Feast of the Holy Family Sunday

Our readings for the Feast of the Holy Family Sunday are:

1. Genesis 15: 1-6; 21: 1-3
2. Psalms 105: 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9
3. Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19
4. Luke 1: 26-38

• Shaped by belief
• What are some intangible things that you believe in that make your life richer?
• How did you come to believe those things?  Because you needed to believe them, because you wanted to believe, because everyone around you believed, because you saw what that belief did for and to others?
• Have you shared any of those beliefs with others?
• Why or why not?

• Remember me
• Loneliness comes in many flavors, and comes for many reasons.
• What are some of the ways that you are sometimes lonely?
• Do you think that God is there with you in those times?
• Does that make a difference?
• Do you think that Jesus ever felt lonely?
• Do you think that you can companion Jesus in His loneliness?

• Strength from the family
• Every once in awhile I'd do something and my father would say "and here I used to wonder why male alligators eat their young."  I guess that was meant to inspire me not to envy alligators.
• Through the years, how has your family been a source of strength?
• How has your family been a source of grief for you?
• Do you think it's possible to get one without the other?

• Focus focus focus
• It's easy, and perhaps natural, to read about Anna and wonder if she found that life of contemplation rewarding, rich, lively.
• Finding peace at home can often be difficult.  No sooner do you get everything "done" and a new crop of needs pop up, almost as though they were waiting for an opportune moment.
• How do you find the time, and space, to get perspective on your life?
• What in your crazy life are you most thankful for?
• What things in your life would you love to do without?
• Do you think that it's possible for you to make your life simpler this Christmas season?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. When was the last time that I gave voice to what matters most to me?
2. Who am I reaching out to this week in their loneliness?
3. How am I bringing strength and joy to my family?
4. What am I thankful for in my day to day life?

Shalom!

4th Sunday in Advent

Our readings for the 4th Sunday of Advent are:

1. II Samuel 7: 1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
2. Psalms 89: 2-3, 4-5, 27, 29
3. Romans 16: 25-27
4. Luke 1: 26-38

• Your legacy
• When I was in my early 20s, and very impressed with myself, I stumbled upon my father at home, sitting still, his shoulders slumped, his head down.  I asked him what was the matter, and he said "I'm not leaving you and your sister much of a legacy."  To this day I really don't know what he had in mind as an adequate legacy, but his was a concern that many of us have.
• What sort of legacy would you like to leave behind?
• How is that coming along?
• How would you live differently if you believed that, at the final judgement, we will all know everything about each other?

• Counting on God
• A dear friend of yours has suffered tragically.  You tell them God is faithful, and they ask you why you believe that.
• What would you say?
• Would that belief change if you started suffering tragic losses?

• Strength for the journey
• Have you ever found unexpected strength in yourself?
• What called that forth?
• Do you think that strength was there all along and you didn't know it?
• Where do you think our strength comes from?
• Why? 

• Pondering versus amazement
• Richard Rohr draws a profound distinction between pondering and what is often translated into "amazement" in the New Testament.
• Pondering takes the events, the feelings, the consequences of the day's events and actions to prayer, and seeks to find God's perspective on these things.  Pondering searches for the meaning of life.
• Amazement is all about knee-jerk reaction - the sort of response that is all about getting your word(s) in edgewise, meaningful or not.
• What things are going on in your life lately that cause you to ponder?
• How do you know when it's time to stop pondering and weigh in with action?
• We all get pelted with things in our lives, should we ponder all of them?  What if we get behind on our pondering?  What happens to us if we die with unpondered aspects of our lives?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I doing to gain strength in humilty?
2. Why do I believe God's promises?
3. Where does my strength come from?
4. What should I be pondering today?

Finding Mercy In Unexpected Places

Snap decisions are so much easier.

Assess the problem, apply the rules,

Job done, what's next?

Asking for the story behind the events,

Pausing to learn who is having the problem,

Hearing more than you wanted to know.

Is often painful,

Always time-consuming,

And doesn't always lead to a better decision anyway.

I like to think that God ponders His decisions,

Weighing options, considering alternatives,

Balancing an infinity of conflicting objectives.

And if I'm patient with that process

My decisions will not necessarily be any better.

But I might be better for the process of making them.

My students, who struggle with deadlines

Because of a sick relative, 

Too many units, too many hours at work ...

I cannot solve their problems.

But I can let them know that they are not alone,

I can bring mercy to a lonely stressed out child of God.

Just knowing that someone else cares

Is sometimes more valuable than a "solution".

Maybe in so doing, I can be Christmas to someone who needs it most.

Shalom!

3rd Sunday in Advent

Our readings for the Third Sunday of Advent are:

1. Isaiah 61: 1-2a, 10-11
2. Luke 1: 46-48, 49-50, 53-54
3. I Thessalonians 5: 16-24
4. John 1: 6-8, 19-28

• Spirit flying low
• What do you think the anointing of the Spirit does for/to us?
• Does that only come to us via a sacrament, or is every move of the Spirit intrinsically sacramental?
•  How can we be more open to the Spirit's promptings?

• How much mercy do I need?
• How would you define divine mercy?
• Have you ever felt that mercy in your own life?
• How can we become more aware of that mercy?

• A for prophet organization ...
• Who are the prophets among us these days?
• How are their words being tested/vetted?
• What can/should we do to take better advantage of God's message to His people in the here and now?
• How do you know a prophet when you see one? 

• The Messiah is among you
• There is a story about a dying cloister of Jewish monks at: http://www.community4me.com/rabbisgift.html that has always struck me as magical.
• Name some of the ways that Christ is present among us today?
• Which of those is incarnational, that is, they involve Christ coming to us in human form?
• If Christ continues to incarnate among us, how can each of us better fulfill the charism of Joseph, of Mary, of John the Baptist, of Jesus?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I trusting the Spirit for today?
2. How much mercy am I willing to receive?
3. What am I doing to be prophetic in my company.?
4. If I believed the Messiah was in my family, community, parish, what would chang?

Shalom!

2nd Sunday of Advent

Our readings for the Second Sunday of Advent are:

1. Isaiah 40: 1-5, 9-11
2. Psalms 85: 9-10 11-12, 13-14
3. II Peter : 8-14
4. Mark 1: 1-8

• Where are you?
• The Hebrew people have a cultural memory that spans millennia.  Unlike our Western culture with an attention span measured in terms of the next quarterly report.
• What makes you think that God is with you in all things?  Is it experience, things that others have told you, things you have read ...?
• Has that belief ever been sorely tested?
• Coming out of that time of testing, was your faith made stronger by what you experienced during that time of testing, or afterwards?

• Healing the land
• There is a poignant point in the movie Excalibur where Lancelot realizes that Arthur has found out about the infidelity between Lancelot and Guinevere.  In anguish Lancelot moans "The land is without a king, and the king is without a land" suggesting that the very land is suffering because of recent events.
• Do you think that there is a justice for the land, the earth, the cosmos?
• What role do we have in making that justice happen?
• How does such justice come into our world with Christ?

• Looking forward to ...
• How would you define "the day of the Lord"?
• How can we hasten that day's coming?
• Are we obliged to help others be ready for that day?

Or:

• If things in this life are put here, at our disposal, to teach us of the things of heaven, why is it so easy to get caught up in them, let them become an end in themselves?
• What are "these things"?  Is it just possessions, or does it extend to respect, success, friendships, associations, ...?
• How is it possible to put "these things" into their proper perspective?
• Is there any way to help each other in that work? 

