10th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. 1 Kings 17: 17-24
2. Psalm 30: 2, 4, 5-6, 11, 12, 13
3. Galatians 1: 11-19
4. Luke 7:11-17

1. Putting it all on the line
• If you read the first part of 1 Kings 17, you see that Elijah had announced a drought on the land, and had gone to a widow in Zarephath to live during the drought.  God had provided their food and water needs miraculously up until the time of today's reading.
• What do you think that God's long term goals are for your life?
• How do you think that He is accomplishing that in the near term?
• How much of God's plan do you need before you feel comfortable trusting God with your life?
• What can you honestly say that you're certain of about God's direction for your life, given your experience so far?
• Are you scared yet?
2. Count your blessings
• We probably all can relate to a definition of God's grace as "the unmerited outpouring of God's love on each of us and all of us."  But how do you break that down?
• What expressions of God's grace have come your way lately?
• What are the graces of God at work in your life, day in, and day out?
• What are some of the things about you that truly define you, that you can thank God for?
• How are those graces transforming you today?
3. Position of authority
• What would you think of someone who didn't have the time to read anything, but who wrote prolifically?
• Do you think that each of us is called to greatness in one measure or another?
• What role do you think prayer plays in the lives of such folks as Dorothy Day, Pope Francis, Mother Theresa, Richard Rohr, or any other prophet of our day?
• What is keeping you from greatness?
4. Healing touch
• One thing that strikes me about Jesus is that He's never late for an engagement, and the Gospels never mention Him consulting his pocket watch.  After all, this was a long time back, I'm certainly not silly enough to think He'd have a cell phone.
• How do you think that Jesus always managed to be at the right place at the right time?
• How much advance warning do you think that He had that his day was going to include things like raising someone from the dead?
• How can we be more in tune with the Spirit's guidance?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I willing to serve God, even if there's no guarantee what the immediate outcome will be?
2. How is God making a better person of me, stretching me, helping me grow?
3. What am I doing this week to achieve the greatness that God has in mind for me?
4. How am I learning generosity toward others?

At this rate I'll never get there in time

Artaban is reputed to have been the fourth wise man to set out long ago to greet his savior.
Packing his treasures, he set forth, but never seemed to have things go according to plan.

One after another, needs crossed his path, empathy moved him, and gradually he gave away
All that he had, in both time and possessions, helping others who needed him.

He missed Jesus in Bethlehem because the Holy family had fled to Egypt.
He tries to follow Jesus to Egypt and never catches up to him.

Finally, all but spent, poor Artaban finds Jesus, on the cross,
Both their pilgrimages at an end.

Artaban bitterly disappointed that he's not been able to give the Savior of his treasures,
Until he realizes that's exactly what he has spent the past 33 years doing.

It's often who we are, how we give, whom we heal along the way,
That defines us, makes us whole, shows Jesus to the world.

Goals and objectives, timetables and schedules are all very fine as a starting place,
But the true pilgrimage of our days is often written by a hand other than ours.

Shalom!

Corpus Christi Sunday

Our readings for Corpus Christi Sunday are:

1. Genesis 14: 18-20
2. Psalm 110: 1, 2, 3, 4
3. 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26
4. Luke 9: 11b-17

1. Time, talent, treasure
• What are your gifts?
• How has God contributed to the ongoing development and unfolding of those gifts?
• How have you expressed your gratitude for those gifts?
• If you get paid for doing something, is it still ministry?
• If you don't get paid for doing something, is it necessarily giving back to God?
• How would you be better able to tithe of all your gifts?
2. Priestly people
• How would you describe the function of a priest?
• Beyond performing rites, performing administration, what else?
• What would you think are the deepest qualities needed in a priest?
• What about you is priestly?
3. Putting it all on the table
• The preparation of the gifts reads: Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.
• Why do you think that it's important that the bread that we offer is both the fruit of the earth and the work of human hands?
• Is Eucharist the only place where this dynamic is operative?
• What does that tell us about our work?
4. Christ in me arise ...
• What do you think Jesus expected His disciples to do for all of those hungry people?
• What sorts of "feeding" do you see that need to go on in our parish today?
• Who do you think is going to meet those needs?
• Does it necessarily need to happen within a parish context?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Have I offered up my work, day in, day out, to God?
2. Have I been there, really there, for those around me who needed the Christ within me?
3. Is the work of my hands giving life to others?
4. How am I giving myself away this week?

