- Isaiah 63: 16b-17, 19b, 64: 2-7
- Psalm 80: 2-3, 15-16, 18-19
- 1 Corinthians 1: 3-9
- Mark 13: 33-37
- Unfolding creation
- Lately, I can really relate to the image of me being the clay and God the potter. That helps to explain the glazed look I get so often. All of us and each of us are part of God's ongoing creation story.
- Where do you see God gently forming you into a better person lately?
- Is that process painful?
- Would you have it any other way?
- Why do you think that God is working with/on/through you that way?
- Too busy to pray
- "Barely keeping our head above water" is an apt metaphor for life for many of us. New demands on our time, emotional resources, physical stamina sometimes seem to come at us with little or no warning, and we can feel overwhelmed. At such times, it is hard to justify taking the time to pray. Prayer can seem like an impractical luxury that is just going to have to wait.
- When is a time that you found it hard to pray?
- How did you respond?
- If you were able to pray anyway, do you think that it helped?
- What came out of your prayer?
- What went into your prayer?
- How were you changed by that experience?
- Gifted
- Gift-giving can be hard. We wonder whether the person that we are giving the gift to really needs what we want to give them. We wonder whether they will appreciate the thought behind the gift. We wonder whether they will find the time to really enjoy the gift. I suspect that God feels the same way when He gives us spiritual gifts.
- Do you feel as though you have all of the spiritual gifts that you need?
- If you could choose one gift that would help you the most, what would that be?
- Why don't you think that you have that gift already?
- Living prophetically
- Prophets and poets have a lot in common. Both look at the world around them, and search out the meaning of their circumstances, culture, events, and share those reflections with their listeners. I think that the poets and prophets among us are most often the ones who call us to be awake to the bigger picture.
- What are some things in your life that make it hard for you to see the bigger picture - where God is leading you in your life overall, where God is taking your family, your community?
- How do you think that you can make those things less distracting?
- Has there ever been a time when you suddenly saw your life in a new light, essentially had an "awakening"?
- How could you have been more ready for that awakening?
- Preparation for Reconciliation
- Where might God be calling me to newness and freedom?
- Where is my prayer life weak?
- Where has God already gifted me?
- How can I be more sensitive to God's leading?
Examen
Thank you God for your great love.
Thank you for the sun that bathes each of us in its generous radiance.
Thank you for the hours and minutes that you have given me today.
That I might labor at your side -
Bringing all of creation closer to your ultimate fulfillment.
Shine your light into my heart now, as I ponder my day.
Remind me of your gentle Presence,
Your loving hand upon me at each turn of the day.
That I might see better the gifts that you have given me today,
That I might see better where you were leading and inviting me into your freedom.
Remember with me the paths that I have trod.
Remind me of your Presence.
Give me gratitude for the times that I accepted your invitation.
Show me when I have have turned away from you.
Let me learn from today how to draw closer to you tomorrow.
Forgive me when I would not accept your graces.
Forgive me when I clung to what was, just because it made me comfortable.
Forgive me when I failed in generosity out of fear.
Forgive me when I became too busy to remember why I am here at all.
Forgive me when my day was anything less than prayer.
Help me to decide to be more open to life
More open to freedom
More open to love given and received
More open to a prophet's sight in this world
More open to the moments of courage that come my way.
Goodnight Jesus.
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