• Between the times
• Sometimes I wonder what it was like in those days to receive John the Baptist's baptism of water, emerge from the Jordan, and then ask the inevitable question "now what?"
• Think of a time in your life when you suddenly saw yourself in a whole new light.
• How did that change your priorities?
• How did that change your actions?
• How did you make that transition, and yet maintain your day to day imperatives like making the mortgage payment, getting the groceries home, ad getting the kids off to school?
• Do you ever wish you were living the monastic life?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Why do I place my trust in God?
2. How am I bringing justice to the world around me?
3. What am I readying myself for?
4. How am I living the prophetic moments in my life?

Shalom!

1st Sunday of Advent

Our readings for the first Sunday of Advent are:

1. Isaiah 63: 16b-17, 19b; 64: 2-7
2. Psalms 80: 2-3, 15-16, 18-19
3. 1 Corinthians 1: 3-9
4. Mark 13: 33-37

• Going to pot in a big way
• The soft clay that a potter starts with has to be worked quickly, because it soon becomes dry and hard.  How flexible are you?
• Do you feel that God ever finishes with us?
• Think of some a time in your life when you had to change.  Was that change called for because you were in a bad place, or just because it was time to move on?
• How can we be more flexible?

• Convincing God
• When you have had something that you prayed for, that really, really mattered to you, how did you pray?
• Do you think that God wants for us to pray for things that are life-giving?
• How are we supposed to learn what those are, for us and others?
• How do we learn to pray with confidence?

• Pray for perserverence
• As we age, our focus changes, hopefully gets sharper, life gets simpler.
• Looking forward to the last few months of your life, however far away those might be, what do you desire most from God?
• Not knowing how you are going to go, how can we prepare now?

• Be alert, the world needs more lerts.
• The world that we live in is awash in a sea of information.  You can follow a limitless number of twitter streams, facebook is everywhere, there are more news feeds than I can count.  How much of that is really necessary for us?
• How do you tell what really matters, and what is just noise?
• How can we shut out the chaff from life without losing touch with those that we seek to serve?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I have an attachment to anything?  A person, place, thing, job, ...?
2. What do I know of God's desires for me, for others?
3. How am I building strength for the journey in my life today?
4. How am I simplifying my life?

Shalom!

Christ the King Sunday

Our readings for Christ the King are:

1. Ezekiel 34: 11-12, 15-17
2. Psalms 23: 1-2, 2-3, 5-6
3. 1 Corinthians 15: 20-26, 28
4. Matthew 25: 31-46

• Finding the lost in our midst
• There are many reasons that making peace is hard to do.  One of them is that the estranged one, the stranger, harbors deep resentment and anger over injury that they have suffered at our hands, and it is painful to encounter that hurt.
• Who are those in your circle of acquaintances, or family members who have left their faith?
• If you felt a strong calling to bring them back, where would you start?
• Why do you think it is that we seem so slow to seek out those who have left?
• How could we make our parish, our community more welcoming, a place where they would feel safe, nurtured, and secure?

• Knowing the shepherd's voice
• Multitasking has been honed to a fine art in the workplace, in our personal lives, in our families, or has it?
• Do you feel that your life is pulled in too many directions, or do you feel as though the various facets of your days, who you are, all contribute towards a central goal?
• In an ideal world, how would you go about getting better "focus" in your life?

• The ultimate sovereign
• Our God is the king of kings, but he has a funny way of showing it.  No pomp, no circumstance, no loud blaring of trumpets attend His arrival.
• How would you define true humility?
• Why do you think that humility is so important to God and His work here on earth?
• How might we be more humble in our dealings with our community, our families?
• If we are humble, do you think that will "infect" the world around us?

• In the end, all that matters is what you gave away
• Who are some of the truly generous people that you have known?
• What were some of their strongest characteristics?
• How do you suppose that they were able to give so generously and not burn out?
• As seasons of our lives come and go, how do we tell when it is time to set aside one sort of giving, to retire from that work, and pick up another?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Would anyone describe me as a peacemaker?
2. How is God bringing focus to my life today?
3. Am I more humble than I was a year ago?
4. Am I going to have given it all away by the time I die, or will there be "loose ends"?

Shalom!

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Proverbs 31: 10-13, 19-20
2. Psalms 128: 1-2, 3, 4-5
3. 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-6
4. Matthew 25: 14-30

• Giving generously
• Who are some of the generous people in your life?
• What of themselves do they give that impresses you?
• Does it matter more that we give generously or effectively?
• What do you think makes a person a cheerful giver?

• Eating the fruit of your labors
• We all feel that life should be fair, that hard work should pay off, that the investments that we make in life should have predictable results.
• Has that worked out in your life?
• What does that tell you about God's work in your life?
• Does it tell you anything about justice?

• Being ready
• There's a story that W. C. Fields was near death, confined to his bed, when an old friend came to visit and unaccountably found Mr. Fields reading his Bible.  The friend asked incredulously "what on earth are you doing?".  Mr. Fields replied "cramming for finals."
• What's wrong with that approach to life?
• Do you think that it's possible to be too ready for eternity?
• Is there a balance that needs to be struck between the day to day and the eternal?
• If so, how do you find it?

• Day of reaconing
• We are a people of grace, so salvation for us is at Christ's initiative, not ours.
• And yet, we know that our lives will be somehow weighed against what God had intended for us.  How do you think that you will come out?
• Do you think that we get any sort of progress report along the way?
• How do we tell if/when we are on the right track in the meanwhile?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Who am I giving my life to?  Who am I giving my life for?
2. What expectations do I have of God?
3. What sort of eternity am I readying myself for?
4. How am I getting the right perspective in life?

Finding your genius

I once worked with a guy, his name was Jeff.

He was pretty quiet, never beat his own drum.

Yet when I had a particularly challenging project,

I'd do what I could to get Jeff on it

Because Jeff always seemed to make things go smoother.

I never really figured him out, try as I might.

I figured if I could somehow teach others his approach,

Soon the world would be a better place for it.

Wherever Jeff went, people got along better,

What needed to be done somehow got done.

And it wasn't just Jeff's direct work at all.

Somehow, he inspired others to lend a hand

Give support, help each other out

Always at just the right time and place.

He was a genuine force multiplier.

I think about him often when I see folks

Talking about the skills they want to acquire,

What they want to do in life to make it rich

Thinking that all they have to do is get 

The right certificate, the right degree.

Where I would say to them, learn from Jeff.

When you get up in the morning, ask yourself

Where you can help the most, 

Where you can lend a hand

Where a quiet boost will do wonders.

If only we lived in a world that valued such.

I think that the Jeffs in the world would come forth

And teach the rest of us how to help each other more

And look for our own glory less.

Jeff is a genius, just not the obvious kind.

Shalom!

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Wisdom 6: 12-16
2. Psalms 62: 2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
3. 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18
4. Matthew 25: 1-13

• Getting to know wisdom
• Who are some of the wise women/wise men in your life?
• How do you think that they got to be that way?
• Do you think that it's better to have a font of wisdom within yourself, or is it better to just have someone that you can go to with questions whenever you have them?
• Is wisdom more than merely counsel, or is there more to it than that?
• If God is so eager to give us wisdom, why don't more of us have it?

• What would make you happy?
• In customer service, we are taught to ask that difficult question, knowing that customer demands can often be uncaring, unreasonable, and sometimes impossible.  But at least that serves as a starting point for a discussion.
• If God were to come to you in a dream tonight and ask you what it is in all of the universe that you most want, that would make you happiest, what would that be?
• Has that deepest desire changed any in you over the years?
• Why is that?

• Different views of judgment
• You've seen this scenario play out.  A couple of guys from the old 'hood meet up in unexpected circumstances years after they each went their separate way.  One starts up with "Remember when ..." and maybe they share some fond memory of the old days, or maybe, the first guy has an ax to grind that's been lying dormant for 30 years, just waiting for this sort of an opportunity.
• When we meet up with loved ones in heaven, do you think that forgiveness will be any easier there than it is here?
• Do you think that forgiveness will be instantaneous, or a process?
• How does that affect the way that you conduct your life now?