I'd rather work the ladle if you don't mind

Working the soup kitchen with the Confirmation kids was always a tough one.
The kids, they all come from middle class homes, no food or shelter anxiety.

First shock to their system is that these people who live welfare check to check,
Are just a couple of miles down the road, right there in downtown.

Second shock is that these folks, they're grateful for the food and drink.
No doubt about that, but they want, they need more.  They need someone to care.

Best way to show that is to give them some of your time.  Hear their story.
Let them open up a little and share how they got there, what's holding them.

Hard part is, you only have the resources for one meal, not a lifetime.
There is no easy fix for this, no one shot fund raiser is going to fix this one.

And in the meantime, these folks, they're making it as best as they can,
One day at a time.  No grand future, no long range plans, no expectations.

And you don't know where this listening is going to take you either.
I just know it's safer in the kitchen, loading up soup bowls.

Takes courage to set the utensils down, set a spell with the folks,
And be more than just a meal that they'll soon forget.

If Jesus were here today, would He be one of the ones organizing the food drive,
Chopping the vegetables for stew, serving it up, setting down with the guests,

Or maybe shuffling in off the street, looking for someone to show some concern?
Shalom!

Trinity Sunday

Our readings for Trinity Sunday are:

1. Proverbs 8: 22-31
2. Psalm 8: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. Romans 5: 1-5
4. John 16: 12-15

1. God finds me ineffably delightful
• Can you say that with a straight face?
• Why or why not?
• Is there anyone else in your life who finds you a delight, who believes that the world is a better place for your being in it?
• How does their attitude toward you make you feel about yourself, about others, about God?
2. Making room for the beautiful
• Where/what do you find beautiful about creation?
• What do those places/times/events tell you about God?
• Why do you think that God made all of this so beautiful?
• How do you participate in that beauty?
• How can you be more beautiful?
3. How much character to I really need?
• Do you think that joy and sorrow are necessarily mutually exclusive, or can they reinforce each other?
• What gives you joy?
• How long does that joy last?
• Are you a better person for that joy?
• How can we learn to take joy in things that last?
4. Infilling of the Spirit
• How does the Spirit enlighten up as a Church?
• How does the Spirit enlighten us as families?
• How does the Spirit enlighten us as individuals?
• How can we be better at discerning as a community?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I delight in God?
2. Is the world a better place, is creation a better place for my being in it?
3. What am I doing to become stronger in my faith?
4. How has the Spirit spoken to me lately?  Have I shared that?

Discernment

First Fridays always struck me as a hard form of prayer.
Contemplating Jesus in the form of the static Presence
There on the altar, mute witness to an earlier Mass Celebration
Whose original attendees have all left for the day and gone home.

I wondered whether those who were here for that consecration
Were still connected in some way, still a part of each other
And of this Presence here before me, in a way that I could connect to
Some way without the whispered greetings of God's people gathering.

I wondered who was here that day, and where they all are now,
How they are faring, these children of God in the world.
I imagined some of my good friends among them
Some that my kids have grown up with.

And somehow it hit me, that if they were all here, with Jesus,
That they would have whispered greetings for me and my family
A hand shake, a nod.  A well known usher waving from a distance,
And I realized that the face of Jesus really was gazing at me.

And I felt closer to Him on His altar
And I felt closer to His people here in front of His altar,
And I thanked Him for His hospitality, now and always.
As I got up to leave, I realized I may be leaving His house,

Leaving his house, but not His Presence.
Shalom!

Pentecost Sunday

Our readings for Pentecost Sunday are:

1. Acts 2: 1-11
2. Psalm 104: 1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
3. Romans 8: 8-17
4. John 14: 15-16, 23b-26

