31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Exodus 22: 20-26
   
2. Psalm 18: 2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
   
3. I Thessalonians 1: 5c-10
   
4. Matthew 22: 34-40
   

• One father
  
• No matter who that other person is in your life, no matter what their background, point of origin, life work, or the size of their bank account, you do know one thing about them: they are God's child to the same extent that you are.  Yet there are many people that we meet in life who are very different from us.  And that can be a real challenge.
• Who is one person who you have a hard time relating to?
• What is it about them that makes them so difficult to understand, to even approach them?
• Prayerfully imagine that you come upon that person in an hour of need for them.  It can be anything: flat tire, loss of a loved one, disappointment at the way the lotto turned out last night ...
• Imagine that Jesus is in the room and you are the only one who can see Him.
• What would you do/say to/for this challenging person?
• What if Jesus promised to be with you if you can touch this other person the way that Jesus would?
  

• Haughty eyes
  
• "Looking out for number one" isn't a bad sentiment, as long as you don't get confused over who "number one" really is.  A hint: it's not you, and it's not me.  A really nice set of humility prayers can be found here.  I like the last two the best.
• Who are some of the humble people in your life?
• How do you think that they got that way?
• How does their humility help them in their ministry?
• What could you learn from them?
  

• Sharing your life
  
• Back in the day, evangelically fired Christians would greet each other with "how many souls have you saved today?"  In all honesty, the intent was celebration of the ongoing work of God in the world, saving sinners one at a time.  Turns out, getting someone to respond to the altar call was one thing, helping them to find a true home among the believing community was quite another.
• Who is someone who has had a profound effect on your faith, helped you go deeper, more profoundly into your relationship with God?
• Did they have that effect on you because of things that they said or wrote, the way that they lived, a combination of both, ...?
• How do you think that your life is inspiring others?
• What would you like to hear at your eulogy?
  

• Looking up to others
  
• At first I found it hard to work for managers who were younger than I was.  After all, I thought, how is this kid who's too young to remember punch cards going to tell me what's important?  That, it turns out, has been the start of a long journey in humility for me that will probably never really end.  At least on this side of eternity.
• What do you do when you find yourself looking down on someone?
• Do you think that they have anything that they could teach you?
• Do you think that Jesus might be trying to touch you through those disdain-worthy folks?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God calling me to be His Presence?
   
2. How can I think more of others than myself?
   
3. Where is God calling me to share more deeply?
   
4. Where is God calling me to see him in places I've never seen Him before?

Shalom!

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Exodus 22: 20-26
   
2. Psalm 18: 2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
   
3. I Thessalonians 1: 5c-10
   
4. Matthew 22: 34-40
   

• Learning compassion
  
• Marginalized, disenfranchised, silenced all describe those who have no voice, no champion, and often no hope.  God looks for those among His people who can champion those who would otherwise have none.
• Have you ever stood up for someone, even though you were unsure or had reason to be afraid of what would happen?
• What made you take that stance?
• How did the person receive your support?
• Would you do it again?
  

• Our God is an awesome God
  
• In our culture, strength comes in many forms.  There's the body-builder sort of strength, which, while impressive seldom inspires.  There strength of purpose that gives one the ability to persevere in spite of overwhelming odds and opposition.  From that strength can spring leadership.
  
• Have you ever had to pray for perseverance?
• How did you come to that point that you needed to make that prayer?
• What made you think that God would answer you?
• What might the difference be between perseverance and triumph?
  

• Finding joy
  
• Joy in life is something that God calls all of us to.  Joy is not so much something that happens to us, but our response to life.
• What brings you joy?
• Would you say that is a gift, something that you earned, something that you achieved?
• How has that joy changed your life?
• Would it weaken your relationship with God if that joy were to suddenly vanish, for whatever reason?
  