• Living for the long term
• Much of life seems to be tugged in two directions: survival versus planning for the long haul.  Sometimes, they seem incompatible.
• How do you see God calling you to a life that both attends to the day to day, as well as eternal values?
• How do you tell when you've struck the right balance?
• Who is there in your life to gently nudge you when you get it wrong?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I doing to seek wisdom in my life?
2. Are my deepest desires anything like God's deepest desires for me?
3. How am I preparing for meeting people in my life now, in eternity?
4. Am I merely surviving, or striving to thrive?

Shalom!

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Malachi 1: 14b-2:2b
2. Psalms 131: 1, 2, 3
3. 1 Thessalonians 2: 7b-9, 13
4. Matthew 23:1-12

• Solidarity
• We are called to be mindful of our essential oneness as God's creation, the essential fact that before God, all of us are His creatures, all of us draw breath because He wills it.  But sometimes, that's hard to remember.
• What are our responsibilities to those living life on the margins, the less advantaged?
• Does it matter how they got there, how much of their circumstances are their own decision?
• How can there be true justice in our dealings with others?

• Finding peace
• You have a big deadline at work, the hot water heater is broken at home, your management is making noises about another layoff and your spouse tells you that their back hurts.  You know that you need to find some peace.
• Where do you go looking?  Is peace found in a place, a set of practices, burning candles?
• Once you get to that "peace zone", what difference does it make to coping with the stresses of day to day life?
• Where does God fit into your peace picture?

• Sharing is caring
• Which is better, to do volunteer work at some charity, or to give them money to support their operations?
• If you get paid for your work, but you are horribly underpaid, can that still be working for God?
• What does money have to do with it anyway?
• The early preachers often received money for their preaching.  Paul however, broke with tradition and earned a living so that those he preached to did not have to pay him.  Some would say that he watered down his preaching by doing so, others would say that he was an inspiration.  Yet others would say that he was killing himself by working too hard.  Which is it?

• Victim of your own image
• We all have an image that others have of us.  Most of us are blissfully unaware of what the image is, unless someone shares something like "you know, you've always been a real shining example to me of the strength that comes with steadily following God over many years."  Suddenly, we become self conscious, wonder how true that really is, and wonder how true we are to what others think of us.
• How do we remain authentic to the rest of the community about who we really are?
• How does the sacrament of Confession fit into that transparency picture?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where are there opportunities for me to be justice for others?
2. Where does my hope lay?
3. How does my work support my prayer?
4. How honest am I willing to be?

Shalom!

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Exodus 22: 20-26
2. Psalms 18: 2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
3. 1 Thessalonians 1: 5c-10
4. Matthew 22: 34-40

• Finding your roots
• What sort of people in what sort of circumstances do you find yourself most compassionate towards?
• Is that because you share the same story with them?
• Or because you know them personally?
• Do you think that you have about as much compassion as you can carry at this point?
• What would a more compassionate you be doing with your time?

• Being a rock
• Someone you know well walks up to, and tells you "you are have been such a rock for me!"  You feel good about that, but why?
• How is God a rock in your life?
• How is God not like a rock?
• How have you become more aware of that steady Presence of God in your life?

• You are an inspiration
• If someone somehow didn't know your church, your religion, but they followed you around for a week, without speaking to you once during that time, what would they conclude about the various communities that you are a member in?
• What would they conclude about the God that you worship?
• What would they conclude about you?
• Would they be right?

• Imago Dei
• What activities in your weekly schedule reflect the very best of who you are?
• What are those qualities that shine forth from you during those episodes?
• Why don't you spend more of your time doing that very thing?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How conscious am I of how much I need God's mercy?
2. Who should I helping to weather storms in their life right now?
3. How am I making God's compassion present around me?
4. Where am I the best version of myself?

Shalom!

29th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 45: 1, 4-6
2. Psalms 96: 1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10
3. 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-5b
4. Matthew 22: 15-21

• I feel so used
• When we say that we used a tool to accomplish some goal, no one objects.  But when we say that we used a person to accomplish some goal, that person takes offense.
• In what sense can we say that each of us is used by God in one way or another?
• In what sense is it not accurate to say that we are used?
• In what way is it proper for us to view ourselves as collaborators with God in the unfolding of creation?

• Bringing God closer
• Sometimes, God gets lost in the details for us.  We lose perspective, and are unable to see the bigger picture of how God has been there all through our lives because we're so fixated on the day to day.
• How can we renew our appreciation of that bigger picture?
• How can we help each other?

• You are an inspiration
• I remember years ago hearing someone exclaim "this is what I was born to do" when describing their vocation.
• Do you feel as though your time is presently spent doing what you were born to do, or are you just filling in time before your next "big gig"?
• What is it that you think you were born for?
• If you are not doing that yet, how will you know when the right opportunity comes along?

• Imago Dei
• When/how are you most the image and likeness of God in your life?
• Does it matter to you whether anyone notices you when you are most the image and likeness of God?
• How often do those moments come to you?
• What would you do to live a life where you were constantly a shining image of God?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How is God using me in my life today?
2. Where do I notice God most in my life?
3. Am I spending my time on things worthy of me as a child of God?
4. Where am I showing God to others?

Shalom!

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 25: 6-10a
2. Psalms 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
3. Philippians 4: 12-14
4. Matthew 22: 1-14

• Needs unmet
• Heaven is often described in terms of a feast, of great abundance, that never ends.  What do you conclude about heaven, about God, about us, from those descriptions?
• Why do we not all dwell in abundance now?
• Who's fault is that?

• Fearing evil
• What fears rattle you most frequently?
• Where do those come from?
• Do you bring them up to God in prayer?
• Do you fear no evil because you don't think it will ever happen in your life, or because you think that you'll be able to handle it, or because you know that you can count on God to be there with you, or ...?

• Whatever
• Ignatian indifference is an attitude of putting ourselves at God's disposal by intentionally seeking a perspective that seeks to fulfill God's will, and nothing else.
• When you have really wanted something, how have you "stilled your heart" to listen to God?
• Is it possible to pray effectively even if you have raging wants and needs in a given situation?
• How does God meet us in such circumstances?

• By invitation only
• What has Jesus been inviting you to lately in your life?
• Do you feel that invitation as a fairly focused, well defined direction, a gentle nudge, or just a vague sense that there must be more for you in life?
• How do you vett those invitations?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How am I being the abundance of God to those around me?
2. Am I willing to give up my fears?
3. What are the people, institutions, things that I trust in?
4. What am I doing with Jesus' invitations?

Trading My Sorrows

Sometimes, sorrow, neglect, anger, are all that we have left in life,

Clutching those bundles of rags to our breast like gold we shuffle

From injury to injury, scarcely seeing the world around us anymore.

Freedom is calling, sometimes faintly, but that abundance, that light

Is so unfamiliar that I scarce recognize it for what it truly is ...

Home.

Lord open my heart to healing.

That I might learn to lean on you more each day

Finding strength in wholeness rather than outrage and injury, however justified.

Shalom!

27th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 5: 1-7
2. Psalms 80: 9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
3. Philippians 4: 6-9
4. Matthew 21: 33-43

• We are a cultivated people
• What do you think are God's expectations of you?
• Looking at your life, what gifts has God given you in terms of passion, skill, opportunities?
• How are you doing with all of that?
• How do you know how you are doing?

• The "why" of it all
• Have you ever felt as though God got distracted, and forgot about you?
• Why do you think that happened?
• Does God ever let anything go to waste in our lives?
• Where might God be leading you through that time of trouble?

