5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 45th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Job 7: 1-4, 6-7
2. Psalms 147: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6
3. 1 Corinthians 9: 16-19
4. Mark 1: 29-39

• Inspiration is hard to come by some days
• It's hard to imagine a corporate motivational poster drawn from the words of Job, but maybe they would be a little more authentic than the typical fare.
• What do you expect from God in this life?  Maybe a long, healthy life, a good name among your peers, children that respect you, security, ...?
• What makes you say that?  Do you have a Scriptural or teaching basis for that belief, or do you just think that it's fair that God reward those who serve Him faithfully?
• For His part, what do you think God expects of us?

• Transforming grace
• This week's psalm was written in the wake of the return from the Babylonian exile.  The people of God had been returned to their homeland, but all was in ruins, nothing like it was before the invasion.  The psalmist sought to transform, resurrect the attitude of the People to see the greatness of God in their lives, not in spite of events, but because of them.
• Have there been times in your life when you felt overwhelmed by events, with no way to control how things turned out in your life?
• What was your at that time?  Relief from the calamities in your life, wisdom to get you through that chapter, gratitude to God for His continued presence, anger with Him for being unfair and unkind?
• How did God answer you?
• How did that prayer time change you?

• Smelling like sheep
• A true shepherd dwells among their sheep, takes on their smell, knows each one well.  As ministers of various kinds, it's easy to see ourselves as rescuers of those that we serve.  But properly understood, it is we ourselves who are rescued in the encounter.
• When was the last time that you were in need, and you had a hard time getting that need met?
• How did you get through that episode?
• Where was God in that?
• How did God meet you then?
• How can you be God's presence to someone else in their need?

• Balance
• The life and ministry of Jesus has a rich dynamic, a constant play back and forth from healing to preaching to prayer.  All three sprang from His heart of compassion for us, all three sprang from His relationship with His father.
• How does your prayer life help you make sense of the rest of your life?
• How does the rest of your life impact your prayer?
• Are you working while you pray?
• Are your praying while you work?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What can I be thankful for today?
2. Am I being completely honest with God in my prayer?
3. When was the last time that I thanked God for the people that He has me minister to?
4. What prayer work is God calling me to today?

Hello Out There In TV Land!

My students are people too.

I tell myself that several times a day, for two reasons.

One, I never see any of them except on rare occasions,

Two, teaching oversized online classes makes it easy to forget that they are individuals.

I miss seeing them face to face,

The subtle reminder that they have lives outside of class

Lives inhabited by part time jobs, a sick grandmother, younger siblings

All of which form the fabric of their lives, that they bring with them as they learn.

And I, I am such a great distance from them.

I am playing out the final years of my career,

Their professional lives are awash in potential.

My students could be my grandchildren, and they are just starting adulthood.

I need to be reminded that all of us are walking the edges of our comfort zones

Trying to gain another perspective, a different vantage point, a bigger horizon

And that makes us partners, co-conspirators in insurrection

To find better alternatives to the status quo wherever we find it.

The challenge is how to have empathy with those who ask for help

As well as those who do not

With those who have found ways to succeed in this task

And those who have not.

We are all in this together, like it or not

In a world that insists that we are competing 

For a piece of some cosmic, fixed size pie

Instead of finding ways to minister to each other.

Lord, give me the courage to meet those whom I serve

Risk learning their stories

Risk shedding tears with them

That I might serve them the way that they deserve.

Shalom!

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 4rd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Deuteronomy 18: 15-20
2. Psalms 95: 1-2, 6-7, 7-9
3. 1 Corinthians 7: 32-35
4. Mark 1: 21-28

• The call of the prophet
• John the Baptist lived and ministered from the desert.  Moses pitched the tent of meeting outside the camp.  Jesus began His ministry fasting in the desert.  God often encounters His people at the margins, the edges away from the palaces, the comforts of the comfort zone.
• Think of someone that you regard as prophetic, someone who called others to renewal, who painted vivid pictures of a new way forward, who challenged those around them, who was bold, brave and true.
• How do you think that they got that way?
• Do you think that they felt a call to be prophetic, or was it more gradual, one step at a time?
• What do you think might have been that first step?
• Where/what/when do you think might be the cradle of prophets?  Where do such men and women come from?
• What are we, as a community, doing to nurture the prophets among us?

