3rd Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 3nd Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 5: 27-32
   
2. Psalms 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13
   
3. Revelation 5: 11-14
   
4. John 21: 1-19
   

• Making a difference
  
• In It's a Wonderful Life, the character George Bailey gets a rare gift, a grace if you will, to see all of the beauty that his life has brought into the world, by seeing what things would be like had he never been born.  The rest of us have to find other means to truly appreciate how much our lives matter, how much we are doing the Lord's work in our lives.
• If the Church were in the habit of giving out lifetime achievement awards, what would they say about you?
• If your employer were to do the same, what would they say?
• And your family, how would they speak of the impact that you have had?
• Which of these assessments would you treasure the most?
• How might such experiences change you going forward?
• What's stopping you?
  

• Counting on forgiveness
  
• As humans, we tend to undervalue anything that's free.  Conversely, if we have to work/pay for something, we value it.  Forgiveness seems to be strangely opposite.  God did all of the work, Jesus did the heavy lifting as it were.
• Think of a time when you failed God, your community, your family in some way.  Try to recall the time leading up to that failure when you decided to take the easy way out.
  
• How does God's forgiveness impact you before you sin?
• And how does that forgiveness impact you after you sin, when you come to your senses as it were?
  

• Cosmic connectedness
  
• A sad but true picture of our generation is the family at dinner, in a sort of surreal Norman Rockwell scene.  The food is on the table, everyone is at their place.  And they are glued to their cell phones, all together in different places.  By contrast, Revelation's glimpses of heaven show us a vast throng in a vast web of connectedness.
• What do you think might be the best way that we can prepare for that heavenly existence?
• Do you think that our entry into heaven is an event, or a process?
• How can we bring heaven to earth?
• Do you think that we are at all obliged to bring earth to heaven?
  

• Sacramental Reconciliation
  
• All of us are walking wounded.  Our wounds may not be as visible as those that Jesus bears, but they are there, sometimes waiting years for healing, transformation, resurrection.  Jesus and Peter ministered to each other.
• What are some things that have come between you & God in your life?  Maybe it was anger at a perceived lost opportunity, loss of a loved one, someone or some thing that you gave and gave and gave to, only to find out that they/it did not deserve your devotion.
• How did that event make you feel towards God?
• How do you think that made God feel towards you?
• There is a saying that time heals all wounds.  Do you believe that?
• What do you feel brings true healing?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. What am I doing/being that really matters?
2. Where is God calling me to embrace His forgiveness?
3. Where is God calling me to being more connected in my various communities?
4. Where is God inviting me to heal and be healed?

Shalom and a blessed Easter to you!

2nd Sunday of Easter

Our readings for 2nd Sunday of Easter (AKA Divine Mercy Sunday) are:

1. Acts 15: 12-16
   
2. Psalms 118: 2-4, 13-15, 22-24
   
3. Revelation 1: 9-11a, 12-13, 17-19
   
4. John 20: 19-31
   

• Continuity
  
• Throughout history, there have been many personality cults spring up.  George Washington desperately wanted to be sure that the United States would continue without him, that this form of government, this people was bigger than he was, would continue on without him.  Jesus wanted that for His Church as well.
• Looking at the Scriptures and other sources that we have from the early days of the Church, what would you say has changed about the mission of the Church in these two millennia?
• What has not?
• What would you say has changed about Christians over that time?
• What has not?
• Should those things have changed?
  

• Enduring mercy
  
• Mercy isn't mercy if it changes its mind.  Deciding to forgive you today for something, knowing that I might reverse that decision later is a very different proposition from deciding to forgive you for good.
• Where have you been in a position to show mercy lately?
• What would the merciful action have been in that case?
• Did they deserve such mercy?
• Does it matter?
  

• Do not be afraid
  
• I'm told that we only have two fears at birth: fear of falling and fear of drowning.  The rest of our fears are learned.  If you catalog all of your fears, large and small, I think you'll be impressed by how busy you've been learning to fear all of those things in the short time that you've been on this planet.  Yet Jesus tells us not to fear.
• What are some of your fears?
• Why do you have those fears?
• Do you think that fear is of God?

• Triumph in our wounds
  
• I chose Thomas as my Confirmation name because I always felt a kinship with him.  Down to earth, practical, sometimes fatalistic even.  I hope that I can be as resolute as Thomas was.
• Why do you think that Jesus still has His wounds?
• Are all of his wounds external?
• If we bear our wounds into eternity, what does that tell us about eternity?
• What does that tell us about our woundedness?
• Do you think that Jesus walks with a limp from having that spear in his side?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. How/where can I share God's goodness?
2. How/where can I show more mercy to others, to myself?
3. How is God transforming ?
4. Where is God resurrecting me through my wounds?

