Corpus Christi Sunday

Our readings for Corpus Christi Sunday are:

1. Exodus 24: 3-8
2. Psalms 116: 12-13, 15-16, 17-18
3. Hebrews 9: 11-15
4. Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26

• Belonging everywhere and nowhere
• The Israelites gave up a settled life in Egypt to become nomads in the Sinai desert, with no settlements, no cities, no walls, no vineyards.  And yet they belonged, not so much to a place, but to a people, and to their God.
• What/who/where do you belong?
• When did you first realize that?
• Is this where you have always wanted to belong?
• How can you be more welcoming to others from that place of belonging?

• Promise fulfilled
• Jesus promises to be with us in many ways, but the most intimate of those Presences, perhaps the font of all of His Presences, is the Eucharist.
• How has your celebration of the Eucharist changed you over the years?
• What are some things that make it difficult for you to be truly present in, to, and through the Eucharist?  Maybe you have young children who are a distraction, or a demanding job that you have a hard time leaving behind for an hour each week, or a situation at home that you cannot figure out how to resolve.
• Is it possible that Jesus could transform any/all of those into a cause for celebration, a door into deeper relationship?

• Cleansed
• There are many comparisons made to help us understand sin.  One is to term it a stain, suggesting a stubborn presence that gets into clothing and just will not let go.  Or, more dramatically, Macbeth Act 5, Scene 1 where Lady Macbeth obsesses over her complicity in the murder of the king as she washes her hands saying "out, out damn spot".
• What are some of the effects of sin in your life?
• Is all sin that effects you strictly your own, or is there a corporate dimension to sin?
• What might your responsibility be with respect to that corporate sin?
• What are you doing to journey with Jesus to heal the effects of sin?

• It takes a village
• If you think about it, there is quite the cast of unseen characters at the last supper.  The householder who owned the upper room, those who baked the bread and made the wine for the meal, those who farmed and harvested the grapes and the grain, the generations of the sons of Abraham who passed the Passover down through the centuries, not to mention whoever took the photo that Leonardo De Vinci used for his epic painting :-)
• How does your celebration of the Eucharist connect you to the rest of the community?
• How can that connection be celebrated better, deeper, more intentionally?
• When we are sent form the Eucharist, another set of connections are made between the Presence that is within us, and the Presence that is in the community around us.  How can we be more present to the meeting of those two Presences?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I where I really belong?
2. Where is the Eucharist inviting me to journey?
3. Is my prayer life a healing presence to anyone?
4. Where am I supporting greater unity among God's people?

Blessing

The old church at the edge of town,

Stood there, as always, leaning against the blue mantle of the sky behind it.

As though they each relied on the other for support after all of these years.

The old graveyard behind, with its assembled congregants

Out numbering the living who raise their voices of a given Sunday,

But still present, none the less.

I paused as I walked past to bless myself as I had a thousand times before.

Saluting the Presence within, gift from Eucharists celebrated in the past.

And I saluted all of the celebrations, hugs, tender touches here throughout the years.

I thanked those who have gone before me, before us.

Who bore witness to and tabernacled that sacred Presence

Who has been our faithful companion all of these years.

I thanked those generations before our generations from shores unknown

Who sent their sons and daughters to this continent through the years

In hope for freedom to celebrate the Presence that they loved.

I thanked Jesus for His courage in trusting His heart to fickle humanity.

Who gave and gave without telling, so that we might tell of his generosity

To anyone willing to receive His Presence.

And in that broad sweep of faces, continents, and centuries,

I wept for all those who never knew how much they were loved,

Who never knew that though they wandered like Moses in the desert,

They all belonged, every one.

 

Shalom!

Trinity Sunday

Our readings for Trinity Sunday are:

1. Deuteronomy 4: 32-34, 39-40
2. Psalms 33: 4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22
3. Romans 8: 14-17
4. Matthew 28: 16-20

• Everything is changing
• When the children of Israel first set foot in the Holy Land, it must have been scary.  Everything that an entire generation of their people had so painfully learned was about to become obsolete as they moved from a nomadic existence to farming and ranching.  Moses needed to remind them that in spite of all of the changes, some things were staying the same.
• What about God will never change?
• What about God is ever new?
• How is that shaping you?

• Made to serve
• I've observed before that Ignatius' principle and first foundation sets all of creation in the context of serving God in this world, and calls us as His children to use His gifts accordingly.
• What gifts do you have that you would like to use better, more effectively?
• What do you think of when you say that you want to be more effective in life?
• What does it mean to be a success in this world?
• How do the things of this world contribute to that success?

