7th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. 1 Samuel 26: 2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
2. Psalms 103: 1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
3. 1 Corinthians 15: 45-49
4. Luke 6: 27-38

• Timing is everything
• It is easy to become impatient when we finally get started on a new chapter in life, but sometimes it takes as much faith and discipline to wait as it does to move.
• When was the last time that some major change came along in your life?
• How did you pace yourself through that transition?
• Would things have gone just as well if you had hurried the process?
• Why?

• Finding mercy in giving it
• How would you define mercy?
• Have you ever been merciful to another?
• What made you decide to show that mercy to them?
• Did that experience humble you, make you feel better about yourself, better about the other person, ...?

• Next stop, resurrection
• How do you think that our memories of this life will be transformed in the next?
• If there is no pain in heaven, how will we retain all of the memories of this life?
• How is it that God heals those who suffer hardship?
• What role to the rest of us have in that healing process?

• To judge or not to judge
• All of us have to make judgments every day.  So when does judgment become a problem?
• Why do you suppose that it's important that we not judge others?
• Have you ever judged another?
• What caused you to make that judgement?
• How did that affect you?
• Did you ever change that judgement?
• Why or why not?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I trust God to bring His plans about in His timing?
2. Where is God calling me to show mercy?
3. Where can I be a healing presence?
4. Where can I help another be more fully who God made them to be?

Shalom!

6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Jeremiah 17: 5-8
2. Psalms 1: 1-2, 3-, 4- 6
3. 1 Corinthians 15: 12, 16-20
4. Luke 6: 17, 20-26

• We have nothing to fear but fear itself
• What is it that you fear most?
• What makes you feel that that could happen to you, your family, your community?
• Do you really think that God would let that happen?
• If you think that God might permit that to happen, what does that tell you about your fear?
• What does that tell you about God?
• How has that fear changed you over the years?
• What do you think God would say to your fear?
• If you don't know the answer, why not?

• I am the fruit of a majestic tree
• Each moment of our lives is both a summit, a conclusion to everything that has contributed to who we are up until that moment, and it is the starting point for the rest of eternity for us.
• What are some of the major forces that have shaped your life?
• What would you say has been the fruit of your life?
• Do you think that we always know the gifts that we leave behind?
• Why is that?

• Next stop, resurrection
• The resurrected Christ appeared to the apostles with His wounds.  Why is it that Jesus carried those horrific scars with Him from the grave?
• What of this life will we "take with us" into eternity?
• Will all of it be beautiful?
• What is beauty?

• The sermon on the plain is perhaps too plain
• The sermon on the mount of Matthew has a very different tone from the sermon on the plain of Luke.  For instance, Luke recounts Jesus simply saying "blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours."
• In Jesus' day, the poor were on the fringes of society, much the way that they are today.  Without power, without a voice, barely noticed.
• What are some of the ways that a person can be poor?
• The promise of the kingdom of God, does that only come to the poor in the next life, or is there some element of the kingdom that is here, now, that they inherit?
• How does that happen?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What is the source of my energy?  What gets me out of bed in the morning?
2. When I want something to happen in my life, where do I start to get that going?
3. How has my resurrection changed me?
4. How am I helping others live the beatitude promises?

Shalom!

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 6: 1-2a, 3-8
2. Psalms 138: 1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8
3. 1 Corinthians 15: 3-8, 11
4. Luke 5: 1-11

• Hot lips
• The prophets had the annoying trait of telling the people of God what they needed to hear at that time, in that circumstance, regardless of what they wanted to hear.
• Do you think that God still has prophets today?
• Do you think that those prophets are necessarily "professional"?  By that I mean that they somehow make a living as a prophet.
• Do you think that God only speaks through the so-called professionals?
• How do you know if you're called to be prophetic in a given time and place?
• How do you know that you're not?

• I am a piece of work, or was that handiwork?
• Looking back over your life, how do you think that your past experience has prepared you for how you are serving God today?
• Given your ministry today, what do you think God might be preparing you for tomorrow?
• How will you know when you're ready for "that next big thing" in your life?

• Back to the basics
• When you get down to it, there are really very few cardinal concepts in our beliefs, yet they seem so hard to live.
• When all is said and done, what do you think really divides Christians these days?
• What would a truly unified Body of Christ look like?
• What would we be able to do as a unified Body of Christ that we are not doing now?

• OK, if you say so ...
• I love Simon's response when Jesus tells him to put the nets out.  I've felt that same way so often.  I try hard not to sound that way, but sometimes the temptation to whine a little is just too hard.
• How do you think that those first disciples saw beyond the immediate issues of sinking ships and breaking nets and realize that Jesus had revealed Himself?
• I'm pretty sure that even if I had realized what was really going on, I would have had to take some time to process all of that, and decide what to do about it.  How about you?
• If one or more of those present that day had come looking for Jesus a day or two later to join him, would they have been welcomed?
• Why or why not?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God sending me today?
2. When was the last time that I told anyone how grateful I was for something God had done in my life?
3. How am I passing along the joy of the Gospel to others?
4. Am I willing to let a miracle into my life today?

Shalom!