Weekly Readings Reflections: 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

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?

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?

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?

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?

Shalom!

Weekly Readings Reflections