• Finding context
  
• Our image of God is often the sum total of everything that we have come to attribute to God, good and bad alike.  Sometimes, that image of God needs to be challenged.
• Do you see God as someone watching you, taking notes of your responses to life, in some sort of clinically detached way?
• Or is God more like a companion on the way who is with you in all things, no matter what?
• Have you ever felt abandoned by God?
• What made you doubt that He was there for you?
• Do you think that there can be healing, even in the midst of that hurt, even now?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God inviting me to be more like Him in compassion?
   
2. Where is God calling me to celebrate the perseverance that He has gifted me with?
   
3. Where is God revealing Himself to me in joy?
   
4. Where is God calling me to healing and a deeper love?

What I don't know yet

Would fill a vast library floor to ceiling, wall to wall.
I doubt that things will be much different by the time that I die.

I don't know why innocent children are born with defects,
Or why it seems as though new diseases are always emerging.

I don't know why there is never enough time in the day
To get to all of the things that I want to get done.

I don't know why the golden years of life don't seem so golden.
And I don't know why I didn't learn more when I was younger.

I don't know why I seem to have more or less the same sins
That I've been struggling with for years on end.

I don't know why I have so little to say in the face of grief.
But at least I've learned not to try to come up with a pat answer.

I don't know why wisdom seems so elusive to me at my age
But at least I know enough to seek wisdom, knowing its quiet value.

I don't know why we cannot get the occasional vacation from life - just relax, enjoy, indulge.

But I've learned to find comfort in life's steady, and yet chaotic rhythms.

But I do know that God, somehow, is present in all these things.
His love never failing in its intimate presence.

His arm around my waist supporting me.

His heart beating next to mine.

And I know that the best that He has to offer me -

Is for me to learn to do the same to those He brings into my life.

Shalom!

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 45: 1, 4-6
   
2. Psalm 96: 1, 4-5, 7-8, 9, 10
   
3. I Thessalonians 1: 1-5b
   
4. Matthew 22: 15-21
   

• Finding meaning
  
• Life can be hard to understand at times.  Events can be cruel, even twisted.  Tragedy strikes for no apparent reason, leaving us feeling vulnerable, and shaken.  Things like a terminal disease in a young child, the death of a person before their time, war in the Middle East all strain our ability to cope, strain our faith.
• Think of something that's happened to you that really challenged your faith.
• Do you have any idea why God allowed that to happen to you?
• Do you feel that God was with you through that tragedy?
• What was your prayer through that trial?
• What was God's answer?
• Does God always owe us an answer in such times of trouble?
  

• Our God is an awesome God
  
• A Michael Smith rendition of Awesome God can be found here.  It is quite stirring for a number of reasons, among them the talent and raw power of the performance.
• What are some events/seasons in your life that showed God to be awesome?
• What character traits of God shone through in those events?
• How did that experience change your image of God?
• How did that experience change your image of yourself?
• For those of us who attended Greg's funeral, did any of you find any awesomeness there?
  

• Labor of love
  
• Paul speaks of "work produced by faith, labor prompted by love".  I wanted to know why he distinguished between work and labor.  According to some, labor seems to me to be an expression of the Spirit.  Something that we can prepare for, be open to, but never really control.
• What is an event, passage in your life, decision that you made, that was an inspiration?
• What had gone on in your life that prepared you for that?
• How was it that you were open to that inspiration?
• Did you think at the time that you really could answer such a call?
  

• Coin of the realm
  
• St. Ignatius published the First Principle and Foundation as part of his Spiritual Exercises.  In those few paragraphs, St. Ignatius rather starkly sets the context for our lives on this earth, and the purpose of everything around us: to serve and glorify God.
• What are things in your life that make it hard to stay focused on God?
• Why are they important to you?
• What might life be like without them?
• How do you decide whether let something now into your life?
• How do you decide when to let something go?

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God inviting me to appreciate His blessings?
   
2. How am I celebrating the community of believers that I find myself in?
3. Where is God calling me to find His contentment in my life?
   
4. Where is God calling me to enjoy His abundance?

Full Time Poet

My editor sent me to a little village to interview a local poet.
Upon entering the quaint hamlet, I asked where he might be.
"Hard to say for sure" said a grizzled villager.
"He frequents several spots.  They are all by the river.
He likes to sit, ponder the passing water,
And God only knows what else."