• Chosen
• Our experience of God is often filtered through our experience of others in our lives.  Those coming from abusive homes or parents who were largely absent have a hard (understandably so) time relating to God as their Father.  And yet, God continues to come to us in and through experience.
• Imagine yourself coming home from a long day.  The frustrations and calamities of the day weigh heavily on you, but you know your spouse doubtless has stresses and frustrations of their own.
• Imagine that you walk in the front door, and God Himself is waiting, with a suitable beverage in hand, to greet you and make you comfortable.  You begin to tell Him about your day, and you catch yourself up short, and tell Him that you're sure that He has other things to do.
• He leans over, pats your hand, and tells you that He has nothing more urgent at the moment than to hear from you, maybe provide you a different perspective, give you peace.
• Finally, you finish up, and God quietly asks "can I take a few moments of your time, and talk to you about the day I've had, particularly as it pertains to your neighborhood?
• How does that make you feel about your relationship with God?
• How long would you be willing to spend like that a day?
• What's stopping you?

• The divine dance
• Richard Rohr publishes daily meditations that I have found helpful.  The one for Pentecost Sunday can be found here.  There Fr. Rohr draws a distinction between uniformity and unity.  I suspect that the members of the Trinity enjoy a unity between them, and amazingly enough, they extend an invitation to each of us to the same unity.
• What do you think unity buys us as followers of Jesus?
• How much, and what kind, of diversity does that unity allow for?
• How can we achieve better unity without losing important and precious things along the way?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How can I improve my attitude toward God's blessings in my life?
2. How can I be more generous with myself to others?
3. Is my prayer life working?
4. Where am I supporting greater unity among God's people?

Shalom!

Pentecost Sunday

Our readings for Pentecost Sunday are:

1. Act 2: 1-11
2. Psalms 104: 1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
3. 1 Corinthians 12: 3b-7, 12-13
4. John 20: 19-23

• Speaking my language
• When I was young, we heard a great deal about the Wycliff Bible translators.  Their mission was to put the Word of God into everyone's hands, written in their native language.  Which was quite an ambition, particularly for languages that had never been written before.
• What are some things that make others different from you, that make it hard to minister to them?
• Age
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Depth of need
• Emotional state
• ...
• When someone tells you that no one understands them, what is your first reaction?
• How could you be more understanding?
• Is that worth it?

• The earth is full of God's creatures
• The earth's biodiversity is mind-boggling to think about.  The environments, some very harsh by our standards, where plants and animals can survive, even thrive, the variety of living creatures on the earth, the amazing ways that they cope with the challenges of their environment, are all breath-taking.
• Why so much diversity?
• Do you wonder if God is just showing off?
• Do we really need every one of those species?
• What does it really mean for us to be stewards of this land that we inhabit?

• Are you gifted?
• All of us want to feel "gifted", extraordinary in some way.  Secretly, we all wish that we had some sort of a superpower that made us stand out, helped to define us.  Herbert Alphonso, S.J. has a wonderful little book: Discovering Your Personal Vocation that tells us that all of us are gifted, all of us unique, that each of us has a name given us by God alone, and that this name is as much a part of us as the color of our eyes.
• What is your name?  It might be "healing presence", or "the goodness of God", "God with His people", "voice of the afflicted", "supporter of the forgotten", or ...
• How are you living out that sacred name in your life?
• Are there changes that you need to make so that you can be more true to your name?

• The glorious wounds
• Ronald Rolheiser has a wonderful meditation on St. Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross here.  Jesus shows His disciples His wounds, not as some sort of masochistic ID card that He has to flash, but an astonishing revelation about resurrection.
• When you think of the word healing, what comes to mind?
• What are some things that have happened to you that you crave healing for?
• What would you be like if you were healed of that?
• If Jesus were before you, in the flesh, right now, and He told you that you could be healed of that, what would He ask of you?
• What's stopping you?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God calling me to meet someone different from me?
2. How am I thanking God for His gifts to me and my community today?
3. Where is God inviting me into my true name?
4. Where is God resurrecting me?

Shalom!

7th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the seventh Sunday of Easter are:

1. Act 1: 15-17, 20a, 20c-26
2. Psalms 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20
3. 1 John 4: 11-16
4. John 17: 11B-19

• Finding your ministry and your ministry finding you
• Lay ministry is characterized by give and take between needs within the Body, and those who feel a call, sometimes just a tug, to fill the need.  Sometimes that call is into a well-established ministry, other times the call is to form a ministry for the first time.
• Where do you see unmet needs in the parish?  Maybe there are not enough hands to get all of the work done, or there is not enough visibility of the work for the parish to really benefit, or even that those who are in need realize that they are in need.
• Whose job is it to address those various needs?
• Why do you think they are not getting the needed work done?
• How might you help?
• What are you afraid of?

