27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Habakuk 1: 2-3, 2:2-4
2. Psalms 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9
3. 2 Timothy 1: 6-8, 13-14
4. Luke 17: 5-10

• Persevere or give up?
• No one wants to work and not see any results.  Faith, hope, and love work together.  Faith tells us that God is operating, whether we see Him or not.  Hope tells us that His work will bring about good.  Love guides us so that our actions can support His.
• What are you hoping for?  Do you think that "things" are improving?
• If you're old enough to remember the 60s, for many, that was a season of great hope, a time when change for the better was possible.  How have those dreams turned out?
• Do you see any forces for change for the better in our world today?
• How can we, as God's children, awaken our world to something better?

• Prove to me that you care
• God's people were in the desert without direction, no maps, terrible cell phone coverage, and their flocks were dying of thirst.  Clearly Moses had gotten it all wrong and some horrid mistake has happened here.
• Have you ever had a calamity in your life?  Some event that suddenly eclipsed everything else that you were doing, grabbed center stage in your life, and would not let go?
• What was your prayer life during that period?
• Do you think that you were particularly sensitive to God's guidance?
• What would have helped during that time of crisis?

• The good old days
• The reactionary finds all of their answers in the past.  They are convinced that somehow, we took the wrong off ramp and left behind some critical piece of our rightful heritage, and that's why we are in the mess that we find ourselves in.
• An authentic reform often looks to the past, not to return there, but to learn from who we have been, to discern who we are becoming, and be more faithful to that ongoing emerging, that ongoing act of creation.
• Who are you becoming?  Is today's you a better person than the one that you left behind 20 years ago (if you've been alive that long).  Is today's you a better person than the one that you left behind 10 years ago?
• Who are we becoming?  What role do you have in that larger emergence?
• How can we be more attuned to God's guidance along the way?

• Virtue is its own reward
• Think of someone that you would describe as a person of great faith.
• What makes you think of them that way?
• How do you think that they attained that faith?
• Is faith a gift, a consequence of our work, a grace?
• If you had greater faith, what would you do with it?
• What's stopping you?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How am I making this world, God's Kingdom, a better place?
2. What should I be praying for today?
3. How/what is God creating in me today?
4. How am I exercising my faith today?

Baptismal Font

My scientific mind knows that the water flows 
over the top of the font
Down the sides
And into a pump.
And starts all over again.

But the poet within me sees something far grander.
An entire ecology, gazed at through the eyes of water.
Gently warmed and wafted into the heavens.
There to form clouds and come back as rain.
Flowing through secret channels to join a bubbling brook.

All of the earth cloaked,
Soothed
Nourished
Bathed
In its waters.

My memory can recall Easter Vigils held there.
Eager, yet frightened elect
Immersing themselves in the font
Attentive alter servers with towels at the ready
And an entire gathered assembly holding its breath

As a new life blossoms from within that person
As a new life blossoms from within us at that Mass
As a new life blossoms from within our parish
As a new life blossoms from within the heart of God
Bringing us all into His life, with, in, and through all that all of us bring.

And so, as each of us sprang from the dust in the Garden so long ago,
We are watered continually again and again

Lord, let me never look at water without seeing You.
Without seeing the entire earth that you have created us in and through.
Keep me ever mindful of those who are lost, alone, marginalized.
Remind me of those of your children without clean water to drink,
Without the fellowship of loved ones to sustain them.

I dip my fingers into the font,
But all of me plunges in.
Let me ever arise anew in You.
Strengthened in all of You, everywhere, every one.
That you and I may be one in everyone.

Shalom!

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Amos 6: 1a, 4-7
2. Psalms 146: 7, 8-9, 9-10
3. 1 Timothy 6: 11-16
4. Luke 16: 19-31

• How do you know when you care enough?
• Bill and Melinda Gates chair the world's largest private charitable foundation.  Looking up Mrs. Gates online, I see that she's Catholic.  More than the money that they have given away is their time.  These two individuals could do anything that they wanted to with their talents, and yet they chose to give themselves away.
• The rest of us have to earn a steady paycheck to stay alive, but we can all support the poor in some capacity or another.  How are you doing that support?
• We can always give more.  How do you balance your own needs, those of your family, your parish, this planet?
• Do you ever take time to look back over those decisions to see if they still reflect God's will in your life?

