3rd Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the third Sunday of Lent (using Cycle A for the RCIA scrutinies) are:

1. Exodus 17:3-7
2. Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
3. Romans 5:1-2, 5-8
4. John 4: 5-42
   

• Trust me
  
• God doesn't seem to tell us much about what's coming.  You may be tempted to think He's making it up as He goes.
• Have you ever been afraid that God wasn't going to come through?
• What made you afraid?  Did you think that God had abandoned you after leading you to a precarious position?  Did you wonder whether it was actually God who got you to this precarious position?  Did you maybe think that God was punishing you for something that you had done earlier?
• How did God eventually provide your needs?
• Did you change your mind about what you really needed in the course of this experience?
• How did all of that affect your relationship to God?
  

• Attitude of Gratitude
  
• Living the life of nomads must have been a big change for God's people in the Sinai desert.  Day by day, week by week, they had to put their trust on God for the next watering hole, the next pasture.  But God had proven over and over that He was looking out for them.  They just didn't focus on what they should have been grateful for.
• What are some of the miracles that God has wrought in your life?
• How have those (either individually, or as a collection) changed your attitude towards tough times in general?
• Do you feel as though you have more trust now, than you did 20 years ago (assuming that you're that old)?
• What do you think you could do to improve/increase your trust in God?
  

• Building hope
  
• Faith, hope, and love are the three cardinal virtues.  These form the foundation upon which the other virtues rest, the font from which all virtue springs.  Yet, somehow, we don't hear much about hope, and where it comes from.
• What you you hope for?
• What/whom do you hope in?
• What would have to happen to you before you lost all hope?
• What are some experiences that have strengthened your hope?
• How can you bolster the hope within you?
  

• Jesus revealed
  
• Jesus was frequently a scandal.  He crossed borders that no one thought could be crossed.  And He did so in perfect humility.  No grand gestures, no patronizing words.  He never played to the crowd.  It was all about the individuals that He ministered to.
• There are lots of boundaries.  Some are ethnic, some cultural, some economic, others are in place simply by force of habit.  What are some boundaries in your life?
• Can you imagine Jesus reaching across that boundary, touching those "on the other side"?
• Pick one particularly tough boundary that you face.  Picture Jesus reaching across that boundary and touching someone on the other side.  How is Jesus touching them?  What is He doing for them?
• Imagine yourself, standing next to Jesus, following His example, participating in that outreach.
• Imagine now that you are the only one in that scene who can see Jesus.
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. How is God calling me to participate in loss in my life?
   
2. Where can I be more honest with and more trusting of God?
   
3. Where is God transforming my life experiences into hope?
   
4. Where is God calling me to transcend my own limitations?

Learning the Rosary

My in-laws loved to go to Mass at Little Sisters of the Poor.

When my mother-in-law passed, I started visiting my father-in-law regularly.

We would always go to Little Sisters for Mass because I knew it meant a lot to him.

If we got to Mass early, we would catch a few decades of the rosary.

Reedy, quavering voices celebrating decade upon decade of God's faithfulness.

An outpouring of trust from those whose end was in sight, glory emerging among the walkers.

At first, I didn't see it.  All I saw was a bunch of old people in a care facility.

Gradually, I got to know a handful of them, hear their stories, learn their quirks.

Feel the depth of their perseverance, find the quiet strength in their weakness.

They taught me about my arrogance rooted in my own fading middle-age.

They taught me that God's faithfulness is in the long haul, the life long.

They taught me that memory serves best when it serves to remind us of God's Presence.

I remember that community every time I hear or say the Rosary.

Their devotion calling me to prayer and in prayer a shedding of the unneeded.

They whisper to me "see, it wasn't so bad to lose your fear of aging."

I hope that I learned a lesson among that community that I can apply elsewhere.

That God often reveals Himself in unlikely places, through unexpected people.

That God lives in and for the boundaries, those who are often invisible, forgotten.

That true strength often blossoms in abject weakness.