• The kingdom of God
• One definition of the Kingdom of God is simply "that place where God's will is done."
• Are we living in the Kingdom?
• Where is this Kingdom?
• If you're not living in the Kingdom now, why is that?
• How could you make His Kingdom more present here on earth?
• Is it worth it?

• Love to perfection
• God's love can seem distant, hard to fathom, and harder yet to draw inspiration from.  It is my belief that Jesus came, not to be the last word in showing us how much God loves us as much as He came to show us how to make that love present, immanent, and all but inescapable to those around us.
• Imagine a world where you were never born.  What would be different?  Sort of a It's a Wonderful Life meditation.
• Now, imagine yourself on your deathbed.  You have plenty of time, with nothing to do, particularly during the wee hours of the morning.  What in your life would you like to be able to look back on from that vantage point.
• What can you do today to make the world a better place, a more loving place?

• The mystery of the Trinity
• Our faith as Christians stands alone in believing in the Trinity.  Which is fine until you try to explain it to someone.
• Jesus prays that we all be one as Jesus and God are one.  Does that mean:
• That we all agree on everything?
• That we all enjoy being with each other?
• That we all share the same stories of God's action in our midst?
• Is that unity an event, or a process?
• If we are somehow able to share in this oneness, why would that bring us joy?
• What is keeping us from that oneness?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God's work waiting for my God-given talents and resources?
2. Where is God moving me to bring about His Kingdom here, now?
3. Where is God calling me to be His love?
4. Where is God calling me to greater unity?

Never Alone

Evangelization has to start with healing.

Healing has to start with being accountable.

Being accountable has to start with listening.

Listening, ah listening, starts with silence before you even arrive.

Our great conceit is that we're in this alone.

Making our way through the silent crowds.

Trying to get where we're going with the least fuss.

Keeping our eyes glued to our shoes.

Instead all around us is a cosmic invitation

To take our proper place, pick up our proper instrument

Join in the vast chorus of life.

And in finding our place, we help others find theirs.

Our house of belonging stands shrouded in fear.

Our stunted, false self whispers,

If you do not find a home here, then where?

And we stand, forever on the threshold.

Or we open the door just a crack,

Find others there that we fear to embrace

Because they will lead us to unfamiliar horizons,

So we close the door and move one.

Or we found our house of belonging once, long ago.

And we clung to its timbers, curtains, and rugs.

Meanwhile, where we belonged moved on without us.

And we found ourselves lost in the strangeness of the familiar.

Or we belonged once,

But suffered hurt beyond what we could bear.

And rather than taking up the work of healing,

We became wraith-like, wandering, trying to escape suffering for good.

The silence that nurtures accountability

Tears down our defenses

Lets us be vulnerable to the consequences

Of our actions, our community, our culture.

And once defenseless,

We are able to truly listen to the hurts of another

Embrace their suffering, journey with them

And remember, remember that we are all one.

Shalom!

6th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the sixth Sunday of Easter are:

1. Act 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48
2. Psalms 98: 1, 2-3, 3-4
3. 1 John 4: 7-10
4. John 15: 9-17

• Interrupted by the Spirit
• Preparation is a good thing.  But sometimes it feels as though our preparation gets overtaken by events that we did not anticipate, and we feel a little cheated.  I'm sure Peter had a perfectly wonderful speech prepared for Cornelius' family, and yet, he never got the chance to deliver it.
• When you give yourself away in ministry, how do you prepare?
• How has God prepared you to give yourself away?
• What would make you feel better prepared?

• God of all
• Our God is a study in absolutes.  One of those is that He is absolutely inclusive, welcoming, and hospitable.  If He was not, He would have been content with the Jews, and let the rest of us muddle along as best we could.
• Why do you think it is that God does not give up on us?
• Why do you think it is that God wants all of us to be one with Him?
• Why do you think it is that God wants all of us to fine unity?

• The face of love
• Our faith is not an easy one to embrace in some ways.
• In your faith journey, where was/were the turning point(s) where your relationship with God really transformed into something new, something wonderful?
• What led up to that transformation?
• Where do you feel that transformation got its start?
• Where do you think that transformation is taking you?

• Godly patience
• One definition of friendship is someone who brings out, calls forth, celebrates, and names the very best in you.  In my experience, that bringing forth, calling forth, celebration and naming is done best when it's done patiently, mercifully, gently.
• Who are some of your true friends?
• What have you done for them that you call them that?
• How has that giving of yourself changed you?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God calling me to greater flexibility?
2. Where is God moving me beyond my comfort zone to people I barely understand and know?
3. Where is God calling me to give something up for something better?
4. Who is God calling me to appreciate more deeply?

Shalom!