26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. Numbers 11: 25-29
2. Psalms 19: 8, 10, 12-13, 14
3. James 5: 1-6
4. Mark 9: 38-43

1. Are you with us?
• Have you ever been on retreat, been to a particularly moving prayer service or some other "peak moment" and tried to share that with someone who had not been there?
• How can we include others who have not had the same experiences as we have?
• What place should shared lived events have in what makes us one?
2. Cleanse me
• Do you ever feel as though you'd like a full catalog of every sin, so that you could avoid all of them?
• No, or would you prefer that someone gave you a catalog of your every fault so that you knew what about needs to be worked on?
• Without those sorts of helps, how do you assess how your relationship with God is doing day by day?
3. What's important?
• One technique recommended by St. Ignatius for making a decision is to ask yourself how you would have wanted to make the pending decision when you look back on it from your deathbed.  The intent is to give you some objectivity, some distance from the immediate situation and review it from a broader context.
• The hard part is, once you step back into the day to day, you still have to face the immediate implications.
• So, how do you make decisions that will stand the test of time, and get you through today?
• Are you getting better at that process?
4. Being accountable
• Do you see yourself as a leader in any capacity?
• Can you think of anyone who looks to you as an example in one regard or another?
• What sort of responsibilities do you think that brings with it?
• What if you didn't ask for, and don't want those responsibilities of leadership?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I doing to bring up the next generation of ministers to replace me?
2. Am I truly present to God in my prayer life?
3. Do I really know what's important in my life?
4. Can I find freedom in being a servant of others?

Mission Sunday

The missionary priest obviously loved the people whom he was serving back home.
His stories of them were earthy, intimate, warm and loving.

He didn't just want to share these stories with us, he wanted to share the people:
His friends, family, the fulfillment of his dreams, the reason that he is here.

And he wanted to share us with them as well.  Show that we cared, that we felt,
And that we could be generous even over thousands of miles of separation.

And I thought to myself how lucky we were to have someone like this
Out there showing the face of Christ to His flock.

And I wondered how he received his call, by what measured stages
He had made the trek to this tiny way station of humanity.

His influence is easy to pick out, the villagers who rely on him to speak truth to them
Easy to spot in a crowd, easy to reach out to and touch.

But for me, I wondered.
Who is looking at me for the face of Christ, who are they seeing?

Is the Christ that that I am showing kind and merciful,
Full of grace and generous with grace?

Or do they see a Christ of borders and boundaries,
A Christ of requirements and restrictions?

I hope to hear from them before Christ Himself lets me know.

Shalom!