Third Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the third Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 2: 14, 22-33
2. Psalms 15: 1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
3. 1 Peter 1: 17-21
4. Luke 24: 13-35

• Dynasty of another sort
• Dynasties have ever been our answer to mortality.  As long as there is an unbroken line of ancestors back to the founder, we feel secure that essential elements of the kingdom, the order, the parish are intact, because of that continuity.
• Do you think that we tend to try to create dynasties today, maybe without literal bloodlines to hold the generations together, but other ways?
• Are all of those dynasties good, or bad?
• How can you tell when a dynasty has outlived its usefulness?

• The path of life seems buried under the debris of life ...
• Think of a time when you were really moving in the Spirit.
• How did that feel at the time?
• How did you get into that state?
• What keeps you from getting into that state, that feeling again?

• Legacy or ball and chain
• What are some of the real assets that you feel have been handed on to you from your parents, earlier generations, your culture, the Church?
• Are those assets best preserved by keeping them just the way that they have always been, without ever changing them?
• What are some of the liabilities, limitations, false goals that you have inherited from those same folks?
• How do you tell the assets from the liabilities?

• Transformation
• Jesus didn't change the Scripture, but He did show those early disciples another way of looking at those Scriptures.
• Who are some of the folks doing the same thing today for Scripture and Tradition?
• How do they get the ability and authority to transform our thinking about God's revelation in our lives?
• Who is it that is tasked with testing and certifying such folks?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I willing to be an agent for change in the world around me?
2. How much closer to God do I really want to get?
3. Am I willing to give up what is futile in my life?
4. What are some of the things in my life that prevent me from seeing Jesus?

Trading my sorrows

The brotherhood of grief can be an intimate embrace.
A cozy fellowship of the hopeless can feel so secure -
Secure in the knowledge that we have jointly hit bottom
And we're staying here for the duration.

But to hope, to dream again of transformation
To see new vistas opening up on the other side
Of this present desolation, ah, that takes more than vision
It takes courage, and the ability to be alone.

Far more sensible to give up, settle for the status quo
Succumb to the inevitable,
Than dare to dream of a better day, a resurrected existence
In which God takes our dashed hopes and forges them

Forges the ashes of our previous hopes into something new
That calls forth from us something radically alive
And at the same time transcendently ancient
If only we're willing to let go of what has long been dead.

Lord Jesus, give me, give us, give all of us, eyes, your eyes
To see the possible emerging from the tomb of our fears.
Grant us the courage to hope anew, with strength we never knew we had
And in so doing, let your transformation, your resurrection ignite us.

Shalom!

Divine Mercy Sunday

Our readings for the second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) are:

1. Acts 2: 42-47
2. Psalms 118: 2-4, 13-15, 22-24
3. 1 Peter 1: 3-9
4. John 20: 19-31

• Communal living at its best
• Clearly, the early disciples enjoyed a deep sense of purpose.  If you were to get a moment with one of those first apostles, and asked them what their purpose was, what do you think they would say?
• How would you answer that question?  What is your purpose?
• What do you think has changed about the purpose of the Church at large since those days?
• Is that all good?

• Mercy identified
• Mercy comes to us in the form of forgiveness for our sins.  But that mercy is hard to appreciate, unless you get a good appreciation for what your sin has done to you.
• Where has God healed and restored you in your life?
• What would you be like today had you not experienced that healing?
• What can you do to be that healing presence to others?

• Keeping your eye on the prize
• In the business world, the phrase "keep your eye on the prize" encourages you to focus, don't be distracted by secondary matters, and thus accomplish great things.
• Do you think that your community(ies) have ever lost sight of the truly important and become obsessed with things that are merely there to serve a higher purpose?
• Why is it that we do that?
• Who/what is there to guard us from losing sight of the really important?

• Transformation
• Do you think that the infilling of the Holy Spirit is an event, a transition, a journey, a sacrament, all of the above, ...?
• Do you think that we are filled with the Spirit once and always, more so at sometimes than others, as the situation demands it, when we pray for that Presence, all of the above, ...?
• If you had to identify your anointing, how would you describe it?
• Why should you care?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I generous/generative to the communities to which I belong?
2. Where have I shown mercy in this past week?
3. What am I doing to better discern where God is taking me?
4. Which fears have I shed this last week?

Trading my sorrows

The alchemist's stone was supposed to allow those skilled in such arts
To transform base, common, metals into gold.
Certainly not as impressive as creating something from nothing,
But none the less impressive.

Picture Jesus standing before that angry crowd.
All of them armed with stones, and self righteousness.
Arrayed against Jesus, and one lonely woman caught in adultery.
Ready to purge her from their midst, ensure their purity.

Had I been there, I would have tried to reason with them.
And probably gotten stoned as well in the bargain.
But Jesus, in just a few words,
Turned that anger around, allowed them time for self-examination.

