19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. 1 Kings 19: 9a, 11-13a
2. Psalms 85: 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14
3. Romans 9: 1-5
4. Matthew 14: 22-33

• I'll know God when I see Him
• By the time Elijah gets to this point in the narrative, he's proven that the Baals are all a hoax, that the King of Israel has totally forsaken the ways of the one true God, and that the king's wife Jezebel is a categorically evil influence.  Not a bad line up of accomplishments.  Only problem is, no one is grateful for all of these revelations.  Elijah feels abandoned.
• Have you ever done or said anything that required real courage?
• How did you ever find the courage that you needed?
• How did your action/words change things?
• How did they change you?

• Being that kindness
• The Red Cross now has an app that you can install that helps you manage your appointments, and then you get a blow by blow account of what happens to your blood after you donate.  Makes it personal for you.
• Which do you think is more effective: writing a big donation check to some cause, or going out there yourself and helping out in person?
• What if you're really not all that good in person?
• Why do you think that matters?

• To whom much is given ...
• A great deal of talk lately centers on privilege.
• Do you feel privileged in any sense?
• What have you done with that privilege?
• What would you like to do with that privilege?

• Taking a walk on the wild side
• Once Jesus rescues Peter from drowning, how do you think that Peter made it back to the boat?  I'm betting that he walked back.
• Think of a time when it was really hard to trust God to do the right thing for you.
• How did you pray your way through that?
• Where in that process did you learn trust?
• How did the experience change you?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. Where can I show just a little courage?
2. How is God calling me to touch someone?
3. What am I building with God's blessings?
4. Where can I grown in Trust?

Eye on the Prize

We all thought that He had told us to get to the other side of the lake.

But here we were, clinging onto life with every shred of strength

Wondering how we had gotten so far off course to get into this mess.

Then I heard a yell, louder than the thunder above.

There He was, Jesus, I was certain, coming toward us,

Apparently without a care in the world, walking on the water.

I so wanted it to be Jesus, our friend and master.

I could not just wait for Him to make it to our boat.

I wanted to touch His hand, see His face, feels His warmth.

He bade me come, come to Him, without word of the storm.

I leapt from the boat for joy. sprinted over the waves towards Him.

Only to notice the crashing of the waves, the roar of the wind.

Suddenly, Jesus seemed so far away, and I so tiny in that storm.

But I felt His touch, His beloved sinews on my fingers.

And I knew that I was saved.  Not from being brash, but from being distracted.

Shalom!