• Mental hygiene
• When does a legitimate concern of ours become an obsession?
• Once you pray about something, how/when does peace come to you?
• Don't you just hate it when you are really concerned about something, and someone else says to you "just let it go"?
• Do you think that "let go and let God" is a useful motto, or just another form of hakuna matata?

• The fruit of God's laborr
• What would you say have been the results of your life up until now.
• Would you say that God is pleased with all of that, or do you sometimes wonder?
• Do you think that we ever get any sort of a progress report on our lives before judgment day?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What are the graces that God has given me in my life?  How am I using them for His kingdom?
2. Do I know what it is that God is looking for from my life?
3. How am I fortifying my heart from the evil that I am exposed to?
4. Where is my life taking me?

Shalom!

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 26rd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Ezekiel 18:25-28
2. Psalms 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-0
3. Philippians 2: 1-11
4. Matthew 21: 28-32

• My brother's keeper
• If death awaits the evil ones, and we see someone we know straying, how responsible are we to try and warn them?
• How do we do that without sounding sanctimonious, holier-than-thou, or worse, like some sort of weird cult?
• Would we appreciate it if someone close to us tried to steer us clear of wrong doing?
• Isn't there someone holier than I am who can do that sort of thing?

• Sure-fire successful prayer is easy
• Have you ever prayed for something really hard, and felt that God wasn't hearing you?
• Do you think that there are some prayers that God pays better attention to than others?
• What are the effects of prayer in our lives?
• Are all of those effects equally important?
• How does God decide which prayers to answer?

• Servant leadership
• Who are some great leaders that you have had in your life?
• What made them great?
• I daresay, your great leader did not do a lot to draw attention to themselves.  Why is that?
• Would the same qualities of leadership apply within the Church?

• Walk the talk
• Do you have any sort of a process for hearing God's voice in your life?
• Do you have anyone that you can go to with tough decisions?
• Have you ever changed your mind about an invitation that God gave hou?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I love my brother/sister in God enough to accept correction from them?
2. What do I know of God's character?  Do I let that shape my prayer?
3. How am I serving others?
4. What moves me to change my mind?  Is it God's prompting, or something else?

Shalom!

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 24rd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Sirach 27: 30-28:7
2. Psalms 103: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
3. Romans 14: 7-9
4. Matthew 18: 21-35

• The essence of forgiveness
• "Forgive and forget" seems to be a catchy phrase.  Why do you think that those two go together like that?
• Is it possible to forgive someone, but still remember what they did to you?
• Is forgiveness something that you have to work at?
• Once you forgive someone for something, is that it?  Or do you end up forgiving them multiple times for the same thing sometimes?

• Preparing to forgive
• What does compassion have to do with forgiveness?
• What makes it easier for you to forgive someone?
• If you forgive someone for something, and they do it again, what do you conclude?
• Do you think that God views things that way?

• What I was born for ...
• What do you think is your purpose in life?
• What are you doing now to achieve that purpose?
• How does forgiving others help you be a better person?

• Learning from the master
• How has God's forgiveness of you changed your life?
• How might your forgiveness of others change their lives?
• What is the worst thing that can happen to you if you forgive someone?
• Is it possible for that same thing to happen if you do not forgive them?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I generous with my forgiveness?
2. What emotions do I feel entitled to, after the way that I'v been treated?
3. How am I giving myself away to others?
4. What moves me to compassion?

Last Will and Testament

We all knew that the reading of Frank's will was going to be different.
Frank had never had much in this life, just enough to get by.
But whatever he had, he was always busy giving it away.
So we gathered expectantly, looking forward to what his last wishes were.

To Larry, I give my forgiveness for all the tools that he borrowed and never returned.
To Janice, my loving wife, I forgive you all of the times that I asked what was wrong,
And you never answered me, really told me what was eating at you.
To my children, I forgive you for all of the times you kept me and you mother awake.

Larry, I always knew that you didn't have the money for tools of your own.  They are gifts.
Janice, I know that I can be pushy sometimes, and opening up to me is hard.
Kids, I hope you know that I waited up for you, not because I didn't trust you,
I could never trust the world around you to treat you with as much love as I had for you.

To my anxious coworkers, I forgive you the times that you took credit for my ideas.
You were starving for that word of thanks, the recognition, the job itself,
And making off with my ideas was the only way that you could fill that need.
I only wish that you had asked me first.  The answer might have surprised you.

To all of you, I give you my love.
And ask you to forgive me for not telling you sooner.
We never seem to get enough honesty between us of that sort.
And now, I can no longer remember what I was so afraid of.

Shalom!

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Ezekiel 33: 7-9
2. Psalms 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9
3. Romans 13: 8-10
4. Matthew 18: 15-20

• Prophet or busybody
• We all admire the courageous reporter who risks everything to get to the bottom of some scandal and expose the perpetrators.  Is there an element of the prophetic in their work?
• If someone commits wrong and several people are affected, who gets to call them to task for their actions?
• How do we keep from merely being a busybody when telling others of the sins in their life?
• If someone has committed a wrong, and the Spirit is not able to get through to them, what chance do we have?

• Softening my heart
• Part of the Ignatian spirituality of discernment is to seek indifference when looking for God's will.  Not a "whatever" attitude, but one of openness to whatever God will reveal as His divine will in the situation.
• Have you ever prayed through a decision where you had a strong opinion going in?
• Was your passion a good thing, or a bad thing when trying to make that decision?
• What did you do to make yourself better able to hear God?
• How did that turn out.

• If only I had known ...
• Have you ever done/said something with the best of intentions, only to find out later that you really hurt someone that you cared about?
• How did that make you feel?
• How did you apologize to the wrong party(ies)?
• How much checking are we obliged to do before making decisions like that?

• All together now ...
• Why do you think "the church" has any interest in petty squabbles between its members?
• If you felt that someone had sinned against you, you brought it up to them with no effect, so you decided to go the next step, who would you talk to?
• Why?
• Why do you think we hardly ever see this sort of healing going on?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I humble enough to help my brother/sister get closer to Jesus?
2. What am I doing to try to see both sides of decisions that I'm making?
3. When was the last time that God was somehow able to change my mind about something?
4. Would I be grateful if someone else tried to hold me accountable for my actions?

Come again when you can stay longer

Family gatherings are always chaotic at the end.
Someone has to be the first to pack up and go,
Leaving an opening for others to remember
That they have places to go, things to do.

As hosts, you wonder why we are always in such a hurry
To leave each other and scramble to the next thing
As though getting together as family was some sort of obligation
Performed at scheduled times and places.

The uncle who hardly ever says anything,
The cousin who stays to themselves in a corner of the room
The toddler underfoot,
Do these have someone looking out for them, reaching out to them?

Or are they lost in a sea of humanity?
Is their pain more than I have time to learn, or bear?
Am I the one called to reach out to them and tell them
That they are valued, loved, appreciated?

Why am I relieved to see them go?

Shalom!

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Jeremiah 20: 7-9
2. Psalms 63: 2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
3. Romans 12: 1-2
4. Matthew 16: 21-27

• If this is the way that you treat your friends ...
• Jeremiah never had good news for the people of Israel during his time.  The truth can often be inconvenient.  We express truth in our actions as well as our words.  For instance, reaching out to a forgotten member of the family when everyone else has given up on them, giving someone a second chance when everyone else says they don't deserve it challenge those around us.
• Who are some folks in your life who have impressed you with their courage?
• What do you think made it difficult for them to act/speak that way?
• If the outcome of those actions/words don't work out well, does that mean that they were wrong to do/say those things?
• How can we become more courageous?

