2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 62: 1-5
2. Psalm 96: 1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10
3. 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11
4. John 2: 1-11

1. Pet names
• Some of us give those close to us a nick name or a pet name.  It's a reminder of some shared event, something meaningful to the two of them.  Sometimes that name is something that no one else knows about.
• If Jesus were here physically today, and he called you to be one of His personal disciples, and He wanted to give you a new name, what would you want for him to give you?
• What would you do differently in your life to live up to that name?
2. Salvation day by day
• What has God saved you from lately?
• As part and parcel of that salvation, what has He saved you to?  In other words, now that you're free of what bound you, what are you doing with the freedom?
• What makes you think that's God's will for what he wanted to see in your life?
3. For the benefit of all
• If you define a faith community as a group of folks who gather regularly to share their story in the context of God's unfolding salvation history, what faith communities do you find yourself in?
• Do you think that you bring the same gifts to each of them, or is it the same gifts that simply get expressed differently in each of those contexts?
• What are you doing to actively develop those gifts so that you can be of greater service in the years ahead?
• Do you feel appreciated?
• Does it matter?
4. The look of abundance
• You have to figure that schlepping somewhere near 150 gallons of water from the nearest well to fill those stone water jars was not a welcome task, yet the servants did it.  What would have happened if they had tried to get away with less water than those jars could have held?
• Do you think that we generally have to have a hand in miracles?
• How can we be just as abundant in our participation as God is in His?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What is God expecting of me today?
2. Am I able to share of my salvation history with others, in terms that they will understand?
3. How is God using my gifts today?
4. As I share of myself, am I striving to live a balanced life?

This Might be Enough

I watched the Master as He fearlessly distributed the loaves and fishes
To a countless hoard of hungry folks on the hillsides of Judea.
Thinking to myself, worrying actually, whether there would be enough.

And I remember back to the days in Cana when He made wine from water,
Water with sediment and a faint smell that none of us could identify,
Drawn from the village well on a hot summer's afternoon.

And I ask myself why, again, why He is asking for some elements to work with
Something to transform, some dust from the ground to breath new life into.
Why not just conjure up the final result from nothing and let it go at that?

Our fathers, on the far side of the Jordan river as they entered the Promised Land
Saw that river raging in its flood season.  The waters did not abate
Until the priest's sandals touched the water's edge, and then God bared His holy arm.

And now, I see the widows and orphans gathered for their daily distribution
And I wonder how long we can go on feeding and clothing them.
And I've stopped wondering why God doesn't make all this need go away,

Instead, I wonder at the way He's able to take the simplest things
And renew them to meet needs scarce known, hardly spoken
And I wonder what He's going to do next with this poor offering: me.

Shalom!