- Ezekiel 33: 7-9
- Psalms 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9
- Romans 13: 8-10
- 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?
- Am I humble enough to help my brother/sister get closer to Jesus?
- What am I doing to try to see both sides of decisions that I'm making?
- When was the last time that God was somehow able to change my mind about something?
- 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!
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!
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