• Gazing toward God
• We've all known devoted people.  They are the ones who never miss a First Friday, make daily Mass, they somehow find out when someone's in the hospital and they go visit them, they are the Eucharistic ministers to the sick...  You may look at those folks and think "maybe when I retire, I'll have that sort of time."
• Do you think that someone can spend too much time at Church, too much time in God's service to the exclusion of essentials like meal preparation, even earning a living?
• Is there an essential difference between someone who does parish work for a living, and, say, a doctor, or an auto mechanic if they are doing exactly what God wants of them?
• Can it be a service to God for us to take adequate care of ourselves in the midst of all of the other demands on our time?

• Transformation can be hard to do ...
• Transformation essentially takes something and radically changes it.  But there are still elements of the original left in the final result.  Limestone gets transformed into marble, plant matter gets transformed into crude oil.
• If we let him, God is transforming each of us this very minute.  When that transformation process is complete, what of the old you do you think will be left?
• When we hear that God loves us, what do you think that encompasses?  I'm hoping God's rather taken with my sense of humor.  I'd hate to come to life in the resurrection and find that was one of the things about me that had no place in heaven.
• Do you think that we might be surprised at what remains when we get to heaven?
• Do you think that it matters whether or not we know what those parts are now?

• Generosity is its own reward
• No one likes a self-determined martyr.  Oddly, this individual turns their giving around so that their giving to someone else, some group becomes all about them, rather than those who they are supporting.
• Think of someone in your life who is genuinely generous, who takes no thought for recognition, who takes honest joy in their giving?
• How do they manage that?
• What do they get out of such service?
• Where does their energy come from?
• What can the rest of us learn from such an example?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I being faithful to all that God has given me?  Am I letting my light shine?
2. What is my deepest desire, my deepest need?  Where is God in that desire?
3. Are the sacrifices that I'm making truly for others/for God?
4. How can I learn to think more and more as God does?

You'll find Jesus in room 137b

Mother Theresa always made a point of looking for the person of Jesus in the forgotten ones.
She lovingly served those with no resources, no support structure, destitute.

But what of those who have good care, who need constant attention, what of them?
Can they be somehow forgotten even in the midst of a vast armada of specialists?

Is it possible for someone to be visited by the hospitalist, the lead nurse, the physical therapist,
The dietitian, the phlebotomist, and who knows who else (all before lunch) be forgotten in some way?

And how do the rest of us reach places where the professional never seems to venture?
Reassuring the patient that they are loved, cherished, and not just cared for, but cared about.

Listening to the mumbled responses from them even though we're pretty sure
That once we piece together what they said, it still won't make any sense.

And buried in the midst of all of that need, and neediness, how to find Jesus?
Maybe the Jesus of Gethsemane, broken, exhausted, challenged -

Maybe that's the Jesus that I'm called to serve here,
Maybe that's the Jesus who I'm asked to be for them.

Shalom!

21 Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 22: 19-23
2. Psalms 138: 1-2, 2-3, 6, 8
3. Romans 11: 33-36
4. Matthew 16: 13-20

• Being an authority
• How would you define authority?
• Where does that authority come from?
• How are we to recognize true authority?
• What helps does God give us for recognizing true authority?

• You are never truly alone
• Have you ever felt abandoned by someone that you had trusted?
• Have you ever felt abandoned by God in your life?
• During that tough time, what exactly were you expecting God to do.  In other words, what made you think that He had left you?
• How did you ever come to forgive God for that?
• How would your reaction to those circumstances be different today?

• The sweat of my brow
• Some attribute the quote: "Pray as though everything depended on God, work as though everything depended on you."
• What is our part in bringing God's kingdom to earth?
• Do you think that we are all expendable, that if one of us completely fails in God's will for our lives that he'll just tap the next person in line and get the job done anyway?
• Have you ever felt a calling to do something and responded "not me God, you have the wrong number?"
• Or - Working for God
• Do you know anyone that you can say is "working for the Lord" in their life?
• What does that make the rest of us?  Maybe since people pursue hobbies during their free time, and we work for God during our free time (that is, the time that we are not working for pay), that we are reduced to mere hobbyists for the Lord.
• Or is it possible that any labor, when done properly, is for God?
• If so, what do we have to do, what must our attitude toward our work be, so that we are working for God?

• A question of identity
• Think of someone that you are close to, a good friend, your spouse, some family member.  How would you describe that person to someone else?
• What do you base that on?  If someone challenged your assessment of that person, what would you bring forth as evidence?
• How have you developed your appreciation of God's character in your life?
• What would you say is God's personality?
• Why are you drawn to God today?
• How has that changed over time?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I doing to hold those in authority accountable?
2. How am I taking my fears, my anger to God in prayer?
3. What is God saying to me lately?
4. Who is Jesus in my life?

Yes We Are

"The body of Christ"
"Amen"

"The body of Christ"
"Amen"

"The body of Christ"
"Amen"

And so the litany went in the Communion procession ahead of me.
The chorus of Christ's Presence among us swelling with each reception.

Finally, it was just one guy ahead of me.  "The body of Christ"
"Yes we are!"

I looked the Eucharistic minister in the eye and said "I need a moment."
"So do I" she said, and we both contemplated what we just heard.

Finally, conscious of the shuffling feet behind me, we both moved on.
Both of us affirmed in our true identities before God.

Shalom!

20th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 56: 1, 6-7
2. Psalms 67: 2-3, 5, 6, 8
3. Romans 11: 13-15, 29-32
4. Matthew 15: 21-28

• If you're happy and you know it ...
• My mother-in-law often found things that brought her joy.  I remember her frequently saying of some event or accomplishment in the family "that makes me so happy ..."
• What brings you joy?
• Does that joy stem from events, people, things, accomplishments ...?
• Does this joy that you feel last?
• Would you like something better than what you have?

• I've taken a shining to you ...
• What are some of the blessings that God has given you and your community?
• How do you think those blessings benefit those around you?
• How do you think that those blessings demonstrate the glory of God on earth?
• How does your use of those blessings demonstrate the glory of God on earth?

• Mercy me
• How would you define mercy in general?
• What are some examples of Divine mercy in your life?
• What can you conclude about someone who shows mercy?
• What mercy have you shown of late?

• Children of promise in odd places
• Humility, trust, ... what are some of the qualities that we need in order to receive God's blessings in our lives?
• What are some of the things in your life that have blocked God's blessings, His graces in your life?
• How are you removing those blocks today?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What about my prayer life brings me joy?
2. How am I being a good steward of God's blessings in my life?
3. If I asked my closest friends what it is that I gave others the most, what would they say?
4. How am I opening my heart to a wider community?

We are what we give away, and who we give it to

I had a friend, call him Jim if you will,
Who never felt comfortable giving handouts.

So, one day, he sees a guy begging,
Jim pulls over in his car and invites the guy in.

"When's the last time that you ate?" Jim asks.
They guy couldn't remember.

So they go to the local MacDonald's and draw a lot of stares,
Mostly from those downwind of Jim's new friend.

Then Jim notices the guy has no shoes,
And his clothes are pretty threadbare.

So they drive over to Choc, get him fitted out.
Not exactly ready for the cover of GQ, but better than he was.

By this time, Jim's late for an appointment,
And drives his new friend to a busy corner,

Doubtless so that he can get money for his next meal.
They part, both of them changed.

They guy says, "thanks.  My name is Robert".
Jim shares his name in return.

So, the question today is:
Which of them was more the Presence of Jesus: Jim or Robert?

Which of them is most like you?
Which of them got the most out of that exchange?

Why does any of this matter?

Shalom!

