27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Habakkuk 1: 2-3, 2: 2-4
2. Psalms 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9
3. 2 Timothy 1: 6-8, 13-14
4. Luke 17: 5-10

• Hope for the morrow
• In some circles, the overall arc of events in our contemporary world points strongly to the impending 2nd coming of Christ, when all of the "loose ends" will get tied up, justice will finally be meted out to all wrong doers, and we will finally be done with this mess called "life".
• Does that rule out any sort of vision for making things better today?
• Is there reason to hope that the next generation will be better than the present one?
• Is our only hope for improvement in the "sweet bye and bye" or is God actively working to make the coming years better at the same time?

• The value of freedom
• The children of Israel were desperate for water, and they were wondering where this whole adventure with Moses and God had gone off the rails.
• What sorts of things make you wonder whether you were meant to take a particular path in life?
• How do you pray through that sort of adversity?
• What gives you courage?

• Success and acceptance isn't what it's cracked up to be
• We all want to be successful in life, throughout our lives.
• How do you define success?
• Have you ever done anything that looked like a bad idea to others, maybe even an abject failure?
• How do you think God defines success?

• The power of obedience
• How do you express your faith on a daily, yearly basis?
• How has that expression changed you?
• Has that expression of your faith always been comfortable for you?
• Are you getting better at exceeding your comfort zone?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where do I put my hope?
2. Do I look for freedom from things, or freedom to things?
3. How much do I value acceptance?
4. How has my faith changed my life?  How should it?

Someday my ship will come in

If you want to wait until some magic moment,
When everything falls neatly into its place,
Then you're likely to be waiting a very long time.

Tomorrow is full of potential, and disappointment.
A land where anything could happen,
And a time when hardly anything is started.

Today, with all of its limitations is the only now
That you will ever have.  The only moment that
You can control, messy and broken as it is.

Today is the day to start a new practice,
Today is the day to find forgiveness,
Today is the day to make peace with the world.

Shalom!