16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19
2. Psalms 86: 5-6, 9-10, 15-16
3. Romans 8: 26-27
4. Matthew 13: 1-23

• God's might
• It's a pretty rare person who would openly say "might makes right", but we act as though we believe that.  We're always attracted to the successful, the beautiful, the famous.  God for His part seeks out the lost and the marginalized, those with the least to offer.
• Have you ever been moved to perform a random act of kindness for someone?
• What prompted that?
• How did that action change you?
• What do you think we need to do to bring more kindness into the world?

• Loving and forgiving
• Think of a time when someone really wronged you.
• Have you find it possible to forgive them yet?
• Is there a process to forgiveness, or is it strictly an event?
• What is the hardest part of forgiving someone?

• At a loss for words
• One subtle bit of sarcasm that you'll occasionally hear is "words cannot express how that makes me feel ..." often meaning that the speaker feels outrage, anger, betrayal in response to what has just been done/said, but they don't want to be too obvious about their reaction.
• Have you ever been at a loss for words in prayer?
• Have you ever prayed to be shown how to pray in a given circumstance?
• How did God respond?

• It's the yeast that I could do ...
• Situations of creative tension are often termed "yeasty", meaning that they are generative, creative, unpredictable, perhaps even mildly explosive.  Bringing folks together of many different cultures, ethnic groups, religions ... all tend to yeasty mixes.
• Have you ever gone out of your way to cultivate a different perspective than you already have, to get out of your comfort zone?  Maybe it was picking up a brand new skill, meeting new people, taking on a new job ...
• What prompted you to do that?
• How did it turn out?
• Do you think that was the will of God in your life?
• Why?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. How can I grow in humility?
2. How am I becoming more forgiving?
3. What am I doing to improve my prayer life?
4. Where am I being yeast to the communities that I serve?

Shalom!