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a
2. Psalms 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14
3. Romans 9:1-5
4. Matthew 14:22-33

• The sounds of silence ...
• Elijah ended up on Horeb because he was on the run from King Ahab, his wife Jezebel, the priests of Baal, seemingly the whole of Israel.
• Has there ever been a time in your life when the day to day, the immediate concerns made it impossible to concentrate on the big picture?
• Which of those distractions was the most difficult to get past?
• How did you manage to get your concentration back onto the right track?
• Where was God in all of that?

• If you want peace, work for justice
• That quote is attributed to Pope Paul VI.
• If he had said "if you want peace, pray for justice", how would that have changed the sense of the quote?
• What do you think are the connections/dependencies between peace and justice?
• Which is more effective at bringing about peace: better military hardware, or humility?

• Friends don't let friends live without Christ ...
• Have you ever thought to yourself "that person over there would be a whole lot happier with Jesus at the center of their life?"
• When was the last time that you told someone that?
• Why does that seem/feel so unnatural?
• Do you even believe that to be true?

• Sorry Jesus, these are new Gucci shoes ...
• For some reason, walking on water seems to utterly define power and authority.
• Why do you think that Peter wanted Jesus to ask him to come on the water?
• What do you think enabled Peter to do that walk on the water?
• Why did he sink?
• When was the last time that you "walked on water" in any sense?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Which are the loudest voices in my life?  Which are of God?
2. What have I done to bring about justice in this past week in the world that I live in?
3. What have I done to bring another true happiness?
4. How much can I say: 
5. "Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt. Sing like nobody's listening; live like it's heaven on earth." -Mark Twain

Hey, wait, at least leave your bucket!

That Peter, he never had any real staying power.
We got stuck in the middle of the lake, with a storm
Like none of us had ever seen before.

Boat shipping water faster and faster.
Meanwhile, our pathetic attempts at getting the water out
Were getting slower and slower as we tired.

Then Peter takes off after Jesus over the water.
That's fine for him, but the rest of us are stuck in this sinking boat,
With nothing between us and great beyond but our own hands and these buckets.

Every pair of hands needed for bailing.
Backs breaking from the strain,
Hope of survival ebbing with our poor foundering ship.

Skies black, waves high, wind shrieking.
Death circling us like a bloated vulture.
And Peter decides to take a walk in all of that chaos.

Then, as we watched, he started to sink along with us.
So it didn't look as though he was any better off really.
Except for that one moment of glory.

Forever after, I wondered what it was like to shed everything,
Step out of the sinking ship of life and cast myself totally on Jesus.
To feel the strong grip of His hand pulling me back to life.

Maybe it was worth the risk of losing everything,
Just to depend on Jesus and no one, nothing else.
Maybe.

Shalom!

Transfiguration of the Lord

Our readings for Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Daniel 7: 9-10, 13-14
2. Psalms 97: 1-2, 5-6, 9
3. 2 Peter 1: 16-19
4. Matthew 17: 1-9

• I see a family resemblance ...
• I once worked with a woman who had been abused by her father as a child.  One of the effects on her was that she could never really relate to God as Father, but she finally managed to vision God as Grandfather.
• If God were to appear in human form to you, what would that look like: man or woman, tall, slender, white, black, ...?
• What would God's appearance tell you about his character?
• What about you, as His disciple, reflects His character?
• How did that come about?

• Might makes right
• The presence of a mighty king in the land is reassuring.  You know that the kingdom is well run, that someone is paying attention to the big picture, looking after their subjects.
• Looking at the world around us, what evidence do we have of the might of God as our king?
• How is God's might different from the might of earthly kings?
• How does that difference impact us, God's followers?

• Remember who you are
• When I was growing up, my father was always serving as a council member or elder.  I could go anywhere in my church, tell someone that I was Tom Brown's son, and they would be pleased to meet me.  Trouble was, I had to honor that lineage.
• Do you feel that God is pleased to call you His son/daughter?
• How does your identity as a son/daughter of God change the way that you look at things, and how you act?

• Coming in loud and clear
• What has God told you lately?
• How/when did you hear that from Him?
• What have you done in your life to enable you to listen better?
• How is that working for you?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I doing to deepen, broaden my image of God this week?
2. How is God showing His might in me?
3. Why do I seek to please God?
4. What progress have I made in learning to listen?

Same Song, Second Verse

"Where is God children?" asked the Sunday School teacher.
Some said heaven, others, Church, still others said creation.
Finally one student, listening attentively said proudly "everywhere!"

As a young man I hiked wilderness trails in the mountains
Seeing God in the rush of streams, soaring peaks, majestic clouds
And the face of God seemed so huge, majestic, beautiful.

As I grew older and saw how all of the plants and animals rely on each other,
How they sustain and nurture each other
I began to see God in connectedness and relationships.

Later still, as I saw how easy it is to disrupt that beautiful balance
I began to see God in the fragility and shortness of life,
To find sweetness in the "here for so short a span of time".

Lately, when I see how all of us, from the ancient Sequoias to the field mice
Live, grow old, die,
I try to find God even in death and passing.

And his creation still speaks to me
As I make my way through life.
I only pray that I never stop listening, however He speaks.

No matter how much pain I witness along the way,
No matter how tempted I am to turn inward,
No matter how hard it is to hear that voice around me.

Shalom!

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. 1 Kings 3: 5, 7-12
2. Psalms 119: 57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130
3. Romans 8: 28-30
4. Matthew 13: 44-52

• Servant leadership
• Mcdonnell Douglas used to have a slogan "McDonnell Douglas, a company of leaders." to emphasize that every employee, regardless of their formal title, was called upon to provide guidance, leadership, and help to others on the teams that we served in.
• Who are some of the phenomenal leaders that you have worked with?  When I say "worked with", I'm thinking "labored along side of, to create something new out of something old."
• Do you ever try to emulate them?
• If you were going to be more intentional about that emulation, where would you start?

• I see your point ...
• My father-in-law is currently recovering in the hospital from heart surgery.  He's on the mend, but for awhile there, he was uncomfortable in several dozen ways, and I tried to think what it would be like to be in that bed, all of the tubes, the constant interruptions to your sleep, utter lack of cheese burgers, ... and it occurred to me that what I would want most from those in the room with me would be empathy.
• Think of some time when you reached out to someone in real need.  What was the hardest part about that outreach?
• How did that connection change them?
• How did it change you?
• How might you have done better in that situation?

• The family resemblance is striking ...
• You tell someone that you have known for some years that you are a practicing Catholic.  And then, who knows why, you ask them to tell you what they conclude about the nature of the God that you worship from what they see in you.
• What would the first characteristic that they might mention?
• Is that what you really want to convey about God from your life?
• How then should you live?

• I can tell that the hand of God rests upon you because ...
• Historically, people have used various means to tell whether God favors someone.  Good health, great stock portfolio, even beauty have all been thought to indicate the favor of God on a person.  What would you say marks someone who is particularly close to God?
• What does that tell you about God's values?
• What does that tell you about your values?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I doing to become more wise?
2. How am I meeting those in need in my life?
3. How am I fulfilling my destiny?
4. How much do I treasure my relationship with Jesus?

Two-edged sword

A young man dreamed a dream, both terrible and real.
In the dream, incense filled the room, and God himself stood before him.
God asked "from deep in your heart of hearts, what do you want most?"

A thousand things came to mind: the admiration of his coworkers,
Success in all of his business dealings, even the love of his wife and children.
But what he finally settled on was wisdom, remembering Soloman.

"Done!" said the voice.  Then, ominously, "Maybe you should have thought a little harder."
The man woke up the next morning and wondered about the dream.
Went to work as was his usual, thinking about what he remembered.

