5th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 5th Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 9: 26-31
2. Psalms 22: 26-27, 28, 30, 31-32
3. 1 John 3: 18-24
4. John 15: 1-8

1. The Church at peace
• How would you define "peace"?
• John 14: 27 is one of the many places where Jesus offers his disciples peace ("Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you.  Let not your heart be trouibled, or let it be fearful.") why is His peace not like what the world gives?
• Have you ever experienced such peace?
• How did you get to that peace?
2. Time to remember
• Have you ever written a spiritual autobiography?
• Have you ever reminisced with anyone about earlier times in your spiritual journey?
• What sort of lessons is your past teaching you today?
3. Loving the best way possible
• When making decisions, how do you choose between good and better?
• What role does God typically play in those decisions?
• Are you getting any better at making such decisions?
4. Fruits of our labors
• When you think of the phrase "life's work", what would you include in that?
• Would you consider work that you've done as a volunteer part of your "life's work"?
• Do you think that all of the work that you do is equally fruitful?
• How do you measure success?
• How successful are you willing to be?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How have I shown God that I trust him lately?
2. What sort of a spiritual legacy am I leaving behind?
3. Do I strive to pray for what God wants?
4. What am I willing to give up in order to draw closer to Jesus?

Grown Old in His Service

I love the story of Simeon in Luke 2.
He gently gave his life in God's service, one day at a time.
Never looking back, never second-guessing, always thankful.

At the end, it was all just fulfillment, completion.
No regrets, no missed opportunities, no "if onlys".
His life finding completion  in being completly given away.

I'm getting steady hints of the passing miles
The life ahead of me is the product of a lot of decisions
Some good, some not so good.

And I hope that when it comes time to harvest
The fruit of my life's labors,
More of this will make sense than it does just now.

I pray that God will give me the wisdom
To make the best use of what He's given me.
That I can make a strong finish, and depart in profound peace.

Shalom!

4th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 4th Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 4: 8-12
2. Psalms 118: 1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29
3. 1 John 3: 1-2
4. John 10: 11-18

1. We are Jesus' resurrection glory
• How can we become imitators of Christ, without becoming mere imitations?
• What does it really mean to carry on His ministry?
• What does that say about our prayer life?
2. Blessed with rejection
• Jesus was rejected by His people, by all of humanity.  Can you think of any saints who have been similarly rejected?
• Do you think that rejection was somehow necessary or pivotal for that saint's ministry.
• What does that say about our lives as Jesus' followers?
• How does that make you feel?
• How do you tell that rejection you face is because you are His follower, not something more mundane, like bad hygiene?
3. Image and likeness of God
• The epistles speak often of "the world", worldly pleasures, and so on.  Just what is meant by that, what does it include?
• If the world truly does not know us, know what's best for us, what will make us happy, what does that say about the values that the world tries to offer us?
• How do you think we might better distance ourselves from those values of the world?
• How might we help each other in that regard?
4. It's not what you know but who you're known by
• Who are some folks who look to you for example?
• What is it that you think they see in you?
• What sort of responsibilities do you have to them?
• Ask these same questions about you to someone else and see what you get.

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Would anyone describe me as a healing presence?
2. Who/what do I put my trust in?
3. When was the last time that I shared my life with someone who really knew me?
4. Is there anyone that I would lay down my life for?

Trust is hard

In his book Jacob the Baker, a woman asks Jacob if he trusts God.
To which Jacob replies "Faith uses its strength to develop trust."

Paul tells us in Hebrews "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
Faith is a gift, freely given.  None of us earns it.

By faith, we are able to see the visible for what it truly is
A manifestation, a shadow of what is not visible.

And by gazing at this whole picture, in all its wholeness
We can see the hand of God far more clearly.

Seeing God's movements, His ongoing creation
Shows us His character, His generative generosity.

We learn that God is true
True to His own nature, to who He is revealing Himself as.

That Vision tells us that God is with us in ways unfathomable
And yet so intimate.

And as we gaze with that Vision upon that Vision of a much wider realness
We grow in confidence that He is always there, always Present.

And trust becomes the only possible outcome
It is our only response.

Shalom!

