
4. Matthew 17: 1-9

• Don't wait for me
• Ultimately, God's call offers freedom to step out of the familiar, the known, into a much larger world in which the horizons recede, a much larger world in which we can become truly visible, truly prophetic, truly alive.  We must never accept safety and security if it comes at the expense of that freedom.
• How have you become more free, more creative, more daring as you have gone through life?
• What have you had to give up/shed along the way in order to embrace that freedom?
• Have you broken any hearts along the way on that quest?
• Would you do it again? 

• Finding your hope
• Hope is not so much for something, like hoping that your team takes the World Series, as it is hope in someone.  True hope is grounded in the faithfulness of God.  True hope relies on faith and love to give it life, just as hope brings joy and vitality to the other two.  They form a trinity of virtue.
• Have you ever lost hope?
• What brought that on?
• How did you get through that dark season in your life?
• How did that chapter change you?
• If you could go back to the you when you had lost hope, what would you tell yourself? 

• Self-induced hardship
• More often than not, stress and burnout are not the result of working too hard, but working at something that we were never meant to work at.  By contrast, true joy can be found in the strangest of places and circumstances when we are there in pursuit of holiness.
• What were you born to do?
• How did you find that calling in your life?
• Do you think that our calling in life, our essence ever changes?
• How did you know when you had found your calling? 

• Savoring the moment
• Mountain top experiences are good, and often needed.  But they become an obstacle if we try to cling to them.
• What are some mountaintop experiences that you have had through the years?
• How/when did you have to descend from that mountaintop?
• How did that mountaintop experience impact/influence the rest of your life?
• Did you ever return to that same mountaintop to try to rekindle the old feelings?
• How did that go for you? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where is God calling me to be more creative?
• Who do I actually hope in??
• Am I being faithful to who I truly am??
• How can I be better at savoring, really living in the moment?

Leaving for Parts Unknown

A coward dies a thousand deaths.

A brave man dies but once.

 

Both end up just as dead.

But the brave make a difference.

 

Lord,

 

Don't let me let my fear of less than greatness -

Keep me from trying at all.

 

Help me to have the courage to leave the familiar

The comfortable

The secure

 

Behind in favor of following you more closely.

 

Give me eyes for the wide open spaces,

The unexpected turn of trail.

 

Help me learn to sing with the brooks.

Teach me to find home wherever you take me.

 

Teach me to find peace,

Not in the certainty of what today will hold.

But in the certainty that you hold me.

 

Let me measure the span of my life -

Not by how many breaths I take.

But by what takes my breath away.

 

Shalom!

1st Sunday in Lent

Our readings for the 1st Sunday in Lent:

1. Genesis 2: 7-9, 3: 1-7
2. Psalms 51: 3-4, 5-6, 
3. 1 Corinthians 2: 6-10
4. Matthew 5: 17-37

• Finding trust
• Trust can be hard.  Sometimes trust calls on us to wait until the time is ripe, sometimes trust calls on us to give things away in order to live life more richly, sometimes trust calls on us to find contentment and fulfillment right where we are.
• What builds your trust in God?
• What has that trust allowed you to do that you would not have been able to accomplish otherwise?
• Trusting in God is one thing.  How much do you trust your understanding of God's will in your life? 

• Open my eyes Lord
• Sin is not just a matter of our individual actions or lack of action.  Sin also has a corporate identity that God calls us to address.
• Individually, we can take advantage of Reconciliation to begin the healing process.  But what can we do about systemic sins that may have come about in the larger communities that we belong to?
• Who's job is it to be the conscience of a family, a parish, the Church at large?  You could call such individuals prophets.
• How does that conscience speak to the rest of us these days? 
• As individuals, how do we participate in the necessary reflection, reconciliation, and renewal necessary to heal those corporate sins?
• What happens if we don't? 

• Finding your mojo
• Lately, I've been struck by Jesus' ability to smoothly move from prayer, hanging with the homies, healing, preaching, sleeping (occasionally).  How did He juggle all of that and find the proper balance???  I suspect that has something to do with holiness.  And I suspect that Jesus' prayer life allowed Him to do all of those things in just the right places and time in exquisite harmony with God's will.
• How do you know when your life is "out of whack"?  That ache that tells you that you've neglected some important aspect of your life.
• How long does it usually take you before you realize that you need to change things?
• How long does that change stay in place once you make it, before you're "out of whack" again?
• How important do you think it is that we do the right things at the right time for the right reason? 