Getting coffee that morning, it occurred to him to wonder how that coffee got there.
He looked up the brand and found that the native farmers who grew the beans
Were remorselessly exploited until they died of overwork and malnutrition.

Just then, a fellow employee, who had been a thorn in the man's side
Came rushing in with some new objection to the way a project was going.
The man invited him in, asked him to sit down, asked what the problem was.

Along the way he heard more than just a simple office issue, but deep pain.
Finally he asked how his colleague was, and found that the other's wife was dying
And that this colleague felt so alone and frightened.

Later, in a meeting, during a discussion that had raged for weeks, the man asked innocently,
Why he could not remember anyone bringing input from Marketing to the discussion.
The room fell silent, finally someone said "everyone knows that would just slow things down."

And so it went.  Finally, exhausted, the man got home to his family, and he immediately saw,
That his wife was exhausted as well.  Without a word, he began to address what needed doing,
Promising himself that he would relax over his customary beer a little later.

Dinner served, the blessing said, his wife looked at him over the heads of their children and asked
"How was your day dear?"  Thinking back on all of the strange thoughts and occurrences he said
"I've never felt more alive, challenged, and aware in my life.  I don't know what's happened."

That night, in another dream, the room filled with incense again, this time the voice said
"So, what do you think of wisdom as a gift?  Would you recommend it to your friends?"
The man replied "making decisions is so much harder than it used to be."

"The pain of others is so much more apparent.  The consequences of what I do and say,
They are all painfully obvious where before I never stopped to wonder, to question.
Life is so much harder this way.  I hardly know what to do with myself anymore."

"Sounds like a good day to me."  Said the voice.  "Care to go another round?"
"I need help living this way.  If I were to pray for just one more gift,
So that I could make better use of this wisdom that you've given me.  What would that be?"

A deep chuckle resonated through the room.  "It would give me joy to give this to you.
Just say the word and it's yours.  But if you think wisdom is tough,
This next gift is even more challenging."

"And what would that be?" The man asked with a tremor in his voice.
"Humility"

Shalom!

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 55: 10-11
2. Psalms 65: 10, 11, 12-13, 14
3. Romans 8: 18-23
4. Matthew 11: 25-30

• Fruitful or going to seed?
• What are some characteristics of someone who's led a fruitful life?
• What are some of the fruits that your life has born?
• Were those the fruits that you expected?
• Are they better than the fruits/results that you expected?

• The ultimate source
• What are some of the accomplishments that you are most proud of?
• What portions of those accomplishments were pure gift from God?
• What portions of those accomplishments were totally your contribution?
• How do you tell?

• The meaning of suffering
• Is suffering essential to our growth?
• What is it that suffering can teach us?
• How can we be more open to those lessons?
• How can we best help those who are suffering?

• Listening to more than words
• What do you think others who are close to you have learned from your life, the way that you have lived it?
• What would you like for them to lean from your life?
• How can you get that message out better?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What fruit am I bearing for God?
2. What do I have to be thankful for this week?
3. How am I growing this week in faith?
4. Based on my prayer life, how would I describe Jesus?

Tombstone by committee

An old man wanted to find the sum and substance of his life before he died.
So he gathered his closest family and best friends, and asked them to write his tombstone for him.

He was discouraged and depressed.  His health was beginning to fail, his mind to dim,
And he wondered whether it had all really amounted to anything.

He told them not to confer with each other, but to simply write a few words of summary
And then turn them in for the man to review and turn over in his heart.

His wife of 62 years wrote "He loved even when it hurt to do so."

His daughter wrote "He knew how to make room for healing silence."

His son wrote "Dad learned that you can't fix everything, and sometimes presence is the best thing."

His manager wrote "Somehow, always found him in the right place at the right time."

A coworker wrote "The humblest man I ever knew."

One of his fellow ushers wrote "In three seconds flat, he made you feel like family!"

One of the kids that he had coached in soccer wrote: "He taught me how to truly listen and learn."

The man looked over these expressions of thanksgiving and realized how blessed he had been.
To have had so many opportunities to give himself away, and to have had so much to give.

Shalom!

14th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Zechariah 9: 9-10
2. Psalms 145: 1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14
3. Romans 8: 9, 11-13
4. Matthew 11: 25-30

• Humble and strong
• Who are some of the folks in your life that you would describe as humble?
• Would you term them "highly effective" in their life?
• Why or why not?
• What keeps you from being more humble?

• The dangers of compassion
• Who are some people in your life that you feel compassionate towards?
• How did you get to feel that way towards them?
• How does that compassion influence how you work/live with that individual?
• How does that compassion challenge you as a person?

• Dying and hardly noticing
• It's been said that we start dying the moment we are born.  From a spiritual/emotional perspective:
• Is death an event, a process, a way of life ...?
• What are some things in your life right now that are slowly killing you?
• What do you think Jesus has to say about those?
• What are you doing about those corrosive influences in your life?

• Where do your burdens come from?
• David Whyte has observed that it's not hard work that leads to burnout but lack of passion.
• Do you think that everyone has a God-given passion in their life?
• How do we find that passion?
• What is yours?
• How did you discover that?
• How has pursuing your passion changed your life?
• How might that pursuit change your life in the future?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What have I done this past week to support those with little power in this world?
2. Where can I show God's mercy more clearly in my life?
3. Where have I been successful at hearing and heeding the call of the Spirit in my life?
4. Have I taken sufficient time this week to rest in Jesus, no agenda, no list, no objectives on my part, just rest?

Finding my place

The pilgrim savored the warm glow from the hearth, the brew that he had just sampled,

But most of all, the graceful and grace filled give and take among his host family.

One little girl, at the edge of the circle of light from the fire, stood, stock still and round eyed.

Finally, she walked to his side with great purpose, climbed into his lap, and asked him:

"Where is your family?  Why are you so far from them?  What are they doing right now?"

The pilgrim sighed, gathered his thoughts for such important questions, and began.

"My close family hails from the United States.  But, they have kin, and they have kin,

So you might say that my family covers the entire earth because we are all related.

They cannot see me, yet we are very close.  I think about them and pray for them every night.

Times like this one right now, I see them in your eyes, in the eyes of your parents and siblings.

They are half a world away, just getting up about now, facing a new day, and wondering -

Wondering what that day contains, wondering whether their plans will be sound, 

The more thoughtful among them are wondering what sort of person they will be by the end

Of today, this week, this month, and how prepared they are to meet themselves at those times."

Then she reached up and pulled on the pilgrim's chin, until they were eye to eye, and she asked

"But what are you doing here?  Why a pilgrimage?  What can you do here, and not at home?"

"In some tribes, they would say that I'm on a vision quest, looking to find who and what I truly am,

Striving to find where I belong, where my gifts lay, where I can serve the best.

A pilgrimage helps me to see myself from a distance, to take it all in at once, to find balance

Balance between the little things of the day to day, and the great arc of my life in its entirety.

At home, at home they think they know me, and I think that I know me.  Here, on pilgrimage,

I'm free to discover, to try new things, be new things, explore without looking over my shoulder."

Not having much baggage herself, the little girl struggled for a moment, then asked

"How will you know that your pilgrimage is done?  Is it a place, a time, an event, a feeling?"

The pilgrim closed his eyes in prayer, and out of a deep well of many hours silence he said

"These trails that I walk are but a season in a pilgrimage that will take my whole life.

Journeys don't just take you from one city to another, one point of view to another.

The important thing is to be open to where the journey takes you, one step at a time."

"Well", the practical girl said "I like it here.  I think I'm just going to stay right here!"

Relief sprang to the faces of her parents, until the pilgrim looked deep into her eyes and replied

"Done well, with courage and strength, that may well be the most profound journey of all."

Shalom!

