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!