• Finding freedom from sin
• If only Jesus had ChatGPT available, I'm sure He would have been able to come up with even snappier responses to the devil's temptations.
• What do you do to develop your conscience?
• What are some things that make it hard to hear your conscience?
• What help would you like in developing your conscience?
• What help could you offer to others who are looking to develop their conscience? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Do I trust God to give me true joy?
• Might God be calling me to be prophetic?
• Where is God calling me to glory, today?
• Where is God calling me to turn toward Him in a deeper way?

It's Always the Little Things

Woke up late this morning.

Didn't have time to make breakfast

Thankfully, that leftover German chocolate cake from last night didn't take long to prepare.

 

Glanced down at my belt and wondered why it's gotten so short lately.

Part of me delusional about my "diet".

Part of me hating myself for being delusional.

 

Tried to squeeze in some prayer on my way to work.

Then some jerk pulled in front of me on the freeway.

I guess I was still talking to God, but not the way I intended.

 

Day at work was nothing but sand in the gears.

Nothing went smoothly.  Everyone seemed on edge.

Me most of all.

 

Sent off a scorching e-mail saying what I thought needed to be said.

Knowing that I will cringe when I see that again later.

Wondering what could possibly be so wrong about one lousy piece of cake.

 

In a mad attempt to get something done today, I stayed late.

Only thinking to call home and let them know I'd be late while on the freeway.

Thank God my cell phone's integrated with the car, so the call was hands free.

 

Even so, chilly reception and a colder dinner waiting for me at home.

Undifferentiated and unacknowledged guilt beginning to gnaw at me.

Rather than face facts, I took it out on the kids.

 

Tried to pray, too tired.

Besides, the wife has this weird ability to give me the death glare through solid walls.

Went to bed, hoping tomorrow would be better.

 

Wondering to myself if Jesus had it better in the desert.

After all,

He only had three temptations.

 

Shalom!

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Sirach 15: 15-20
2. Psalms 119: 1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
3. 1 Corinthians 2: 6-10
4. Matthew 5: 17-37

• Finding righteousness
• We know that Jesus gives us a means to achieve righteousness before God even in spite of our sin.  At the same time, God gives us the strength, courage, trust in Him to turn from sin, and turn towards God.
• How do you find the strength to resist sin?
• When and where did you learn that?
• Is it still working?
• How have you improved on your ability to turn from sin? 

• Open my eyes Lord
• Sometimes, we have to work a bit harder to see how God's Law applies to a given situation, and we know what God is calling us to.
• Has there ever been anyone who helped you see that you were falling prey to sin?
• How did they let you know?
• Did you find it humbling, inspirational, convicting, embarrassing,  ...
• Did you ever thank them for their service? 

• Finding your glory
• Glory can be defined as celestial bliss.
• Do you think that we can achieve any measure of that glory this side of eternity?
• What do you think contributes to that glory in our lives?
• If we were all glorious, would the world be a better place? 

• Finding freedom from sin
• In the examen prayer, we review the events of the day and ask God to reveal to us where we made decisions, thought thoughts, said things that drew us closer to God, and those that did not.  From a steady practice of our day, we gradually become more in tune with God's will for our lives, and we learn what gives us life.
• Are there practices, friends, activities, places that you no longer invest yourself in as a result of coming closer to Jesus?
• How did you come to see the need to give those up?
• How do you bring yourself back when you feel that old temptation?
• How do you reinforce the life-giving, the holy in your life?
• Are you getting any better at it? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Do I trust God to give me true joy?
• Who might be helping me draw closer to God in my life today?
• Where is God calling me to glory, today?
• Where is God calling me to turn toward Him in a deeper way?

 

Shalom!

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Isaiah 58: 7-10
2. Psalms 112: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5
4. Matthew 5: 13-16

• Finding your glory
• Each of us has our own destiny, our own path to manifest God's presence to those around us.  Burnout is not so much a consequence of working too hard, as it is working at the wrong thing.
• What are some things in your life that give you deep, abiding joy?
• Do they ever leave you exhausted/empty from putting in too much work? 
• How did you originally get involved in that work?
• How do you see that work of yours making the world a better place? 

