1st Sunday in Advent

Our readings for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 2: 1-5
2. Psalms 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. Romans 13: 11-14
4. Matthew 24: 37-44

• Hospitality ministry
• Think of the various ministries that you are a part of.
• What is that community doing to draw more people in?
• How comfortable are all of you with the folks that you have right now?
• What criteria does someone have to meet before they can join that ministry?
• Who came up with those rules anyway?

• Peace in our time
• Those of you old enough to remember the 2nd world war, followed by one war after another ever since probably wonder what our chances are at ever achieving real peace.
• What does it take to achieve true peace?
• Where does that start?
• What is the relationship between peace and justice?
• What can you do to start building peace?

• At the gates
• It's easy to slip into a mindset that sees the world that we are in as threatening, menacing, and throw up defenses against the perceived threats.
• What are some of the threats that you see to yourself, your children, your community, our nation?
• Do you think that there are "the wrong kind of people" that might be trying to get into our churches, our schools, even our families?
• If Jesus ate with tax collectors and notorious sinners, how would He deal with those undesirable folks?

• Getting away from it all
• The examples that Jesus gives are all ordinary people, doing ordinary things.  Nothing about the one who is taken distinguishes them from the one left behind in these little vignettes.
• Jesus's words about the end times certainly paint a grim picture for humanity during those days.  What makes you sure that you will be spared the worst of those end times?
• What do you think it means to be "awake" and "watchful"?
• Do you think that we can/should be maintaining that level of vigilance on our own, or do we need others?
• What can we do to help each other be ready for whatever/whenever?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I humble enough to welcome new people into my community?
2. What am I willing to do to build peace?
3. Where can I be more hospitable?
4. What can I do to be more ready for tomorrow, next week, ...?

Arrival

The dust of past horizons cannot be found in our clothing,
The soil of other continents no longer clings to our boots.

But those experiences, those loves, the disappointments
All make us who we are, form the foundation of who we are becoming.

They are really all that we have to offer on the altar,
The only gift that we truly bear.

Not our wealth, or network of friends, or even knowledge.
All we have is all we are, broken, injured even, often afraid.

Nativity is not about taking and giving.
Nativity, arrival, our arrival to this universe bursting with potential

Is all about transformation, even a transubstantiation
Of those dark shadows into gifts to share with others

As they learn how to go through their own transformations
And we together shine the love of Christ

Bright enough to reach anyone who's looking
Bright enough to lead them to a vulnerable, helpless infant

The dawning of Christ within our hearts.

Merry Advent!

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Malachi 3: 19-20a
2. Psalms 98: 5-6, 7-8, 9
3. 2 Thessalonians 3: 7-12
4. Luke 21: 5-19

• Doing good is its own reward
• All of us like to see the good guy win in the end.  In fact, one model of a dramatic story arc consists of the good guy finally realizing who they are, emerging into a dangerous situation that calls for the very best from them, early setbacks while they come to terms with the demands that their destiny makes of them, followed by a final triumph of virtue over vice, good over evil, courage over fear.
• What do you think of when you think of leading a victorious life?
• Is that victory something that you are contributing to now, or something that you plan to get started on when you have the time?
• Who are some folks in your life who were victorious in their own way?
• How do you define victory?

• Praise is natural
• David Whyte has a poem that I invite you to read at: https://onbeing.org/poetry/everything-is-waiting-for-you/ that invites us to be alert to our place in the cosmos, and the place of the cosmos in each of us.
• St. Ignatius wrote in his Spiritual Exercises a brief paragraph called the Principle and First Foundation.  You can read about that here: https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/what-the-principle-and-foundation-calls-us-to/.  There, Ignatius reminds us that all of creation exists to help us draw towards God.
• If then, all of physicality cooperates with our journey toward God, how ought we to regard those things that we posses?
• What about the people in our lives?
• How can we do better at a "balanced" attitude toward this world that we find ourselves in?
• How can we come to better appreciate the beauty that is all around us, sustains us, and inhabits us?