• Who is my neighbor?
• With our global economy, I could easily be wearing a shirt made in a sweatshop in Indonesia, shoes manufactured in unsafe working conditions in Malaysia, and a wedding band made with gold mined by slaves in Tunisia.  I was feeling pretty good about myself until just now!
• If God loves the just, He must have some plan for how His children can be just.  What do you think that plan might be?
• Does it include studying the supply chain of every good/service that we consume?
• Does it include electing politicians who support sustainable trade?
• Does it include trade sanctions against countries that have human rights violations?
• Are we as a nation in a place to tell anyone else what is moral and what is not?

• Name calling
• We each have a name given us by our parents.  What we make of that name is up to us.
• Have you ever tried to advise someone based on who they are, their fundamental nature?
• Remaining faithful to who God has called us to be, allowing His creation within us to emerge is the work of a lifetime.  None of us can really do it alone.  How have you helped other participate in their own creation?
• How would you like others to do that for you?

• Smelling like sheep
• A friend of mine has worked at the Long Beach Mission several times a week for years.  Once he was there, organizing some of the supplies.  It was hot work, and he was dressed accordingly.  Someone came in to make a donation and mistook him for one of the homeless clients, and treated him poorly.  My friend suddenly found a deep mystical connection with those he had been serving for so long.
• It's easy to pretend that you don't see the homeless guy at the freeway off ramp with his cardboard sign.  There's a chasm between you and him.  You work hard for a living, he stands in the hot sun with no shelter and a cardboard sign.
• You hear of corrupt governments that oppress their innocent citizens and you quietly thank God that you live in a democracy.  Another chasm: between a government of the people, by the people for the people, and a government that merely serves the ambitions of a few privileged despots.
• You hear that a percentage of the homeless lining our streets are mentally ill.  Another chasm: your mental health is superb, and they languish, unable to meet the challenges that life throws at them day in, day out.
• Do you think God expects us to bridge any of those chasms?
• What are some other chasms that divide us from those in need?
• What is God asking of us?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What of myself am I giving away?
2. How can I contribute toward greater justice in the world around me?
3. Is there anyone in my life that I care about enough that I would challenge them to be more faithful to their identity in God?
4. How can I be a bridge?

Table Prayer

Blessed are you Lord
God of all creation
For through your goodness we have received
The bread and wine on this table
Fruit of the earth, and the work of human hands.

Bless those hands who have labored over this fare.
Let us never forget them and their toil.
Let us always treat them with dignity
And treat them fairly.

Let this meal remind us of all of creation
And our humble place within it.
Show us how to steward the earth gratefully,
That we and this world sustain each other.

Let this meal remind us of those in need.
The forgotten, the oppressed, the marginalized.
All of us are your children, You love each of us.
Let us build a world based on that love.

Let this time and food that we share at this table
Nourish us in heart and body.
Take our stories, our lives as we share them here, now.
And show us how they fit into Your story, creation's emerging.

Shalom!

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Amos 8: 4-7
2. Psalms 113: 1-2, 4-6, 7-8
3. 1 Timothy 2: 1-8
4. Luke 16: 1-13

• Our God is a god of justice
• With global competition so fierce, it's easy to believe that mere economic survival calls for "creative financing" these days.
• Do you think that being totally honest in your dealings with others ever puts you at a disadvantage?
• Is that over the short term, or the long term?
• Does that seem fair?

• The power of God
• Think of folks in your life who have power of one sort or another.  It might be a teacher that you had once, a manager, maybe a local politician.
• What made that person powerful?  Where and how did they get that power?
• If that power was granted to them by someone else, how did they get to be powerful?
• How did they administer that power?  Did they achieve good with it, or not?
• Why is it that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely?"
• Why does that saying not pertain to Jesus?

