27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. Isaiah 5: 1-7
2. Psalms 80: 9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
3. Philippians 4: 6-9
4. Matthew 21: 33-43

• We are called ...
• We don't often think or even hear about God's emotions.  One entry into prayer is to ponder how your life, the way that you live it, your response to what comes your way, impacts God.
• Picture God gazing on you now.  What sort of expression is He wearing?
• Tell Him about your day, the ups, the downs, and especially where, maybe now for the first time, you felt closest to Him, and farthest away.
• Has that expression on God's face changed at all?
• Why do you suppose that is?

• Family therapy on a grand scale
• Imagine that God gently suggests to you that your relationship with Him needs some help, and that the two of you should see a therapist together to bring some healing to that relationship.  You're in the therapist's office for the first time.
• What things would you bring up?  Maybe it would be some times that you felt betrayed by God, times when you felt that God had not been faithful to you, or times that you felt that God was capricious or not steady.  Remember, you can tell this therapist anything, they are very professional.
• What do you think that God might say in such a meeting?
• Most of us are not trained in this sort of counseling, but what sorts of homework do you think the therapist might assign the two of you?

• Ask, and ask again ...
• I'm finding that prayer is transformative for us.  We start in prayer with one set of issues, one set of desires, and as we pray, we see things from a different perspective, and our prayer changes.  That cycle might happen several times over before we're done.  Maybe it never really finishes.
• What are some of the things that are going on in your life lately that you have not prayed about?
• Why not?  Were they too minor an issue, you didn't want to bother God with it, you didn't really care about the outcome that much, you were too busy, ...?
• What might have happened if you had prayed about that matter?

• To whom much has been given ...
• God's biggest miracle in circumstances of real tragedy is that He's able to transform a hardship into a growth opportunity if we're willing.  In those cases, what looked like a disaster has in it seeds for new life.  In a way, if we are willing to accept them as such, every event in our lives is a chance for growth.
• What are some of the tough times in your life where God was able to tend you, make you stronger, more empathetic, draw you closer to Him?
• What did it take for you to find those growth opportunities?
• Can you think of another way that would have been easier, less traumatic that you could have achieved that same growth?
• Why do you think that other, easer, path did not happen?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. When have I taken the chance lately to gaze on God and He on me?
2. How healthy is my relationship with God, and what am I doing about that?
3. What is one difficult aspect of my life that might bring growth?
4. Where is God calling me to be generous with what he has nurtured within me?

Shalom!