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!