So I made my way to the river, looking for likely places to sit.
Finally coming upon a lone figure at ease on a fallen log.
Back straight, head up, his hair flowing gently in the morning breeze.
So very still, as though he were a statue, so profound was his rest.
I felt a sympathetic hush from the forest that he and I were in.
As though creation was meditating with him, each finding themselves in the other.

I broke the silence without intent, a twig breaking beneath me.
Without looking, he said "welcome stranger, come sit awhile."

"How do you know that I'm a stranger?" I asked timidly.

"No one from these parts comes looking for me anymore.

The passing animals are more stealthy than any human.

So I knew you to be neither beast, nor local man."

"What do you do here, in this solitude of yours?" I asked.

"Write poetry.  Seek meaning.  Talk to God in all things."

I looked around.  There was no pen, no papers, no Samsung tablet.

In fact, the poet had nothing but the clothes on his back a floppy hat, and a canteen.

"Do you memorize your poems as you think of them?"

I asked, subconsciously trying to find his methods.

"What I do here is labor.  It comes unbidden, like a deer or fox.

I do not control the timing, the content, or the depth of inspiration.

I just know that I need to be open to it a good part of each day.

Then, at the end of the day, when the sky folds in on itself,

The stars come out of hiding, and the forest night shift commences,

I go back to my cabin and see what of today craves recording on paper.

Sometimes, I go for weeks at a time without ever putting anything down.

Sometimes, the words come in a torrent from some bottomless well.

I only know that I need to be ready to pass along what I have first received.

Be faithful to who I am as a writer.

Be generous to myself and those whom I serve with, in, and through my writing.

And this brings me contentment and peace."

Trying to to decide whether he was compensated fairly for his work, I asked:

"And how much do you think you bring in in a year?"

"Don't try to measure the unfathomable."  He said.

"But you work hard at this, I've seen your work, you deserve notoriety, security, ..."

He slowly answered as if from a great distance: "Work is what I do to sustain this body.

What I do here, and at my desk at home are labor.  Freely received, freely given.

I have just one question for you.

What is your labor?"

Shalom!

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 25: 6-10a
   
2. Psalm 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
   
3. Philippians 4: 12-14, 19-20
   
4. Matthew 22: 1-14
   

• Finding abundance
  
• God's blessings are never "just enough" but overflowing.  The wine at the wedding at Cana, the left over bread at the feeding of the five thousand, the care that Jesus showed to the outcast, the marginalized, and the forgotten.
• Do you think that God's abundance applies to this life as well as the next?
• How has God blessed you abundantly?
• When was the last time that you shared that blessing with others?
  

• Living in the house of the Lord
  
• Community within the Church is sometimes hard to see.  We don't live in a designated area of the city, we don't wear distinctive clothing, we don't eat special food, and we can be found in almost every line of work imaginable.  So what defines us?
• A friend comes to you and tells you that they want to become Catholic.  Of course you know to direct them to the RCIA inquiry team, but your job is not done there.  You ask why they would want to do that.  What might their answer be?
• If they were to ask you "what is the hardest part of being Catholic"?  What would you say?
• Is it worth it?
  

• Transcendent contentment
  
• Your cellular provider wants to make sure that you are not settling for merely adequate service.  They don't want for you to be content with anything less than the service that they can provide.  But God calls us to a contentment that goes beyond mere goods and services.
  
• Are you content with your life now?
• Would you still be content if there were significant changes in your life?
• What do you base your contentment on?
• What is the minimum in your life that you need to be content?
  

• Come to the feast
  
• Getting things done when we expect to get to them, in the way that we expect to do them, by the time that we hope to get them done is the definition of happiness for some.  Not for others though.
• Have you ever been surprised by God?  Something that came into your life totally unexpected that you had to make room for in your life?
• What did you have to set aside to make room for that?
• How did you decide that this new opportunity was from God?
• Would you do it again?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God inviting me to appreciate His blessings?
   
