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!