• Earning your keep
• Earning a living is more than merely an obligatory grind that we go through to put food on the table and a roof over our heads.  It is a doorway into the emergence of creation, an opportunity to join our hand with God's as creation continues to grow and evolve.
• How did you decide on the career/retirement that you have currently?
• Did you expect for it to be fulfilling?
• If it is not fulfilling, is that bad?
• For whom?

• Missing the forest for the trees
• It's so easy to lose sight of the why of things and get caught up in the what.  The Jews of Jesus' day found their national and historical identity in the temple of Jerusalem, but by the time that Luke wrote his Gospel, all of that had been reduced to rubble, and both the Christians and the Jews were trying to find the meaning of it all.
• What are some things that are truly essential to your life?
• What would happen if one or more of those suddenly disappeared for some reason?
• If that happened, would you still be able to say that God is good?
• Why?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I willing to give to achieve victory in my life?
2. Are the things in my life helping me to live more prayerfully?
3. How is my work bringing God's kingdom to earth?
4. What do I need to let go of in my life?

Beauty

The ceramic vase occupied a place of honor on the mantel.

Fresh flowers always on display bursting from its throat.

It was a bargain, a find, a steal even from long ago

Passed from mother to daughter for generations.

That vase had witnessed many family gatherings,

Wakes, and baptisms, weddings and funerals, and much much love.

Whenever the family members saw that vase, 

It put them in touch with who they were, who they were becoming.

It seemed to say, in its own mute way "times come and they go,

But love and what nurtures love will last forever."

One night, a fire broke out in the house, and they all had to leave.

Everyone made it to safety with hardly the clothes on their backs.

And someone remembered the family vase, there in the home's funeral pyre.

And no one had the heart to tell grandma that no one had thought to get it.

When they finally had the courage to tell grandma, she closed her eyes awhile.

And then she opened them, looked around at family and loved ones gathered.

And said "you are all far more precious to me than any remembrance.

All of you are dying, and reemerging as you go through life.

Each passing to make room for the next flower to arise from the ashes.

As long as we have each other, we don't need anything to remind us.

Let this event, this memory, remind us always that the important things

Can never be taken from any of us."

Shalom!

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. 2 Maccabees 7: 1-2, 9-14
2. Psalms 17: 1, 5-6, 8, 15
3. 2 Thessalonians 2:16 - 3:5
4. Luke 20: 27-38

• Doing good is its own reward
• The danger in doing the right thing because you expect that "they will get theirs" in the end is that God's notion of justice is probably far more liberal than mine, and "getting theirs" may look very different in God's eyes than it does to mine.
• At the end of the day, what is the reason that you make the tough calls, the hard decisions?
• Do those tough decisions ever get any easier?
• If someone were to tell you that there were some colossally hard decisions coming your way, how would you prepare for that?
• What's stopping you?

• Mighty in prayer
• History is festooned with men and women of prayer who are bold before God to the point of seeming audacious.
• Do you think that God wants bold followers?
• What do you think leads to that sort of relationship with God?
• Is it worth it?

• Finding strength
• There is more to strength than moving weight around.  Profound strength can be found in those who have the courage and determination to keep working at something long after conventional wisdom would conclude that they are wasting their time.
• Where do you find the strength to do the difficult things in your life?
• Is that strength increasing?
• What are you doing to pass that strength along to others?

• Missing the point
• Resurrection promises fulfillment.  Not necessarily of our passing fancies, but of our deepest longings, those longings put in our hearts by God Himself.  For my part, I long to truly understand those around me.  Not so that I can predict what they will do, but to know who they truly are and to empathize with them fully.
• Unfortunately, most of us, myself included, do not have the depth of character for that sort of awareness beyond a few close friends.  Any more is just too much of a strain.
• What do you long for at bottom?
• What are you doing to achieve that?
• Do you think that longing will last into eternity?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where do I need discernment?
2. Where is God calling to me to be bold in prayer?
3. Where must my strength lie?
4. Where are my God-given desires calling me?

Shalom!