Weekly Readings Reflections: 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

Prophets generally spend their time telling folks things that they do not want to hear. Sometimes, the same message needs to go out over and over again, and it seems as though that message just gets ignored over and over again. One example might be abortion.
How does God communicate to humanity?
Does that include protest marches outside of abortion clinics, letters to your congressman, your decisions when you vote?
How do you know whether you are personally called to be prophetic?
Do you think that God calls "full time" prophets?
Why can't God just use "professionals" for His prophets?

When I was RCIA director, I realized that faith formation was a very different thing from faith information. Formation is about passing the faith on from person to person in the context of the community. Formation cannot happen in a vacuum.
How has your faith been formed through the years?
Who are some of the folks who had a big impact on your faith formation?
If you have been involved in helping someone else form their faith in God, how did that experience transform you?
Does faith formation have to be in the context of a formal curriculum or program?
How do you know that we are passing on the true faith to someone?

When things get crazy, my mom likes to say "this too shall pass." I think that's her way of saying that the bigger picture, those truths and realities that don't pass, should be the center of our lives.
At the end of the day, what is the "bottom line" that you want to be able to say about your life as God's child?
Looking back over the things that you gave yourself to during today, did you do anything that did not support that ultimate bottom line for your life?
Why did you do that?

Nowadays, conventional wisdom holds that we all need to change jobs every few years. When I entered the job market, the expectation was that you found your niche in life as soon as you could, get a good job in that area, and stick with it until retirement. I suspect that most fishermen of Jesus' day expected to stay in that line of work as long as they were physically able to do so.
What are some of the really big changes to the sort of work that you do?
Have you ever wondered why that change did not come along earlier in your life?
Have you ever wondered whether the earlier work that you did somehow prepared you for that transition?
How do you think that things would have gone if you you had known at the start of your career, what you would eventually end up doing?
Was it better that you didn't know?

Thanks Dad

Dad, I never got the chance to properly thank you for raising me.

Seeing your dedication to a job well done taught me the value of work.

You taught me that a job well done is a job well done

Regardless of who its for, what or even whether you get paid.

Seeing the time that you spent with me in Boy Scouts

Taught me the value of time spent with my family.

Your love and concern for your family and community

Showed my that giving myself away is transformative.

Giving myself away meets the needs of others,

And leaves me with more to give to the next one in need.

You always encouraged me to follow my dreams,

To reach for that unreachable star,

To be true to the destiny that God has for me,

No matter where, how, or when that leading might happen.

There have been surprises along the way.

But you told me to expect those as part of life.

Thanks for teaching me to be open, and grateful.

Pray for me that I can use all these lessons until we meet again.

Shalom!

Weekly Readings Reflections