1. Our God is on the move
• The mighty acts of God don't seem to get a lot of press these days.  He enjoys a certain anonymity that would doubtless be the envy of many a celebrity.
• Who among us in the Body of Christ is qualified to read the signs of the times, the events of our day, and find the meaning in all of that?
• Where do we go to find such analysis?
• Once we had such findings in hand, how would we live differently?
2. Making room for others
• Driving over the Vincent Thomas Bridge into San Pedro affords you a sprawling vista of one of the largest ports in the world.  Unbroken human technology arrayed for maximum efficiency and throughput as far as the eye can see.  Magnificent in a way, and yet ...
• God shows His glory in His creatures, His creation.  How much room should we leave for those other inhabitants of this planet?
• As stewards of creation, what are our responsibilities to the rest of creation?
• How can we live sustainably, generously with our neighbors and each other?
3. Sharing the sufferings of Jesus
• One description of the Mass is "eternal unbloody sacrifice".  If that is the case, in what sense and by what means are the sufferings of Jesus with us today?
• Do you feel that those who have radically given themselves away in God's service share in Jesus' sufferings?  Think of Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Dorothy Day, Archbishop Ramiro, and others.
• Can the rest of us look to these great pillars of our faith and take comfort in the fact that they have that "sharing in Christ's sufferings" covered and we can go about our business?
• What makes you think that there is a "the rest of us"?
4. Without seeing You we love You
• The formation of our own conscience is one of the most important things that we do with our time on this earth.  What are some of the ways that we do that?
• It's perhaps easy to believe that if we stray from following Jesus' will in our lives, that our love for Him will cool, but what about the results of trying to follow Jesus more closely each day?
• What can we do to become more sensitive to God's will in our lives?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I spread the word of God's decisive actions in my life (give witness)?
2. What am I doing to become more humble?
3. What joy do I find in taking up the cross?
4. When was the last time that I took inventory of my relationship with Jesus?

Peace

Is something that grows and blossoms only with careful attention.
Like a cherished bonsai that has been passed down through generations.

Peace is dynamic, yet strong when well tended and founded.
Built upon discernment and listening, listening and discernment.

Peace is born of awareness and intimacy with the goings on
And kind attention to what that means to me, where I fit in.

Lose awareness, and authenticity suffers, I soon become
A shabby caricature of myself, and lose relevance.

Lose focus on where I fit into the unfolding salvation history
And all of that awareness sifts into chaos, meaning nothing.

The peace that Jesus leaves us is like the manna of the desert.
Harvested daily, consumed as it comes with faith for the morrow.

Come, let us share our stories together, see Christ in each other's faces
Find new perspectives on where God is on the move.

And in so doing learn where salvation history is taking us,
All of us together.

Shalom!

7th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 7th Sunday of Easter/Ascension are:

1. Acts 7: 55-60
2. Psalm 97: 1-2, 6-7, 9
3. Revelations 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20
4. John 17: 20-26

1. Knowing when to speak up
• Our actions never just impact us.  Acts of courage on our part require courage from those around us who will share in the repercussions of what we do.
• So then, is bravery an individual matter or a communal one?
• Do we need other's permission to be courageous?
• In the end, who is responsible for the response that we reap from being prophetic?
2. The glory of justice
• The glory and strength of God lies in His mercy and justice.
• What are we to say of institutions/individuals/communities which seem to be great and powerful, but are based on fear, hatred and greed?
• Have you ever been a witting, or unwitting part of such an institution?
• What can we do about that?
• How can we have a clean conscience?
3. Going out to Meet Him
• In the cultures at home in ancient Palestine, the local leaders would go out of the city to meet noteworthy travelors coming into the city, invite them to partake of the hospitality that the city could offer.
• The rapture is likely a matter of us leaving the earth to meet Jesus as He arrives from heaven to judge all of us, and then He, and His followers will go back to earth to begin the reign of God here on earth.
• What does that tell you about our role as stewards of this planet?
• What does that tell you about our role in the care of the New Jerusalem after Jesus' coming?
4. Glory
• Jesus is inviting us into the Trinity, that we may enjoy the same intimacy with each other that He and the Father have.
• How can we understand each other better?
• How can we understand ourselves better?
• Do you think that the dawning awareness of how God sees us and those around us will come over us all at once at judgment, or will it rather be a process?
• How can we better prepare for that process?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I supportive of others who feel burdened to speak a prophetic word?
2. Is the Lord above all other gods in my life?
3. What am I doing to be more ready for Jesus to return?
4. When was the last time that I had the time to really listen to someone close to me?

One is

The thread that connects one breath to the next
The tie that unites the light, the breeze, the pregnant anticipation
Of a new dawn, with the night that it is replacing.

One is the host of dappled creatures woven through the earth
Each connected to the next, all connected to the whole
The whole, waiting, breathless, for each of us -

Each of us to step into who we were born to be,
To step into the inheritance that has been kept for us all these long years
That we might finally take up our eternal citizenship

And see beyond ourselves, to the vastness and intimacy of Eternity,
And awaken to the one through whom we live and move and have our being
The one who gazes upon us through ten thousand eyes not his own.

Shalom!