Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Zephaniah 2:3; 3: 12-13
   
2. Psalms 146: 6-7, 8-9, 9-10
   
3. 1 Corinthians 1: 26-31
   
4. Matthew 5: 1-12a
   

• Speaking the truth in love
  
• Telling someone the truth can be difficult.  Ironically, it can be hardest when speaking to our friends.
• Has there been a time when you felt compelled to tell the truth, and you knew that it would make you unpopular?
• What made you decide to do the right thing?
• How did that turn out?
• Would you do it again?
  

• Blessed the stranger
  
• The Holy Family were refugees just after Jesus was born.  They had to flee to Egypt to escape the slaughter that king Herod initiated to remove a possible threat to his throne.  While they were in Egypt, they were strangers, without friends or family to help them.
• Who are some strangers that you have welcomed?
• Why did you welcome them?
• Do you think that welcome did any good?
• Would you do it again?
  

• Improvement plan
  
• Most of us have done many things to improve ourselves.  Getting a college degree, studying for a certificate, choosing to support a ministry in our parish.  If you were to compile a spiritual resume, you might be impressed by all that you have done, who you have become.
• In the end, how was it that you were able to achieve all of that?
• What does that tell you about your own character?
• What does that tell you about God's character?
  

• Rejoicing in persecution
  
• For most of us, all it takes is for one person to hate you, and you begin to second-guess yourself, see yourself from their vantage point, wonder whether you are as bad as all that.  Instead, Jesus calls us to gaze on Him in the face of opposition.
• Do you think that every true follower of Jesus is going to be misunderstood, mistreated, distrusted at some point in their lives?
• Have you ever been misunderstood for trying to do the right thing?
• Did that misunderstanding impact your prayer life?
• How did God answer your prayer?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God calling me to be prophetic?
2. Who in my life might God be calling me to welcome?
   
3. How has God blessed me in my life.
   
4. Where is God offering me courage?
   

Humility Prayer

God of my ancestors,
Give me clarity of sight
That penetrates the smoke and haze
Of always getting more and more.

Help me to see past my deep rooted desire for security
And look for security in You alone.
Help me to thirst for your simplicity
That I might find freedom in just enough.

Give me the desire to be Your Presence
To the outcast, the voiceless, the powerless.
Fill me with Your empathy
That I might have the ears to hear their cries.

Give me courage to take the first step
On a journey toward a dimly viewed Promised Land
Even though all of the rest of the steps are hidden from sight
Let me see those who stand ready to lead me in Your way.

Grant me strength in my prayer
To extend my hand to others.
Even though I see how truly weak I am.
Let me find just enough strength in you to lift up another.

And if others don't understand me,
Give me strength to love them too.
So that they will someday see a spark of You in Me.
As I try to follow You.

Shalom!