Shalom and a blessed Easter to you!

Easter Sunday Morning

Our readings for Easter Sunday Morning are:

1. Acts 10: 34a, 37-43
   
2. Psalms 118: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23
   
3. 1 Corinthians 5: 6b-8
   
4. John 20: 1-9
   

• Altar call
  
• In Evangelical circles, a church service will often conclude with an invitation to come to the altar and pray for God's forgiveness of your sins and dedicate your life to God.  Such an event in a person's life can mark a real turning point in their existence, but I imagine that there was a lot that led up to that trip down the aisle to the altar to be prayed over.
• How have you witnessed the goodness of God in your life?
• Based on your past experiences with God, what expectations do you have on how the rest of your life is going to turn out?
• How have you witnessed about the goodness of God in your life?
• Do you think that we, as Christians, should have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding our faith?
  

• Enduring mercy
  
• When I was young, I wanted to be more athletic.  I did not dream of making a seven figure income shooting hoops, I just just did not want to be picked last when we picked teams for pickup baseball or football games.  I gradually realized that even that modest goal was not going to happen, but one thing I was better at than most was distance running.  All it took was grim determination, and discipline: endurance.  Maybe that's what the psalmist means when he talks about God's enduring mercy.
• What does divine mercy mean for you?
• How has God shown you mercy in your life?
• When you die, and see God face to face for the first time, what expression do you think that you'll find on His face?
• How does that influence the way that you will be to yourself and others today?
  

• Being a people of hope
  
• New Year's resolutions have an attraction because we hope that turning that last page on the old year's calendar will somehow free us from some of the habits, addictions, thought patterns that have dogged us, and allow us to move forward in a new direction.  Maybe we ought to schedule our New Year's resolutions for Easter instead.
• What are some of the resolutions that you have had?  Maybe it's spending more time with your family, making time in your life for more regular prayer, donating time at a local food bank, staying awake through an entire Mass, ...
• What caused you to make those resolutions?
• How/when did you review how you did?
• What could you do to make that process of making/keeping resolutions more successful?

• Doing what needs to be done
  
• Mary Magdalene is sometimes called "the apostle to the apostles" because she is the one who told them that Jesus was not in the tomb.  How did she get that position?  By being there to serve and minister to Jesus the best way that she knew how at the time.
• Think of a time when you went out of your way to serve someone in great need.  Did that encounter go just the way that you had planned, did their real needs match up with what you thought they needed most?
• How did you respond to any of those changes in plans?
• How did that encounter change you?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. How/where can I share God's goodness?
2. How/where can I show more mercy to others, to myself?
3. How is God changing me today?
4. Where is God calling me to minister, however humbly, to someone else?

One Step At a Time

He isn't where He's supposed to be!

That's all that I could think of as I raced back to where His friends were hiding.
Just one last duty, one last service that we could provide our Master and friend,
And we were even denied that comfort, that closure, by cruel events.
Someone, some they had moved his poor broken body with cold indifference.
And now He is gone from our midst, almost as if He had never been here at all.

There are angels in the tomb instead!

Light shone from them, not just around them.
Illuminating that cold, dark grave.
Infusing light, and maybe the beginnings of hope,
Into this little theater of despair,
Scene of the last act of a kind and generous man.

Maybe the gardener will help me make sense of all this?

Confusion and grief, loss, desolation all clamoring for my attention,
Find a measure of relief from a stranger.
I so wanted someone to weep with,
Someone who could journey with me through this grief,
Help me make sense of it all.

He knows my name!

The gardener called my name with such tenderness,
Somehow touching me even at the bottom of my pit of despair.
Somehow knowing what I was going through,
And caring enough to journey with me through that dark place.
Just like Jesus.

He is risen!

Somehow, He is back, back for me.
Back for all of us.
Back to rescue us from despair as a people, as a community, as a family.
Back, sending us forth to help others find His hand in the darkness.
Back to save us in, and through saving others.

Shalom and a blessed Easter to you!

