Weekly Readings Reflections: Epiphany Sunday

Our readings for Epiphany Sunday are:

We, both corporately and individually, should be attractive to others. Not so much in a physical sense (thank God!) but that we should draw people to our community by our example. Most of us are not comfortable with selling ourselves or our values, but maybe we should think about getting a better Yelp presence.
If someone came up to you and asked "why should I join your church?" what would you say to them?
If someone came up to you and asked "why should I join your parish?" what would you say?
Is there anything that we can/should be doing to make our faith community more of a light to the larger community?
When we were raising funds for the new parish center, Carol Glavonich made the observation that "we get the best responses to requests for money from the dead." By that she meant that their relatives would at least give us a response, outraged though it may be. What do you think of that?

Traditionally, the might of kings was measured in the number of men in their standing army, the amount of gold in their treasury ... Jesus' kingship and His kingdom are very different. How much of His kingship can we expect on earth?
How likely is it that any level of government here or anywhere would be described as "beautiful"?
How about within the Church?
What can/should we do to bring beauty to the organizations that we inhabit?

It feels good to be part of an exclusive club or organization. You know where you belong, it makes you feel special. And maybe that's OK anywhere but the Kingdom of God.
What would you think if God could not save people below a particular income level?
How about people above some income level (particularly if it's near the one that you have)?
Or if God could not save people without an education, or a home, or ...
Have you ever seen someone excluded from our community, either overtly, or not?
How can we be more inclusive?

One theme in Jesuit theology is that God is in everything. So we must be bumping into God all day long. And yet, we are called to actively seek God. How is that possible, and why is it needed?
Think of somewhere that you found God in an unexpected place/time - maybe an angry coworker, a sorrowing family member, utter silence, a manger on a cold winter's night.
What/who were you looking for?
How did that encounter change you?
Do you think that God is still there?

Alone With God and the Cosmos

We met as strangers, along the way,
Joining our caravans for company and safety.

It was only lately that we found
That we had common destination, common destiny.

By unspoken agreement, we are each a distance from each other,
The better to pray at the end of a day of travel.

Travel that is swiftly turning into a pilgrimage
To find God as we have never found Him before.

A gentle wind whispers through the sand.
The star that we have been following stands as witness.

I pray for my family back home, that they are safe and warm.
I pray that I will bring back some blessing from my travels.

I pray that all of us might learn humility,
And from humility, learn how to live with each other.

I pray for my village, with its vying tribes,
Squabbling for dominance out of fear.

Fear that if they do not advance in our village,
They, their descendants will never amount to anything.

I pray for openness, eyes to see, ears to hear
That I will be able to see where this star is taking me.

I pray for courage to be challenged by this new King.
Courage to enter a kingdom that I cannot see, touch, or feel.

I pray for mercy, for the times when I have been close-minded,
Clinging to old ways rather than open myself to epiphany.

And I hear, faintly in that gentle breeze, an answer to all my prayers -
Be still and know that I am God. I am exalted in all the earth.

Be still and know that I am.
Be still.

Be.

I bow low, remember that I am but dust and ashes,
And find peace in that.

Shalom!

Weekly Readings Reflections