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!