29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 45: 4-6
2. Psalms 96, 1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10
3. 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-5b
4. Matthew 22: 15-21

• Who are you working for?
• The Jesuit perspective on creation is that it's still happening.  That is, the final destination for creation is still emerging.  And God wants all of us to take our rightful place in the process of fulfilling creation's destiny, of bringing creation to fulfillment, of bringing God's Kingdom.  Whether we know or acknowledge that or not.
• Why do you think that God doesn't share His whole plan with us?
• Do you think that it would help if He did?
• What would God have to do in order to earn your trust?  Don't be shy here.  He's actually interested.

• What if the other team is praying too?
• The ancients believed that gods were regional.  When we go to battle and beat our foes, we prove that our gods are stronger than their gods.  The fact that God is God over all should be a starting point for how we relate to each other.
• Do you think that God has favorites?  Favorite communities, favorite cities, nations, ...?
• Do you think that all of us can and should pray to God for peace, freedom, security?
• How can we be "our brother's keeper"?
  
• Who are our brothers?

• Finding conviction
• What is more important: what you believe, or who you believe in?
• Which of those two is more likely to change your actions, make you a better person, help you to help others?
• In your past, what has threatened your relationship with God, pushed it to the breaking point?
• How can you be better prepared for such trials?

• Paying to Caesar ...
• It's another major election, chock full of propositions to worry over.  A common theme is trying to prevent faulty legislation from getting written into law.  "Faulty" generally boils down to squeezing the citizenry for more money to put into the hands of politicians accountable to no one to perform services that we're not sure are a good idea.  James Dobson once called our current level of taxes "confiscatory" which is pretty dire.
• What are our responsibilities as citizens?
• What help can we count on God for in these times?
• What does it mean that Christians of good intent cannot all agree on important debate points in the national rhetoric?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How can I be freer to follow Jesus?
2. How can I better celebrate that we all have but one God in this world?
3. What am I doing to strengthen my relationship to Jesus?
4. How can I be a blessing to my community, my city, my state, my nation?

Shalom!