Then, one by one, they dropped their stones, suddenly irrelevant.
Embarrassing almost.
And they walked away, each deep in their own prayer
Leaving the mercy to Jesus.

Jesus never tried to deflect hatred, fear, anger.
Neither did He merely absorb it, deflected it, reflect it back.
But He transformed all of that into a gateway to the sacred,
An opportunity to meet God.

Which may be the truest sacrament of all,
The most amazing alchemy every attempted,
A daring place to stand for His far flung followers.
If only we dare.

Transformation is more than merely a catalog
Of nifty questions and sayings,
One for every occasion.
But a hope, a prayer, an insurrection

To change the world,
All of our attitude and ideas
About what comes our way in life
One heart at a time.

Shalom!

Easter Sunday

Our readings for Easter Sunday (from the Mass during the day) are:

1. Acts 10:34a, 37-43
2. Psalms 118: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23
3. Philippians Colossians 3: 1-4
4. John 20: 1-9

• Anointing, visible and invisible
• Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit at His baptism in a public way.  We continue to anoint at baptism, Confirmation, Ordination, Healing of the Sick.
• Why do you think that God chose to send His spirit into Jesus at His baptism?
• Since Jesus is the incarnation of God Himself, why would He need some sort of "extra" dose of the Holy Spirit?
• When we anoint within the Church, is that a prayer to God to send his Holy Spirit, a recognition of something that's already happened, does that anointing cause something to happen, so some combination of the above?
• Should we, as a people, do more formal commissioning/anointing for missions large and small?

• God is more than merciful, He is mercy
• What makes you believe God to be a God of mercy?
• How has that mercy touched your life?
• How can we be more merciful, as God's children?

• God's presence is everywhere
• What has reminded you of God's presence in your life this past week?
• How do you celebrate/meditate/savor that presence usually?
• Do you think that you are more or less sensitive to that Presence than you were 5 years ago?

• One step at a time
• One thing that I really like about the new RCIA rite is that we celebrate Lent with the three great Gospels of the Woman at the Well, the Man Born Blind and finally the Raising of Lazarus.  In each of these stories, belief in Jesus is a process.
• How is your faith in Jesus deepening lately?
• Where do you think your faith will take you in the years to come?
• Who are some of the "other disciples" that you are journeying with, who help you in your faith walk?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What has God commissioned me for in life?  Am I living that commission?
2. Am I willing/able to accept God's Presence, no matter how that Presence comes to me?
3. How am I setting my priorities, for the immediate future, or eternity?
4. Where is God revealing Himself to me today?

Shalom!

Palm Sunday

Our readings for the 5th Sunday in Lent are:

1. Isaiah 50: 4-7
2. Psalms 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23, 24
3. Philippians 2" 6-11
4. Matthew 26: 14-27:66

• Persecution possible?
• Have you ever felt that your Christianity put you at some sort of a disadvantage?
• How did that make you feel?
• If someone were going to persecute you for your beliefs, what would you want for them to accuse you of believing?

• Vaya con Dios
• Do you feel that God is with you in all that you do?
• What difference has that Presence made in your life?
• How do you keep from wandering from God?

• Humble is so hard to do
• What things in your life humble you?
• Do you think that God gave those to you?
• Are you a better person for experiencing those things?

• The imitation of Christ
• Jesus calls us to follow in His footsteps.  Just how does that work in practice?
• Is it just a matter of avoiding what we know Jesus does not want for us?
• Or is it something deeper, that you actively seek what Jesus wants for you, no matter where that might lead?
• Or is it something deeper yet, in which you abandon all that is not from God, out of a supreme desire to be close to Jesus?
• What sort of character traits/personality lives that way?
• We have names for such people.  What are some of them?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I truly living out my Christian values?
2. Does God's presence in my life fill me with hope?
3. Am I willing to embrace Jesus' humility?
4. How am I showing the glory of God to those around me?

Alone

It's easy to share the good things in life with those around you.
The vacation plans, that income tax rebate, an unexpected inheritance.
It's easy to bond with others over shared experiences of plenty.

But what of the suffering?  What gateway is there
For the widow who is still lonely after years of waking up to a quiet house
Or the cancer patient going through one round of therapy after another.

Reaching out to such is hard to do, especially when you've not been there.
Better to leave that sort of contact to the professionals, you tell yourself.
I'll just make them feel bad for all that they don't have going for them.

I wouldn't know what to say, how to act, how to be in their presence.
And maybe the reason reaching out to someone in need is so hard,
Is that we're all hard wired to come up with a fix, the silver bullet.

That will make their lives better in a matter of hours,
Cure their problems, give them joy again.
Maybe I just need to learn how to listen, to be with the poor.

Maybe I just need to learn to be with them in their life,
And not try to fix everything that's wrong around me,
And learn to give myself away, even if there's no way to measure the effects.

Shalom!