2. How am I celebrating the community of believers that I find myself in?
3. Where is God calling me to find His contentment in my life?
   
4. Where is God calling me to enjoy His abundance?

A Place at the Table

I came to the wedding feast at the appointed time. 
Gift in hand, I was tastefully dressed  as befit the occasion.

I found myself seated next to a total stranger.
Which did not surprise me, given how different he was.

I could tell his wedding garment was thrown over much meaner garb.
His hair had no sheen of fine oil the way that mine did.

He kept looking around, gazing at what must have seemed endless splendor to him.
For my part, I began to wonder when the wine would make its appearance.

He turned to me and said "I so appreciate being invited.
The groom and I used to play together as children."

I concluded that our host's family had come up in the world since then.
Where is that wine?

He went on "this family has been generous to my village for years,
Helping us when crops were poor, sending in seed for the planting."

I could hardly imagine why my host would bother, it's just one lonely village.
But, I suppose, that's the glory of wealth, you can spend it however you like.

Trumpets blasted, cymbals clashed, doors thrown open, and the bridal party appeared.
Our host came in with the bridal party, dressed unaccountably simple.

Suddenly, his hand was on my shoulder, his face stern.
"My friend, you have not donned the attire that I gave you."

"Instead, you have chosen to flaunt your good fortune, set yourself apart.
You are not clothed in humility.

This feast is for those able to see abundance in all blessings,
See past the surface riches that this world chases after.

I'm afraid you do not belong here.
Please allow my servants to attend you to the door."

Not welcome!  Well, there was no reason for me to put up with such treatment.
I only regret that they didn't serve that wine sooner.

Shalom!

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 5: 1-7
   
2. Psalm 80: 9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
   
3. Philippians 4: 6-9
   
4. Matthew 21: 34-43
   

• God's disappointments
  
• We get disappointed when things don't go the way that we wanted for them to.  Perhaps we were counting on a good friend to come through for us and they did not have the time to be a support when we really needed it, or we invest time and effort into something only to have it fail.  Oddly, I believe that God can be disappointed as well.  Maybe not surprised, but disappointed.
• Have you ever disappointed God?
• How did you come to know that?
• How did that make you feel?
• How do you think it made God feel?
  

• God's punishment
  
• Is gravity unfair?  Falling accounts for a lot of death and injury, yet no one asks about the fairness or justice of gravity.  When we stray from God's plan for us, bad things happen, and we should not be surprised.  But that doesn't explain all the bad things that happen to us.
  
• Does every event in life have to have a purpose?
• Is it necessary that we know what that purpose is?
• When tragedy has come in your life, how did that affect your relationship to God?
• If you were to draw a picture of God, what would He look like?
• And if God were to draw a picture of you, how would He portray you?
  

• Transcendent peace
  
• True peace in this life transcends our understanding.  That isn't to say that this peace defies understanding, or that it is contrary to understanding, but that it is bigger than anything that we can understand.
• Can you recall a time in life when you suddenly caught a deep sense that it was going to work out, in spite of what was going on that moment?
• Did you see that as a grace, a gift of God at the time?
• Did it turn out to be true, did it all work out?
• Did that challenge in your life work out the way that you had hoped?
• Did it matter whether it worked out the way that you had hoped?
  

• Bearing fruit
  
• The fruit that a tree bears is the product of many things, the soil that the tree is planted in, the age of the tree, the sunshine and water that it receives.  To an extent, the entire life of that tree is summed up in its fruit.
• How have some challenges in your life born fruit later?
• Do you ever thank God for those challenges and the way that God was able to transform them?
• Is it our place to go looking for challenges?
• Is it safe for us to seek comfort and security?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God inviting me into His unconditional love?
   
2. Do I have a punishing or a vengeful God?
3. Where is God calling me beyond my comfort zone?
   
4. Where is God calling me to be more fruitful, or fruitful in a new and different way?

Shalom!