• We're all in this together
• What difference do you think that it makes to God whether all of us are saved, rather than just some of us?
• Remembering that God "rebooted" humanity with Noah and his family, and God wanted to create a new chosen people from Moses, how many of us do you think God needs to save?
• If everyone on the planet were saved, what would be different from where we are today?
• What can we do to bring that vision closer to reality.

• We belong to you
• Trevor Thompson wrote a song called We Belong to You.  See the lyrics at: https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Trevor-Thomson/We-Belong-to-You.
• Think of the things that you have in your life.  Ultimately, where did all of those come from?
• How have you used those gifts?
• When you made decisions about how to use those gifts, how did you make those decisions?
• What would you change about some/all of those decisions?
• Why?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I believe that God will provide my every need if I trust Him?
2. How do I administer the power of God in my life toward others?
3. What difference has salvation made in my life?  Why do I want that for others?
4. How am I as a steward of God's blessings?

Seashore

I come here from time to time to get away
Away from the pressures and deadlines
Away from the shoulds and the have tos
And just be.

I used to wait here on the shore for Jesus
Hoping that he would walk up as He used to
Calling me to bring others into His circle.
But I've learned that He is here, I just have to listen.

This sandy beach, the cliffs behind me
The water surging in towards the coast
The sun in the sky
All march their solemn procession

From this morning until tonight
And again from twilight to dawn
In harmony across all of creation
Counting an all of us to be creative in creation.

The sea, the sun, the cliffs hardly change to my eye
They all are emerging to their own heartbeat
All that I have to do
Is give them room to be the best that they can.

My children, my spouse, my dearest friends,
All deserve that same space, that same respect,
That same attentiveness and support.
And in doing so, I take my place in the dance -

The dance of the cosmos toward fulfillment
Not a place nor a destination, but a process
Unfolding our destinies together in chorus
Of praise to our common maker and God.

Shalom!

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Exodus 32: 7-11, 13-14
2. Psalms 51: 3-4, 12-13, 17, 19
3. 1 Timothy 1: 12-17
4. Luke 15: 1-32

• Giving them what they want
• Pity poor Aaron.  In Exodus 32: 1-6 the children of Israel come to him looking for leadership in Moses' absence.  They have despaired of ever seeing Moses again after he disappeared on Mount Sinai.  Cell phone coverage was atrocious, and there was no way to contact Moses to even tell if he was alive.
• The people needed a sense of purpose while they waited for Moses to return and lead them from that place.  In a way, we are all waiting as well.  Waiting for our own salvation to emerge, waiting for the 2nd coming, waiting to see where God will lead us next.
• How do you find the time and energy to make sure that you are ready for all of those things?
• Do you ever get tired of such waiting?
• How can we help each other in this time of waiting?

• He's all that
• I'm not sure where that expression came from, but my kid's generation will say derisively "he think's he's all that" of someone who is a "legend in their own mind."
• Can you ever have too much true humility?
• How do we grow in this virtue?
• What is the benefit of authentic humility?
• Think of anyone that you have known who was truly humble.  Were you drawn to them?
• Why is that?

• Sins of the fathers
• As Westerners, I think that we tend to emphasize individual sin because sins of a culture, nation, race seem too distant, and hence unreal.
• But such group sin is very real to those who have been oppressed by such sin.
• How can the wounds from such sin be healed?
• What are our responsibilities for bringing that healing about?
• How do you think God will help in that healing?

• Finding what's important
• The parable of the two sons would have shocked Jesus original listeners for many reasons.  One of them being that the father did not write off the younger son.
• The parable depicts the father watching for his son to return, scanning the horizon daily, hoping against hope that he will return, having no way to tell when, if ever, his beloved boy will ever find his way back.
• Have you ever become distant with a friend or relative over some wound between the two of you?
• If you helped bring about healing, how did you do that?
• What was different about the relationship after that event?
• Is such healing an event, or a process?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How am I increasing my hope in God today?
2. Where do I insist on my own way, my own schedule, my own path instead of God's?
3. How has God been merciful to me in my life?
4. Where is God calling me to show mercy?