That faith, hope, and love grow in the rich soil of trust and faithfulness.

And that the seeds from which saints grow will often show themselves slowly.

Shalom!

2nd Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the second Sunday of Lent are:

1. Genesis 22: 1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18
   
2. Psalm 116: 10, 15, 16-17, 18-19
   
3. Romans 8: 31b-34
   
4. Mark 9: 2-10
   

• Trust me
  
• After 43 years of marriage, my question is: "just what did Abraham tell Sarah when he took Isaac to Mt. Moriah?"  Second question might be "what sort of inner dialogue did Abraham have with himself when he heard this call from God?"  Third question might be: "in what ways did Abraham (and maybe Sarah) treat/regard Isaac differently after this?"
• What are some of the big losses that you've suffered in your life?  Pick one of the most painful ones.  This could be loss of a loved one, loss of a season in your life, loss of a job, a relationship, ...
• How voluntary was that loss on your part?  How did you participate in that loss?  Or were you strictly a victim?
• How did you respond to that loss?
• Where was God in all of that?
  

• Attitude of Gratitude
  
• When I was young, we had a slogan: praise God anyhow!  You could read that many ways, I suppose.  I imagine that the intended reading was that the committed Christian defies expectations, defies hardship, defies fear and finds reason to praise God regardless of the circumstances.  A more repressive reading denies you permission to be honest with God.
• When something really eats at you, do you take that at all to God?
• If not, why is that?  Do you think He's too busy to listen to you complain?  Or do you fear that the very act of praying will broaden your horizons, give you a different perspective, and perhaps ruin your bad mood?
• Do you ever get the word from God that He agrees with you, that what you're going through really sucks?
• Why do you think that is?
  

• Jesus interceding
  
• Growing up, we had what we called prayer chains.  If you had a need, you'd call someone, they would call three or four people, each of them would call three or four people, and very quickly, there would be this throng of fellow believers in prayer on your behalf.  I'm very old, this memory predates Internet and e-mail.  But we never gave much thought to Jesus praying for us.
• Do you ever get into a situation where you don't really know what to pray for?  Sometimes that happens in the beginning, you have no idea what the options are, where to go, what to hope for.  Other times, you can get to this place after many fruitless attempts to resolve the problem, and you have all but given up.
• Have you ever prayed to be shown what to pray for?
• Have you ever gotten that prayer answered, even though you thought you knew what to pray for?
  

• Jesus revealed
  
• You have to love Peter.  When something big happens, we always want to find some way to get back into touch with that event.  We build shrines all of the time to things as meaningful as where Elvis slept, or the hill where Jesus was crucified.  Nothing wrong with that, but God wanted them to get something out of the now that they were in.
  
• When do you find it hardest to listen to what God is saying to you?
• What have you done to try to avoid those circumstances?
• How do you tell that you are getting "hard of hearing" with regard to God's will in your life?
• How might you become more sensitive to God's moving in the now?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. How is God calling me to participate in loss in my life?
   
2. Where can I be more honest with God?
   
3. Where is God transforming what I'm praying for in my life today?
   
4. Where is God calling me listen more/better?

Carrying the Wood

Father tells me that we are going to a distant place to worship.

Somewhere far from the sounds of the bleating goats, and sheep,

Somewhere that affords us a view into a great distance.

Somewhere that reminds us how close our God is, in every place.

 

Worship means sacrifice.

Sacrifice means slaughter.

Once the slaughter, then the fire.

Then the smoke of our prayers rising to the heavens.

 

The wood for the fire weighs heavy on my back.

I am proud to bear this burden.

Our journey must take us above the timberline,

To a place where the trees cannot grow.

This much wood speaks of a grand sacrifice.

One that must burn long in order to burn completely.

Father tells me that our Father will provide the sacrifice.

I do not know what that means.

I am lashed tight to the wood that I have carried these miles.

I see the setting sun glinting red on the upraised knife of flint.

I look my father in the eye as tears stream down his face.

