30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Jeremiah 31: 7-9
2. Psalms 126: 1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
3. Hebrews 5: 1-6
4. Mark 10: 46-52

• Welcome home
• Define "home".
• What people/places/activities/things make you feel "at home"?
• Given the itinerant nature of His ministry, what do you think that Jesus needed to feel "at home" somewhere?
• How can we be more like Him?

• Coming back
• It is probably a rare thing for someone to honestly "hit bottom".  If you look hard enough, things could nearly always be worse.
• Think of a time when you felt that life was far from "good".  How did you get through that?
• What sort of an outcome were you looking for?
• How did you expect for that outcome to happen?
• Where was God in all of that?

• One of us
• At the presentation of gifts, those who bring up the gifts come from among the gathered assembly.  The Lector climbs into the ambo from a seat in the gathered assembly.  Oftentimes, for the offertory at Thanksgiving, we process to the altar rail to put our offerings into the baskets.  The children come from the gathered assembly to offer canned food on behalf of their families.  At communion, the extraordinary Eucharistic ministers arrive at the altar from among the gathered assembly.
• What do these liturgical movements tell us about the place of the gathered assembly?
• What do they speak about our individual participation in the Mass, in ministry, in the bringing of Christ's kingdom to earth?
• Who are we as we go our separate ways after dismissal?

• Putting it all on the line
• Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak, perhaps his only possession, to answer Jesus' call.
• What do you think Bartimaeus was hoping for at that moment?
• Where do you think that event took him in later life?
• Where do you think Bartimaeus showed courage?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How am I helping others to find home?
2. What are the desires of my heart that I have not shared with Jesus?
3. How can I be a better witness to God's Presence?
4. Where is fear holding me back from God?

Shalom!

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 53: 10-11
2. Psalms 33: 4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
3. Hebrews 4: 14-16
4. Mark 10: 35-45

• Greatness is in what you give away
• There was a horrible bumper sticker that enjoyed some popularity.  It read "He who dies with the most toys wins."
• What do you think Jesus would have to say to that?
• If that sentiment is not true, write a bumper-sticker worthy statement of your own that is true.
• Is your bumper-sticker worth copyrighting?
• Why or why not?

• No regrets
• Archbishop Oscar Romero was canonized today, in part for his courage to the point of martyrdom.
• Do you think that true faith is always going to have its costs?
• How do you tell when calamities in your life are a result of you following your faith, or other, less noble reasons?
• How is God kind to us through all of that?

• Finding grace
• How would you define grace?
• How have you been graced in your life?
• How do we go about receiving grace in our lives?
• What can we do to be more open to that grace?

• I remember him when ...
• It's a common scenario.  Someone you never expected makes it big and all that you can do is to tell your friends "I remember him when he was just a punk ..." hoping that your familiarity with the new celebrity will somehow rub off on you.
• How would you define or characterize the humility of Jesus?
• Do you think that Jesus had it easier than we do, or harder, to be that humble?
• What sort of humility do you think that we are called to?
• What can we learn from Jesus' humility?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What do I truly desire?  What am I willing to give up for that?
2. Are there times and places in my life where I have tried to avoid the cost of my faith?
3. What graces do I most want in my life?
4. Where am I trying to grab the attention or credit?  Is that of God?

Shalom!

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Wisdom 7: 7-11
2. Psalms 90: 12-13, 14-15, 16-17
3. Hebrews 4: 12-13
4. Mark 10: 17-30

• What is it that you desire
• Indecision is a terrible thing.  Sometimes, the pain of it is enough to make us do something rash just to get the decision process over with.
• How do you think that Jesus made decisions?
• Do you think that he had a process?
• Do you have anyone in your life that you can go to for better perspective on your decisions?
• How do such people supplement your prayer life?

• No regrets
• None of us wants to die with regrets.  We want to check off every item on our "bucket list" before we go.
• What do you think contributes to a "regret free" life?
• Have you ever learned to be thankful for a decision that you once regretted, or something that was hard to bear at the time?
• How did that process happen?
• Is it possible to help that process along?

• Looking at life from both sides
• It's almost universal that we wish that we had a better memory for things, but be careful what you wish for.  I believe that at judgement day we will have perfect recall of our entire life.
• We are never going to know everything about the decisions that we make, so how do you know when you have thought about something long enough?
• How do you know when your own desires are helping you, or hindering you from making a good decision?
• What really makes a good decision anyway?

• Disordered attachments
• In Ignatian spirituality, we are told to avoid getting so attached to anything that it begins to distract us from our primary mission in life.
• What are you attached to?
• How do you tell when that attachment has become too strong?
• How would you go about breaking that attachment?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What do I truly desire?  What am I willing to give up for that?
2. What am I thankful for this year that I could not have been thankful for earlier in my life?
3. How am I learning to follow Jesus more closely?
4. What in my life am I incapable of giving up?

Shalom!