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!