6th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 6th Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 15: 1-2, 22-29
2. Psalm 67: 2-3, 5, 6, 8
3. Revelations 21: 10-14, 22-23
4. John 14: 23-29

1. The buck stops here
• Each ecclesial decision that we make as the Body of Christ not only needs to be done out of love, but be an expression of that love.
• What are some of the decisions that you have had to make, however small, that had a pastoral dimension to them, that somehow impacted someone else's care?
• How can we be more spirit-filled in those decisions?
• How can we hold our leaders to be more accountable for being pastoral?
2. Joining in with all the nations
• What are some of the blessings in your life that you are most grateful for?
• What sort of categories would you put those blessings into?  Examples might be success in your endeavors, propserity, spiritual gifts, insights, ...
• Do you think that God has those sorts of blessings in hand for everyone?
• What do you think is preventing those blessings from being manifest for everyone?
3. Glory
• Not to get into a rut, but another favorite Gerard Manley Hopkins poem is Pied Beauty.
• We are accustomed to seeing the glory of God in creation, unspoiled, resplendant, but where else is the glory of God shining forth in your life?
• When was the last time that you told anyone that they were glorious in some sense or another?
4. To love me is to know me
• One definition of true love is that the lover wishes the best for the beloved, even if it hurts the lover.
• But how are we to know and understand what is the best thing for those that we love?
• Is that love based on a sure knowledge of what is best for them?
• Where/how do we get such deep knowledge of those that we love?
• How do we know when we finally "get" another person, really understand them from the inside out, or is it hopelessly naive to think that we will ever truly know and understand another?
• What does that say about our marriages?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Are my words life-giving, even if they are not what someone wants to hear?
2. What am I doing to see to it that God's blessings extend to all of His children?
3. How have I reflected the glory of God this week?
4. How am I getting more attuned to the word of God in my life, my heart?

Peace at any Price

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for peace.
The peace of knowing that the work I do,
Will yield sustenance for me and my family,
The peace of knowing that my loved ones
Are safe no matter the hour of the day.

Probe me, ask me again what peace I crave,
Perhaps I would tell you that I long for
Assurance that others will be grateful for my presence,
That I will have been able to do something meaningful
That, in the end, it all mattered.

But, but even deeper is a peace not even I understand.
Peace knowing that I'm as close to Jesus as I can be,
Peace knowing that, no matter how it all turns out
It will be all right, because all is right with the world
In a world that is all with Jesus.

Confusion and doubt, but never despair
Privation and want, but never true isolation
All that I can really count on is Presence
And even that it not too easy to spot sometimes,
But it's all that we're really sure of.

Shalom!