Ode of the Older Brother

There goes father again, off to keep watch for that worthless son of his.
Meanwhile, the rest of the village laughs at his patience, counting it foolishness.

They look with pity on me in the market.  I hear them talk, if only in my own head:
"There goes poor Raphael, the responsible one, the one who stayed home."

"Look at what he got for being faithful.  Half his inheritance gone.
No girl in the village will even look at him because of the shame of his brother."

My father seems oblivious to it all.  Barely going through the motions day by day.
The light gone from his eyes, the spring gone from his step.

I try to keep it all together, keep the vineyards and flocks prospering.
As much from stubbornness as anything, to prove the rest of them wrong.

For we all know that God favors His beloved children with prosperity.
I try to prosper to prove that God has love for this family, in spite of everything.

I will never forgive my thoughtless brother for bringing this upon us.
Selfish he is, without concern for anyone else.

In the dark watches of the night I try to forgive my father for his devotion
To this son of his who deserves nothing but death.

I do not know what sustains my father.  Is it stubbornness, or love?
What kind of love can bring such despair?

As for me, I will stay here, in the village, with my father
Until death finally releases him from his grief.

After that, I have no idea.

Shalom!

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Wisdom 9: 13-18b
2. Psalms 90: 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17
3. Philemon 9-10, 12-17
4. Luke 14: 25-33

• If I knew then what I know now ...
• The passage of time usually gives us a different perspective on the present, and perhaps, if we're lucky, we can look back on today and say "it all turned out for the best."
• If you were able to choose between two outcomes, how would you judge which one was the best?
• Would you consider just the impact of that choice on you?
• Include your family?
• Your parish?
• ...
• How do you think God makes such decisions?
• How has He communicated His desires/wishes/dreams for you to you?

• In every age
• We in our mechanistic Western culture tend to have short memories.  Other cultures, like the Jews, are different in that they intentionally and deliberately celebrate, remember, make themselves present in, and through their shared stories.
• What stories of God's faithfulness do you have?
• Who have you shared those stories with?
• Who will share those stores when you are gone?
• What might we, as a community, do about that?

• Taking one for the team
• There is room for depth and greatness in every moment of the Liturgy, and the rest of our lives as well.  The prayers of the faithful can bring us into unity with those suffering in an ever wider, more inclusive, and more effective way if we allow them to.
• How wide is your prayer circle?  Do you pray for anything/anyone outside of your immediate circle of family and friends?
• When was the last time that you felt truly drawn to embrace someone else's need?
• What was it that made you take that risk?
• How did it change you?
• Would you do it again?

• Finding what's important
• As quickly as possible, name the five most important things in your life.
• What do those all share in common?
• How do you tell when something in your life has become a distraction from your life in Jesus?
• How do you shake that attachment?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How is God guiding me today?
2. How am I celebrating God's faithfulness to me in my life?
3. Where am I reaching out in prayer, in action, in contemplation in my life?
4. What of my life truly makes my essence?

Spiritual Beings Having a Physical Experience

To term death "throwing off this mortal coil"
Makes our demise sound like a liberation.
I prefer to think of it as a homecoming.

A mystic once said that our problem is simply this:
We see ourselves as physical beings occasionally having a spiritual experience.
But actually, we are spiritual beings, currently having a physical experience.

Not too long ago, a person's education was not complete,
Until they had made the grand tour through Europe,
Drunk from the wellsprings of Western civilization

See works of art, hear music unavailable elsewhere.
Learn the cultures that contribute to what it meant to be Western,
And bring all of that home again, transformed, and larger then when you left.

Revelation pours forth through, in and through creation every moment.
This time we have here is privileged, an abundant gift like no other.
To see God's face in ways seen nowhere else.

So sad that we lose the forest for the trees,
Mistake creation for the creator,
Latch on to managing the properties and so miss the play.

Lord, make my vision ever larger.
Broaden my heart and give it the courage.
To greet each day with open-eyed wonder and reckless desire.

Shalom!