14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Zachariah 9: 9-10
2. Psalms 145: 1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14
3. Romans 8: 9, 11-13
4. Matthew 11: 25-30

• The challenges of humility
• In corporate America, it's often the case that advancement very much depends upon who notices you, what projects you get to take lead on, who your sponsors/mentors are.  It can seem that getting "the right press" can eclipse doing good work for its own sake.
• Do you feel appreciated for all that you do/all that you are?
• What do you think would be fair appreciation for what you've accomplished in life?  A promotion, a raise, recognition at the next department meeting, a word of thanks from your spouse?
• If you are not getting appreciated, for what you do, why do you do it?
• Some think that humility is about never speaking up for yourself.  Do you agree?
• Is there an up side to being humble?

• Care for the lowly
• Can you think of anyone in your life who is marginalized in some way?  Maybe they are old and it's hard for them to get out.  Or they have health issues of other sorts.  Maybe they don't have much money and no one hears much of them for that reason.
• How does God care for such as these?
• How did they get to be in that "all but invisible" state?
• Do you think that they deserve help?
• Do they deserve your help?

• Life in the Spirit
• How would you define "holiness"?
• Are there any people in your life that you would describe in that way?
• How did they get that way?
• What has that holiness really gained them?
• Is it enough to make you want to be like them?

• The joy of work
• Do you think that it's possible to find work for yourself that you are perfectly suited to, were born for?
• Should such work pay enough to provide for you & your family?
• If a particular function, say neurosurgery, pays vastly more than working as a florist, what does that tell you about the surgeon and the florist?
• What's more important about your life's work: that it brought you & those you served joy, or that it earned a lot of money?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. How can I grow in humility?
2. Who do I care for, take care of, care about?
3. Do I genuinely want to be holy?
4. Am I doing God's work in my life?

Shalom!

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Jeremiah 20: 10-13
2. Psalms 69: 8-10, 14, 17, 33-35
3. Romans 5: 12-15
4. Matthew 10: 26-33

• The cost of discipleship
• The life of a prophet is seldom easy, they often have harsh truths that they need to convey.  Increasingly, our mere existence, our way of life, our priorities as Christians will cause others discomfort, confusion, eventually hatred.
• Think of a time when you felt led to speak up about something that no one seemed to want to talk about, something that had to be talked about.
• What gave you the courage to be that voice?
• How did it turn out?  Were you able to bring about change for the better?
• Would it have been better had you never said anything?
• Why?

• Humility and ambition
• St. Ignatius identifies three levels of humility that can be summarized: obedience, indifference, identification.  Obedience to God's will in my life over my own wants and desires.  Indifference regarding the outcomes of my actions so long as they lead me closer to Christ.  Becoming so close to Christ in my life that I partake of His shame and rejection, and rejoice in it.
• God hears hears the cries of the poor.  All of us can be poor in the sense that we can be humble, regardless of how God has blessed us in our lives.
• Where do you find yourself on the humility journey as Ignatius describes it?
• Is that good enough?
• How do you think greater humility would benefit you and those around you.

• The sin of the world
• I have a hard time deciding whether to repent of my sin, or my sins.  The first suggests a holistic look at my life in general, and ask whether I bring life and healing to those around me.  The second perspective is more immanent, seeking to find individual thoughts, words, and deeds of mine that need to be forgiven, atoned for, healed.
• How do you go about finding healing from your sin?
• How do you become aware of your sin?
• Is that awareness getting any better with age?
• Why?

• It will all work out in the end
• Calamity is isolating.  Everyone else has all of the normal concerns and demands on them, they don't understand what it's like to suffer.  Perhaps our greatest fear is being alone when we most need company.  Jesus assures His disciples that He is the ultimate companion, that everyone else in our life who brings us compassion, comfort, love, is an expression of Him.
• Think of someone who has "been there" for you for a long long time.  How did that relationship develop?
• We don't have to earn Jesus' friendship, but we do need to nurture that relationship.  How do you nurture your relationship with Jesus?
• If Jesus never leaves us, what does that say about the suffering that we all share?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. How can I grow in humility?
2. What is it in my life that consumes me?
3. How can I bring more life into the world?
4. How am I drawing closer to Jesus today?

Hero

"My hero" breathlessly exclaims the damsel as she rushes into his arms.

Scenes like that are in short supply these days,

The damsels are quite capable of saving themselves, thank you very much.

The knights all seem to have feet of clay and skeletons in their closets.

And yet, and yet the need for men and women of bravery, and nobility continues

Now more than ever.

To the point that we can no longer afford to outsource heroism

To an elite round table of knights.

The heroes have to be all of us.

The brave must be there gazing back at each of us in the mirror.

And bravery finds its true mettle

In far-seeing humility.

Lord grant me your ears that I might hear the cries of your poor

Give me your eyes that I might see how I can make a difference

Give me your voice to summon the best from myself and others

Give me your hands to touch and heal the afflicted.

Let me be your hero.

Shalom!

Corpus Christi Sunday

Our readings for Corpus Christi Sunday are:

1. Deuteronomy 8: 2-3, 14b-16a
2. Psalms 147: 12-13, 14-15, 19-20
3. 1 Corinthians 10: 16-17
4. John 6: 51-58

• The life of a nomad
• Jewish history is studded with God's efforts to remind His People that they ultimately draw their sustenance from Him and Him alone.  Every time that we bless our food we remind ourselves of the same thing.
• I suddenly realized the other day that our financial planner stopped talking about how Mary & I would spend our money in retirement and started talking about what legacy we were going to leave our kids.  I'm not sure what to conclude from that.
• What plans do you have for the next 10 years, or if your young enough, for the next 20?
• How much of that planning is rooted in counting on God to provide your needs?
• "God helps those who help themselves" is not found verbatim in the Bible.  Why is that?

• God in the land
• Once humanity settled down to raise crops and tend herds, life got a lot more complex, and things could go very very wrong.  All it took was a couple of years of drought, and the entire village would go hungry.
• Does it really make sense for humans to settle in desert areas, or regions subject to violent storms, and then beg God to preserve us from drought or hurricane?
• Climatologists are predicting dire consequences to the human race if we do not reverse the accelerating carbon footprint that we leave on the environment.  Does it make more sense to pray to God for better weather, or pray that we, as a people, will finally take better care of our planet?
• Are we willing to pay the price for living sustainably?

• What purpose the body
• Paul likens us to organs in the Body.  Personally, I'd rather be a guitar.  But that aside, the purpose of the various parts of the body is not just to sustain each other.  The Body has a higher purpose, an over arching calling that we each contribute to.
• Does your church have a mission statement?
• Does anyone refer to that statement regularly?
• How do the various ministries in the church support that mission?
• How often do you as a Body review that mission to keep it fresh?

• Bread of Life
• In times past, the Church had to guard against folks taking the consecrated host and trying to use it as some sort of talisman, manipulating God's presence for their purposes.  Such misuse of the Presence is essentially a desecration.
• If we not only have the Presence within us, but we are the Presence is it possible for us to desecrate ourselves?
• If I am called by God to be a plumber, but I insist on living my life as a carpenter, is that a desecration of the Presence within me?
• How then can we show honor to that Presence within us?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. How does my trust in God transform my life?
2. How am I stewarding God's gifts to me?
3. How am I living out God's mission for my life?
4. How am I God's Presence in the world?

Shalom!