• What's an ark?
• Bill Cosby's depiction of God's call to Noah always rang true to me.  It's certainly how things might have gone down if I had been in Noah's sandals.  God had a specific call for Noah and Noah had to respond.
• When does God call you?  Just for the important stuff, like choosing whether to enter ordained ministry or not, whether to take that job in Cincinnati, whom to vote for for President, or does He come to us in smaller things?
• How do you listen to God on a daily basis?
• What's He been telling you lately?
• Do you ever talk that over with anyone?

• Be anxious over nothing
• Anxiety and depression seem to be conjoined twins, reinforcing each other until we are unable to move forward, unable to function at even the most basic level.
• What makes you anxious?
• Why are you anxious about that?  Is it because you do not know how something will play out, or is it because you are not confident in the final outcome, the "bottom line"?
• When we console someone and say "everything is going to turn out alright", what does that mean?  Who determines what "alright" means?  And is "alright" going to happen this week, this month, this life?
• How does trust in God relate to anxiety?
• How does trust in God relate to your anxieties?

• Heart knowledge
• The presence of God burns most brightly in the heart of a true mystic, one who has walked with God, often in silence.  Jesus' faith was framed by His Jewish tradition, but it was the time that He spent in prayer and action that ignited that tradition.
• How well do you know the heart of God?
• What around you do you think brings tears to God's eyes?
• What do you think makes God laugh?
• How would you propose to get to know God better?
• What would such familiarity with God cost you?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What makes me think that God is not calling me to be prophetic?
2. How can I become more in tune with God's voice in my life?
3. Why am I anxious?
4. What is God's heart speaking to mine today?

Shalom!

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Jonah 3: 1-5, 10
2. Psalms 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. 1 Corinthians 7: 29-31
4. Mark 1: 14-20

• Fool for God
• Prophets often have very uncomfortable messages to bring to their audiences.  The essence of prophecy is to inform the listeners of the direction, the meaning of their lives as they are living them, to provide them the broader perspective.  I think truly great prophets and poets have a great deal in common.
• Do you think that we as Church can ever have too many prophets?
• How do you tell that a prophet is authentic?
• What should we do with prophets who are not authentic?
• Is a prophet necessarily a single person?  Could it be a corporation, a community, a culture?
• Who are the prophets in your life?

• The ways of God
• It might be easier if God revealed Himself as a set of rules.  But He is so much more than that.
• Are the ways of God a set of principles?
• What are some of those principles then?
• Are the ways of God a paradigm, a perspective?
• How would you describe that world view then?
• How do you tell when you are not following the ways of God in your life?

• Everything is holy
• One thread of Ignatian theology is that God has and continues to reveal God's self through and in creation, and thus all of creation is holy.  However, how we make use of that creation certainly can be most unholy.  One unholy use is to cling to things when God calls us to let them go in favor of something even better.
• Is there anything, position, relationship, success, ability, that you cannot imagine following God without?
• Where did that/those things come from?
• Do you think that they are intrinsically eternal?
• Why do you think that God gave them to you?

• The holiness train is leaving the station
• The Gospel narratives of Jesus calling his disciples seem stark, almost surrealistic in their simplicity.  It makes you wonder what the back story was in each of these scenes.
• Last week we read that Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus.  What do you think provoked that response?
• How long do you think that either of them took to think about their respective decisions?
• What is your parish doing to bring in new disciples?
• What is your parish doing to reach out to those who have left?
• What can we do to make our assembly more attractive?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What makes me think that God is not calling me to be prophetic?
2. What am I doing to get to know God better?  Is it working?
3. Where is God calling me to let go, that I might step into something bigger?
4. What is it about me that would draw anyone to me or my faith community?

Shalom!

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. 1 Samuel 3: 3b-10, 19
2. Psalms 40: 2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
3. 1 Corinthians 6: 13c-15a, 17-20
4. John 1: 35-42

• Your servant is listening ...
• If God had something really important to say to you, how do you think He would convey that to you?
• How likely would you be to actually realize that communication was from God?
• How likely would you be to follow that direction, even if it was surprising?
• How can you prepare to improve your odds?

• Go, you are sent
• Growing up, I always felt as though missionaries were commendable, but almost a different breed of person.  To dedicate your entire life to spreading the Gospel to folks who have different language, customs, culture, hair styles than anything you've ever seen before takes a lot of courage.
• Do you fill that there is a mission to your life?
• What would that be?
• Do you think that your mission is just like everyone else's mission?
• Why do you think there are so many of us then?