3rd Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 3rd Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 3: 13-15, 17-19
2. Psalms 4: 2,4, 7-8, 9
3. 1 John 2: 1-5a
4. Luke 24: 35-48

1. God's promise fulfilled
• Couples sometimes speak of "us" as an entity in its own right, beyond the two members of the couple.  Some theologians have described the Holy Spirit as the love between the Father and the Son, the embodiment of the relationship between them.
• How do you regard your relationship with God?  Does that relationship flourish or weaken over time?
• How often do you take a reading on how that relationship is doing?
2. Trust and peace
• What are some times that God has answered your prayer in your life?
• What does that tell you about the God whom we worship?
• If some individual person had accomplished all of that for your, how would you treat them?
• Is that the way that you treat God?
3. True children of God
• Why do you think that Jesus came to save the whole world?
• Do you think that God is an extrovert and just needs lots of people around?
• Surely God must have known that there were going to be diversity of cultures, backgrounds, ... how does He expect us to welcome all of that?
• How can we be more welcoming this Sunday?
4. Open the eyes of my heart Lord
• It seems that the risen Christ spent a good deal of time revealing Himself to his disciples on every level, tactile, visually, mentally, emotionally.  How is God revealing God's self today?
• In your life, who are those that really stand out as revealing the glory of God?
• What makes them so good at that?
• What can we do to emulate them?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Have I consistently brought life and peace to those around me this week?
2. What are the things that distress/stress/worry me?  Are they from God?
3. What can I do to be the Love of God to the most difficult person in my life?
4. How am I sharing my faith with those who need to hear that?

Hey, I was going to eat that!

Feeding the homeless isn't for type A personalities.
The donations come in all shapes and sizes,
No real schedule to them.

Then, there's the people that you are there to serve.
Getting them to E-mail you with an RSVP is just not going to happen,
So you just have to make your best guess how many places to set.

And yet, folks I've met who do this day in, day out
Radiate joy when they speak of their ministry
The love of Christ for these marginalized -

That love is sustained by being given away
Strengthened in the face of daily need
Flourishes by every touch of those in need.

Jesus Himself ate in the resurection.
Maybe we will too.
Maybe the need to serve each other will persist into Eternity.

Maybe abundance isn't so much about never wanting
As it is about never fearing to share.
The way I figure it, they weren't expecting Jesus to appear to them.

So I have to wonder who thought they were going to eat that fish He had.

Shalom!

2nd Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 2nd Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 4: 32-35
2. Psalms 118: 2-4, 13-15, 22-24
3. 1 John 5: 1-6
4. John 20: 19-31

1. Community transformed
• Do you think that it's possible to achieve justice in an unjust world?
• What does it mean to be "in the world but not of the world"?
• What sort of people would you invite into a Catholic community of justice?
• What would distinguish them from the world around them?
• How would such a community remain pure?
• How do the Amish do it?
2. Man up
• If someone were to buttonhole you at Church and ask you what your strengths were, what would you say?
• If someone else were to ask the same question of you at your place of employment, what would you say?
• Is there a difference?
• Why?
3. Essence of greatness
• When we think of the great figures in human history, we often think of conquerors, folks who have reshaped entire regions for generations.
• What does it take to be great in the Kingdom of God?
• How great are you?
4. Ready or not
• What does it really mean to be a missioned people?
• To what extent are we all on the same mission?
• How does our mission differe one from another?
• How do we find out how we are being asked to contribute to that one great mission?
• Who are some people in your life who have found that mission in their lives?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. When I see a homeless person, what is the first thing that comes to my mind?
2. What have I done this week to develop my strength in God?
3. What have I done this week out of love for another?
4. Are my faith and trust in God building each other?

We'll stay in touch

I had staked so much on Him,
Well, we all had, truth be told.
Even poor Judas for that matter.

That to watch Him topple
Dragged off like a criminal
By those unworthy of Him

Was a death of its own
Except this death lasts
Until you are numb from it.

To ignite hope again
In the ashes of my heart
Seemed folly to me

And so I played it safe
Staying walled up inside
Stout fortress of despair.

But even despair craves company.
And my friends drew me
And it was there He appeared.

Readiant beyond splendor
Present beyond intimate
Joyous in forgiving

His touch so healing
It frightened me
Knowing that an open heart

An open heart will break
Again and again
Bleeding for others in pain

But now my heart unfettered
Fears pain no more
And I am truly healed.

Shalom!