2nd Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the Second Sunday of Lent are:

1. Genesis 15: 5-12, 17-18
2. Psalm 27: 1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14
3. Philippians 3: 17-4:1
4. Luke 9: 28-36

1. Name it and claim it
• Believing is more than mental assent to some statement, it's living a life based on that.  Abram was able to accept that God was going to give his heirs an inheritance, that Abram's line was going to continue, that he was going to leave a legacy, and live a life that reflected that profound faith.
• When you choose to believe a promise of God, how do you move the experience of that promise from your head to your heart?
• Do you think that the heart can "know" things that our minds are unable to fathom?
• How can we live our lives such that the head and the heart support and illuminate each other?
2. I'm here for you ...
• When going through tough times, it's a great comfort to have company.  But in some ways, we always travel this life alone, or do we?
• Why is it hard to relate to someone in real pain, regardless of the reason for their pain?
• Short of simply making that pain go away, how can any of us really support someone in great need?
• How does God support us in our need?
• Aren't we always in need in one way or another?
3. Choose wisely
• Matthew Kelly makes a great emphasis on choosing your heroes carefully, and then getting the most possible from their example: study their lives, find out what makes them so good at what they do best, and above all, practice what they do so that you too might enjoy success.
• Who are your heroes?
• What have you done to become more like them?
• Would you wish that your son or daughter had the same heroes?
4. Let's do that again!
• I'm going to bet that, as they got older, the disciples got more and more thoughtful, spent more and more time remembering, and trying to get more and more meaning from those many experiences that they shared with Jesus.
• Do you have any pivotal experiences that changed you, changed the way that you look at things, changed your attitude?
• What was so profound about those experiences?
• How are you being faithful to what was shown you in those events?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I believing in God for today?
2. How am I actively making myself available to/for others?
3. Who is helping me become more Christlike by their example?
4. What am I doing to learn the most from what I experience?

Sacred Memory

They're all gone now, some longer than others.
The original company of Jesus, dead and gone,
Their ashes scattered across the land and beyond.

I, I alone, here on the island of Patmos remember
The bite of the night air when Jesus came to us
Came across the water against all odds.

I'm the only one who remembers the tang of the air
Wafting out of Lazarus' tomb when we moved the stone,
And the sweetness that warned of resurrection emerging.

I remember the taste of the fish that he had cooking for us
That wonderful morning after He had raised from the dead,
And our hearts were still in the deepest grave of hopelessness.

The crackle of the fire that He had made among the rocks,
The aroma of the cooking fish, and the sound of His voice.
That always reminded us that there was more than met the eye.

I tried to share the earthiness of those memories,
Their bitter sweet texture that only comes first hand,
But this generation mistakes knowledge for understanding

And looses the essence of His life in looking to understand
Something that never really can be understood.
That He was real -- flesh -- and blood right in our midst.

And with a well-worn wonder, I look at my haggard hands,
And realize that He's still here today, as long as we keep sharing
What and where He's moving in our midst.

Shalom!