Palm Sunday

Our readings for Palm Sunday are:

1. Isaiah 50: 4-7
   
2. Psalms 22: 8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
   
3. Philippians 2: 6-11
   
4. Luke 23: 1-49
   

• No silver tongue
• Prophets lead a rough life.  The folks that they encourage tend to be the poor and oppressed, not the sort to use their influence to benefit the prophet.  On the other hand, prophets often have words of warning and exhortation for those who are in power.
• Look over the things that you have said over the past few days.  What of that would bring your hearers closer to God?
• Do you think that any of those conversations might have gone differently if you were committed to being a prophetic presence in their lives?
• What would you have said/done differently if you felt called to be a prophet?
• Why do you think that anyone would choose that life?
  

• Courage in the midst of darkness
  
• There are different reasons for trusting in God.  We might feel as though we can count on God to rescue us in the end, no matter how dire things are now.  Or, we might believe that what looks like shame and failure in the world's eyes, is really glory in God's eyes.  Or, we might believe that God will vindicate His followers in the next life, if not this one.
• Why do you trust in God?
• How has that worked for you so far?
• If someone told you "I would be more likely to follow God if only I thought that He really cared" what would you say?
  

• Stepping into Eternity one day at a time
• It's easy to pity Peter for denying Jesus three times.  But I look at it from the other side and marvel that Peter did not scatter like the rest of the disciples but continued in Jesus' company right into the heart of enemy territory.  Deep down, Peter was a good friend to Jesus, and wanted to be with him, even though that was frightening.
• If Jesus were alive in our midst today, where might we find Him?
• What do you see Him doing in those places, those situations?
• Now imagine that you go to where you've been told Jesus frequents, and sure enough, there He is.  And miraculously, He sees you, recognizes you, catches your eye, and invites you to be with Him.
• How do you respond?
  

• The bigger picture
  
• Pain can be isolating.  Others, not in the same pain, often do not understand what you are going through, making it hard for them to relate.  Yet the good thief, St. Dismas in Catholic tradition, managed to get beyond his own pain and reached out to Jesus.
  
• Think of a time of real need in your life when you felt alone, afraid, uncertain of your future.
• Did you pray about that at all?
• How did you get to a place of prayer?
• How did God answer you then?
• How did His answer change you?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. Are my words bringing healing?
2. Do I trust God on His terms, or mine?
3. How is God readying me for Eternity today?
4. Where is God calling me to reach out to others, to Him, in spite of, or even because of, some pain or stress that I am going through?

Splinters

I was minding my own business,
Looking for a way to avoid the inevitable traffic,
That always seems to accompany a riot.
Lord knows, I have had enough experience with riots these past years.

But I missed my chance to dodge this one,
Instead I blundered right in.
Found myself thrust right into the middle
Of a crucifixion of all things.

Mother would be so proud.

I didn't protest.  There was no point.
When the soldiers press you into duty,
It's best to close your eyes, hold your nose, and do as you're told.
No one ever resists Roman soldiers more than once.

The angry crowd was throwing things at Him.
Rotting vegetables, the occasional stone, and worse.
I got some of the more poorly-aimed missiles.
And soon I looked about as ill-used as He did.

I hope none of my friends see me thus.

I watched Him fall.
He had no strength to break His fall.
No agility left.
He just went down like a sack of flour slumping off the shelf.

Everyone else was frustrated and angry with Him.
His exhaustion merely an annoyance to them.
The guards prodded Him like a slab of meat,
Trying to keep Him moving along towards His death.

I don't care who He is, no one should be treated with such indifference.

A peasant woman darts from the crowd,
Armed with nothing more than a flimsy veil.
The guards stop, dumbfounded.
As she mops His tortured face of caked blood.

It seemed a futile gesture at best.
Barely making a difference to His tortured state.
But He lifted His head, looked her in the eye.
And they both shared tears together.

I'm glad that I'm able to help this man of courage.

Finally we make it to the designated slaughter space.
Echoes of past executions haunting the rocks and scraggly bushes here.
I can almost hear the screams of agony
That have soaked into the sand along with the blood and tears.

They relieve me of my cross but not my burden.
I watch them assemble the instrument of torture with practiced ease.
The tools laid out neatly, the victim confined.
I watch the crucifixion, and I stay to keep watch, I know not why.

The horror of it all makes me look for comfort.

His mother and closest disciple each take my hand.
They must assume that I had been a follower of His.
I could not tell them that my presence was mere accident.
Maybe because I no longer believed that myself.

I did my best to comfort them in silence.
Any words would have failed their purpose.
I heard weeping, and I could not tell whether it was mine or someone else's.
And I marveled that it no longer mattered.

Mother would be so proud.

Shalom and a blessed Lent to you!