- Isaiah 56: 1, 6-7
- Psalms 67: 2-3, 5, 6, 8
- Romans 11: 13-15, 29-32
- Matthew 15: 21-28
- House of Belonging
- Fr. Greg Boyle tells us that the typical gang member does not feel powerful, nor strong, nor vengeful. Their most prevalent emotions are shame, unworthiness, outcast. The gang gives them a place to belong, to find family. All of us have those needs. Some of us are lucky enough to find the fulfillment of those needs in ways that are healthy, holy.
- Where do you belong, ultimately?
- How long have you belonged there?
- What makes you so sure that this is where you belong?
- What and who does that sense of belonging inspire you to do, to be?
- We're all in this together
- John Donne said it well here. None of us is immune to the loss of another, no matter the nature of that loss, be it their life, their courage, their very heart and mind, their peace.
- Who in your life do you depend upon most? Who are those who enrich your life the most?
- How do you support them in their daily walk with God?
- None of us can be there for everyone. And yet, every Sunday we bring people, situations, communities before God entreating His help that we lack the resources to help. How can we be truly authentic in such prayer?
- Mercy unimaginable
- God is merciful. Ultimately, God is the font, the source, the genesis of all mercy. The best that we can do is pray for mercy that we may show that mercy.
- When have you seen great mercy?
- What was so great about that mercy?
- Was that mercy easy for the person showing that mercy?
- How would you suppose that we could learn to be more merciful?
- Does learning to be more merciful frighten you?
- Why not?
- Heroic humility
- So many of us these days act as though we are entitled, that God (or someone acting on God's behalf) is duty bound to give us one thing or another because we ask for it, or because we have been obedient in the past, or because we have heard that God showers blessings on His faithful.
- What are some things that you are sure will come to you as God's child?
- What makes you think that those are coming your way?
- What would happen to your faith if those things did not come your way?
- Why?
- Preparation for Reconciliation
- Where is God offering me a home that I might not see just yet?
- What is God asking me to shed from my life today?
- How has God's faithfulness made me who I am today?
- Where is God calling to me to walk on the water with Him?
Prosperity Unforeseen
The old gardener pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his brow.
Casting his gaze off into the distance as he thanked his Maker for another sunrise.
His hoe in his hands so familiar that it was an extension of his bone and sinew.
Setting to his work again he continued to cultivate the ground, -
Feeling the rocks and roots along the way, gently removing them in preparation.
Preparation for the flowers that he knew needed to be planted soon.
Else the seeds would not receive their allotted rain and sunshine in time -
In time for them explode in a riot of color, quietly praising their Maker once again.
Joyous witnesses of His faithfulness in every petal and leaf.
Living for the day, never worrying over what tomorrow will bring.
Knowing only that God will provide what is needed when it is needed -
Needed to advance, strengthen them in due course and seasons.
Deep in meditation, he removed his gloves, immersed his hands in the fecund earth
Feeling the fertility, the warmth of the sun captured in the soil, the occasional worm,
Thanking God for the eternal Now ever within reach, savoring it, and letting go.
Marveling as the soil fell from his outspread fingers
That the letting go had more joy than the gathering ever could,
That richness was found in giving, rather than receiving.
He prayed a short phrase with each seed that he sowed,
Commending it to its Maker and his,
Reveling in their mutual kinship, their mutual creatureness.
Setting the hose nozzle to spray, the gardener gently watered the garden -
Marveling at the rainbow created in the mist, communing with Noah of so long ago.
Praying "blessed are you Lord, God of all the earth. Thank you for your bounty."
Knowing that the seed, the soil, the water, the sunlight, his skill -
All were gifts from the same quiet source.
Bowing his head in worship, he knew belonging and rootedness all over again and marveled.
Shalom!
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