17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. 2nd Kings 4: 42-44
2. Psalms 145: 10-11, 15-16, 17-18
3. Ephesians 4: 1-6
4. John 6: 1-15

1. God cares about the small stuff too
• In John 2: 1-11 Jesus turns the water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana.  You have to smile when you think about the Son of God worrying over something that homey.  Of course, he might have just needed a drop or two himself, and was in a generous mood ...
• What of our needs do you think God really cares about?
• How do you distinguish between a need and a mere want?
• How do you find your deepest needs?
2. God's hand in our midst
• During his long journey to eternity, my father got to a place where he didn't speak but rarely.  We never knew if it was that he just didn't think that much needed to be said, or if his mental process was not capable of forming words and sentences by that point, or what the change in his behavior really indicated.  But one day, as his care giver and my mother were tending to him, he smiled and observed "I'm well taken care of."
• Do you feel that God is providing for you well?
• Has that sense of being well provided for been a sure thing in your life, or have there been rocky patches in the past?
• What do those rocky patches tell you about:
• The times that seemed more abundant
• What your future might hold
• God Himself
3. The secret of living together
• Living in community is not for sissies.  Most of us look our best from a distance.  What are some communities that you have lived in?
• What are some of the dimensions of the unity that you shared?  Were you all about the same age, from similar circumstances, with common goals, common beliefs ...?
• What did you do to nurture that community, strengthen that unity?
• Do you think that such techniques would scale to the parish level, or even world wide?
• How would that transform our world?
4. Delegation
• Do you ever wonder if Jesus wasn't being a bit unfair with the disciples?
• At a recent catechetical formation session I was in, they told us not to be talked out of recruiting someone to catechetical ministry because that other person doesn't feel that they have the background or skills, that a calling will emerge as we give of ourselves, and if we make a mistake, it will become evident and we simply move on to another ministry.
• Do you think that the Church can afford to have ministers that are not truly called to what they are doing?
• How do you think that the average person can reliably discern their calling?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I trust God?
2. Am I able to see God's provision for me, even if that provision isn't what I expected?
3. Am I generous to those around me who are closest?  Do I give them the benefit of the doubt?  Am I willing to be vulnerable to them, again?
4. Am I willing to unlock miracles in my life?

You Raise Me Up

The danger of mere survival is that it's so seductive.
The threat of outright extinction galvanizes, even energizes the weary,
Knowing that their next move is all in, make or break, do or die.
The threat staring you in the face, fanning you with its hot breath.

But survival, that clever siren beckons with mere adequacy,
Promising more energy, more life tomorrow,
Or at the very least the next day.
Always just one day away from true living.

Hope trumpets a clear battle cry
Cutting through the fog and forest
Even if it is at great distance,
Calling us to rise, confront, conquer.

Hope reminds of our true nature,
Speaks to our true destiny,
Reminding us of where we hail from,
And how we got here.

Be still my heart, hearken to the still small voice,
Find your passion, unleash your potential,
Give generously, even if it's just a few barley loaves,
Because you never know how many will get fed today.

Shalom!