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. 2 Kings 4: 8-11, 14-16a
2. Psalms 89: 2-3, 16-17, 18-19
3. Romans 6: 3-4, 8-11
4. Matthew 10: 37-42

• Exchange of Gifts
• The central action of Eucharist has been described as a "holy exchange of gifts."
• What has God first given us?
• What do we offer back to God in Eucharist?
• What does God offer us back?
• What are some specific things that you offered God this past Sunday?
• What did/have you received in turn in that encounter?

• Faithfulness over success
• Mother Theresa has been quoted saying "God doesn't look for success, only faithfulness."
• Why do you think that could be challenging in daily life?
• If you cannot be ineffably successful at something, why do you think that God would put you there in the first place?
• What do you think has to happen for us to utterly fail in our ministry before God?

• You are so dead to me ...
• Can you think of a person, place, thing, habit that you've had to leave behind in order to get closer to God?
• What was the hardest part of that separation?
• How has giving that up benefited you?
• What was the hardest part of that giving up?
• How/when did God help you through that transition?

• Staying focused
• Do you live to eat or do you eat to live?
• Do you work to live, or do you live to work?
• Do you live to follow Jesus, or do you follow Jesus to live?
• Which of the above three questions is fundamentally different from the other two?
• Why?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. When I come to celebrate Mass, what is it that I bring with me to offer to Jesus?
2. What am I faithful in these days?
3. What things in my life get between me and Jesus?
4. How is my following of Jesus bringing me new/more abundant life?

Shalom!

12 Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 12 Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Jeremiah 20: 10-13
2. Psalms 69: 8-10, 14, 17, 33-35
3. Romans 5: 12-15
4. Matthew 10: 26-33

• Fear of failure
• Have you ever been misunderstood, misrepresented, or even just disliked for no earthly reason?
• How did that make you feel?
• How did you bring that to God in your prayer?  Were you outraged, grief-stricken, vengeful, ...?
• How did God answer you then?
• How is God answering you now?

• Mercy all around us
• Have you ever been in a position to extend mercy to someone else?  Perhaps you were in a position of authority over them as parent, teacher, manager, ...
• How can you tell when someone else deserves mercy from you?
• Does it matter whether or not they appreciate that mercy?
• How does extending mercy to someone else change that other person?
• How does it change us? 

• Sin in our lives
• When you think about sin in your life, do you think of individual events, patterns of sin in your life that recur over and over, attitudes or thought patterns that you have that lead to sin, ...?
• Which of those do you think that Jesus forgives?
• Which of those facets of sin are we trying to mend with penance?
• Who benefits from us removing sin from our lives?
• Or - What are you really afraid of?
• Thinking of the usual catalog of sins: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, "and such like" (Galatians 5: 19-21) which of those would you say were based in fear of some thing or another?
• In what way would faith help to counter such fears?
• What have you done lately to bolster your faith in some specific area?

• Standing out in a crowd
• Peter's denial of Jesus during the passion narrative is rather comforting for all its bleakness.  We hear that and think to ourselves, "I would never do that" and go on our way.
• But besides denying even knowing this Jesus, what are some other ways that we might deny Him in front of others?
• How important is it that we individually speak out against things that are wrong, unjust, evil?
• Is it important whether or not our words are effective?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I willing to bear unjust rejection for God?
2. Where have I shown God's mercy to another this week?
3. How is God healing me of my fears?
4. How can I be more of a sign of Christ's presence to those around me?

Shalom!

Corpus Christi Sunday

Our readings for Corpus Christi Sunday are:

1. Deuteronomy 8: 2-3, 14b-16a
2. Psalms 147: 12-13, 14-15, 19-20
3. 1 Corinthians 10: 16-17
4. John 6: 51-58

• Testimony time
• In Protestant circles, it's common to invite participants to offer testimony, story telling if you will, of how God has worked in their lives.  This sharing of stories helps build the faith of the gathered assembly, and helps them see how God works in His people's lives.
• In the Catholic community, we don't do much of that, maybe we should.  If someone asked you what evidence you have for God in your life, what would you tell them?
• What sort of a setting would be ideal for that sort of sharing?
• What might happen to us as a community if we did that sort of faith sharing with each other more often?

• Manna in the desert
• What do you really need in life to be happy?
• Of those things that you just listed, which of them are purely material, and which are spiritual in nature?
• Of those things that you just listed, which do you think God ultimately provides you with, versus what do you think that you got for yourself?
• Which are you the most grateful for?
• Why? 

• One bread, one body
• When you think of being in solidarity with someone, what does that mean?
• Who are you in solidarity with?
• What obligations do you feel that brings with it?
• Who do you think Jesus feels a solidarity towards?
• How does Eucharist draw us into solidarity with those that Jesus is in solidarity with?
• Or - Ecumenism can be frightening
• Jim O'Neill once said that, when he went up to Communion, he would listen to the Eucharistic minster hold up the consecrated host and say "the body of Christ" to which Jim would respond "yes we are".
• Just what, then, are we consuming at Eucharist?
• How far does that "body of Christ" extend in time, how far around the globe?
• How should that change us, our hearts, towards the rest of humanity sharing in that same feast?
• How can we make that reality more profound, more immanent, more real in our lives?

• Sacrament of initiation
• Thoughtful sacramental theologians worry that we have surrounded first Holy Communion with so much pomp and circumstance that we obscure the unnerving fact that every celebration of Eucharist is a sacrament of initiation, a stepping into something new and creative.
• What has Eucharist initiated you into lately?
• Is Eucharist a string of events, a way of life, or a journey?
• How can we become more of a Eucharistic people?
• Or - Table prayer, revealed for what it is
• John Flaherty has a vision that I've grown to appreciate more and more over the years: the family table and the Eucharistic table reveal and illuminate each other.
• What are some of the stories that have been shared around your table recently?
• How have those stories transformed the lives of the teller, the listeners?
• How has your table talk at home prepared you for Eucharist?
• How has Eucharist prepared you for being a better family?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I truly grateful to God for?
2. Do I truly believe that God will provide abundance in my life?
3. How is Eucharist drawing me closer to the Body of Christ?
4. How can I make my home life more sacramental?

Ang Katawan

When we gather in our homes
through our prayers and our meals,
we are fed and nourished together,
our families, broken and blessed.

Dear Jesus, thank you for this food
Especially the apple pie that I smell ...
Oh, and everything else as well,
I'm sure that it's all good too.  Amen

"Robbie, that's the last time you say grace"
"But, it's about what we're thankful for, right?"
"Well, yeah, but you can't get by just on desert."
"I'm willing to take that risk, if anyone would let me."

"Before you two get going on that discussion,
Please pass the mac 'n cheese.  I hear it calling me."
"I'd love to, but my bursitis is kicking my butt"
"No problem, here, I'll pass it around behind you."

"Are you still in therapy for that?"
"Yeah, but they tell me that my insurance
Is only going to pay for another four weeks.
I sure hope this is over and done by then."

In the household of the Lord,
where we come to share the meal,
we are fed the words of our Savior,
one family, strengthened and healed.

"George, I heard from Sara today after Mass
That Marge Johnson is in the hospital,
And Fred is home alone.  What should we do?"
"Well, let me drop by tomorrow and see what Fred needs."

"Let me send some of that leftover mac 'n cheese with you.
If Fred doesn't need it right away, he can freeze it.
I'll check in on Sara and see how she's doing."
"Maybe Robbie will come along with me."

Behold the Body of Christ,
Jesus our Savior and Life!
Rejoice O people of God!
We are the Body of Christ!

Verses liberally borrowed from Ang Katawan ni Kristo - Manalo, CSP, Ricky; de Leon, Pia

Shalom!