• Lavishly giving to the poor
• Giving to the poor happens at many different levels in many different ways.
• What are some needs of the poor that you see that still need to be addressed?
• Who (either individuals or organizations) would be the best ones to address those needs?
• How do you think new folks could/should be recruited to take up that work so that there is always a steady stream of "new blood" coming into those ministries?

• Strength in weakness
• In our culture, leaders want to show themselves to be strong, capable, resolute, maybe even wise.  But hardly ever humble.
• Who are some real leaders that you respect and try to emulate?
• What is it about them that you admire?
• What is it about them that inspires you?
• Do you feel as though you are at all inspiring? 

• Taking a stand, making a difference
• Ours is not a defensive faith, one that builds walls and barriers to ward off corrupting influences.  Rather, we are called to be bold, to speak prophetically to the communities, culture, and world around us, to be heard, to be remembered, to make a critical difference.
• In our world today, hope seems in short supply.  What do you hope for?
• How do you see bringing that hoped-for reality about?
• Is it fair to say that this hope filled reality is the Kingdom of God?
• How do you think that we can convey that hope to those around us?
• How can we begin to lead, rather than just hold on? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Do I trust God to give me true joy?
• Where is God calling me to be His Presence?
• Where is God calling me to deeper humility?
• Where is God calling me to lead?

  Heal my Fear

I'm not good at being generous.

I always worry where an act of reckless giving will end.

I don't want to start something that I cannot finish.

I don't want to start something that I'll not be able to follow through on.

 

There's so much I don't know about my future.

How long I'll live, how much care I'll need, how much it will cost.

I long for security and safety, always knowing -

That there really is no such thing in this world.

 

Only trust.

Only an open hand.

Only eyes to see the need with my name on it.

Only ears to hear those whose hunger God has sent me to fill.

 

Help me to learn that my greatest joy

Lies in letting go.

Getting out of Your way.

Letting the miracle into my life and others.

 

Shalom!

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Zephaniah 2: 3; 3: 12-13
2. Psalms 146: 6-7, 8-9, 9-10
3. 1 Corinthians 1: 26-31
4. Matthew 5: 1-12a

• Recovery plan
• What does true victory over sin really look like?
• Is it possible to recover from a sin pattern in your life without humility?
• How do we ever achieve true honesty with ourselves regarding our failings and shortcomings?
• How do we ever know if we're being real with ourselves? 

• Rock bottom
• Have you ever hit rock bottom in your life?
• How did you get there?
• What did you find in that set of circumstances, that season in your life?
• Was God at all present for you in that time?
• How did you come to recognize Him?
• How did He change you in that experience? 

• Strength in weakness
• We all want to be strong, or do we?  Strength means responsibility, discernment on when/where/how to use that strength.  Strength is easily corrupted if we don't use it properly. 
• What is your greatest strength?
• How did you acquire that strength?
• How do you continue to build that strength, like a muscle?
• How has God found ways to use that strength of yours? 

• Finding peace by making peace
• Peace comes to us as we find and follow God's will in our lives.  That can take a long time to find that perfect peace.  Once found, we cannot become careless, but seek God's will for us each day so that we don't drift.  A part of that mission of our lives is to help others find God has been and is in their lives.
• Who are some folks that you know who help others find Jesus in their lives?
• How is it that they manage that?
• How have they inspired you?
• Do you know whether you have been at all successful in leading others to Jesus?
• Do you have to know that in order to carry on? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Do I trust God to give me true victory in my life?
• Where is God calling me to trust Him more?
• Where is God developing new strength in me?
• How can I help others know Jesus better/deeper?

  Where do I Begin

To listen you into hearing God's voice in your life?

Where do I begin

To help you see that creation is going on right here, right now, in your heart of hearts?

Where do I begin

To tell you how deeply God loves you, in spite of, because of, through the scars on your heart?

Where do I begin

To ease you into the arms of Jesus, despite your fear and anger?

 

Lord

Help me to embrace the freedom to give You my all,

To trust you with the five loaves and two fish I clutch,

In the face of need with no visible bottom.

Knowing that my poor offering is never enough,

Until I'm willing to give it away without strings,

Letting you have it all. 

 

Shalom!