• Tabernacle
• If you are a temple of the Lord, a resting place for His presence, how does that affect the way that you look at yourself?
• Do you think that God's presence can be found in everyone else, as well?
• Is it worthwhile to get in touch with the Presence of God within you?
• How do you make that Presence within you stronger?

• Sorry, that's not in my job description
• Back when I worked in aerospace, we would sometimes say "that's not in my job description" as a response to some request that we felt was outside of our responsibilities.
• When you became a Christian, what did you think were your responsibilities as a child of God?
• Has that set of "job duties" changed at all over time?
• Have those changes been a good thing, or a bad thing?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God calling me to listen more intently lately?
2. Where is God sending me today?
3. How can I better reflect the Presence of God within?
4. Am I truly faithful to God's call in my life?

Marching orders

I have a job, a purpose, an objective for you.

What's an ark?

What?

God, you know, that old Bill Cosby routine when God calls Noah to build the ark.

Nothing that big in your case.  That person across the way there, by themselves, go talk to them.

But I don't know what to say, who they are, nowhere to start.

Perfect.  That way, you are not going to load them up with your own agenda.  Trust me.

But what if I just make things worse?  They look really sad.

Then it will be on me.  Now get going before they drive home from Mass.

What will I say to them?

Hi, I've noticed you over here the past few weeks.  How are you?

That's it?  What good will that do?

To them, it will sound like "I've noticed you, you are not alone, do not despair."  Now get going.

Why me?

I like to surprise people.  In this case, I'm surprising both of you.  Be off with you.

Shalom!

The Baptism of the Lord

Our readings for the Baptism of the Lord are:

1. Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7
2. Psalms 2:1-2 ,3-4, 3, 9-10
3. Acts 10: 34-38
4. Mark 1: 7-11

• Victory of justice
• Generally, when we speak of victory, it implies the existence of a vanquished.
• What are some of the things that would go away if justice triumphs?
• Political corruption
• Oppression of the voiceless
• Confiscatory taxes
• Immoral laws
• ...
• Who is it in your community who is making justice happen?
• Can they use your help?

• Dynamic permanence 
• Nothing in this world lasts forever, or so we tell ourselves.  But there are some things that never change: love is mightier than death, children and the aged have the power to always surprise you, nothing has more power to make our burdens lighter than to share another's burdens.
• Name some truths that you have come to see are never-changing.
• Do you find comfort in those truths?
• What are some things that seem to constantly change?  I can think of the amount of sales tax LA charges, the price of a college education, the way that I feel about the future.
• How do those unchangeable things help you to deal with the things that do change?

• Anointed with power
• God has certainly blessed the human race is plenty of heroes over time.  Some became saints in the formal sense, many have not.  But they all had a part in bringing God's kingdom to earth, all of them made good use of the power God gave them.
• How would you define power from God's perspective?
• How much of that power do you have?
• How much of that power do you use consistently?

• Humility to the rescue
• John knew his place.  He knew that he was the warm up for Jesus, the main attraction.  In a way, all of us are.  At our very best, there is an element of transparency about us: looking at us, others should see Jesus.
• How do you think that John came to understand his purpose in life?
• Do you think that realization was sudden, or a process?
• How have you come to know your purpose/meaning in life?
• Do you think that ever changes, that you could be called forth from your present life to a new one?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God calling me to bring more justice?
2. Where am I distracted from the eternal by day to day living?
3. Where is God calling me to move with power?
4. Who am I becoming?

The Father's Gaze

You are my beloved child.

I am pleased with you, by you, because of you.

But Lord, what is it about me that pleases you?

I want to be sure to keep that up.

You look for rules to guide you, laws to govern.

As long as you come to me openly, honestly, I am pleased.

But Lord, you cannot mean that.

I remember times I was so angry with you, disappointed in you, despising your name.

And you still prayed.  Oh, how you prayed.

The honesty was thrilling, I ached for you, I gave you comfort.

But those times could not possibly been pleasing.

I know that I drove everyone else in my life away.

You can never drive me away by honesty.

You can always come to me with your troubles, you fears, your dreams.

Well then, let me ask it this way.

What is the one thing that will drive you away?

Indifference

 

Shalom!