And I find comfort that I will not die alone.

No matter where I have gone since that day -

I have never been alone.

The whisper of a breeze brings angel voices to my ear.

The soft caress of raindrops reminds me of my father's embrace.

And I know that both of my fathers are always at hand.

The one who wielded the knife, and the one who willed it.

And I know, that no matter how, or when, or in what company I die -

That death will have meaning, that death will matter, that death will serve my Father.

Shalom!

1st Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the first Sunday of Lent are:

1. Genesis 9: 8-15
   
2. Psalm 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
   
3. 1 Corinthians 10: 31-11:1
   
4. Mark 1: 12-15
   

• Welcome to creation
  
• Creation is not just a backdrop for the human drama to unfold in.  Instead, creation is a part of us just as much as we are a part of creation.  When we are fully human, that benefits all of creation, and when we learn to take our proper place in creation, we become more and more able to receive God's blessings through His creation.
• What are some things that you have learned of/from God through His creation?
• How can we be better stewards of God's creation right now?
• Does it matter that our puny efforts make a small difference?
  

• Learning to learn by learning to be humble
  
• The humble person is blessed because they have nothing to prove, no need to make sure that everyone/anyone knows of their contributions.  So the humble person is able to be receptive to what God has to show them, and able to quickly leave behind that which no longer does them any good.
• Think of a time when things would have gone better had you been more humble?
• Why do you think that it's hard for you to be humble?
• Has it gotten harder or easier to be humble as the years have gone by?
• Do you think that "fake it until you make it" works with humility?
  

• Making all things new
  
• I've always wondered why God chose to spare Noah and his family and instead just start over.  My theory is that God likes to redeem the irredeemable, heal the broken hearted, and bind up the wounded.
  
• Think of a time in your life when you needed real help, and you turned to God.
• How did God bring you through that challenging time?
• What was God's solution to what was hurting you?
• In what way is that hurt still with you today?
• Are you a better person because of that experience?
• Would you go through that again, if given a choice?
  

• Urgency
  
• I sometimes wonder what life would be like if we could live forever.  We probably would get nothing done in life because we would know that there is always a tomorrow, so there would be no urgency to get anything done today.  Jesus must have sensed that His time with us was going to be short because He certainly started His ministry with a bang.
• If you prepared a "spiritual bucket list" of things that you wanted to experience, give away, achieve as a Christian before you die, what would the top five items be on that list?
• Do you think that God feels the same way about those items as far as their importance?
• If you were to spend some time in prayer with that bucket list, what do you think God's response to it would be?
• If you only had time left in life for one of those items on your list, which would it be?
• Why?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Is there anyone in need in my life that I need to reach out to?
   
2. Where might I need to seek greater humility in my life?
   
3. Where is God transforming past hurts in my life today?
   
4. Where is God calling me to be more focused?

Oiling My Tools

Here's the awl that my uncle Hiram gave me when I was first learning carpentry.

It's worn handle fitting snugly in my palm, its sharp point ground down through the years.

 

And the block plane that Joseph gave me for my 16th birthday gleams so in the afternoon sun.

Reminding me of the many surfaces that we have shaped and smoothed together.

 

My chisels, sharpened to a dull sheen, arranged in perfect order stand in their rack.

A mute testimony to the patience that cousin Jacob had with me when he showed me how to use them.

 

I've had steady work these years.  No matter where I've gone, folks always needed a carpenter.

These tools have earned me a warm welcome wherever I have gone.

 

And now, I must leave them for someone else to profit from them.

I say good bye to each of them as I remember our hours and days together.

 

Reminding me of the calm and peace of these years, and how I have set down such roots here.

But those roots still bolster and strengthen my heart as I prepare to leave this place, these tools.

 

My family will find new homes for these old friends.  Up and coming wood workers

Looking to make their way in life building what needs to be built, and repairing the rest.

 

As for me, it is time to take what my Father has shown me here in this place of peace.

And show it to others, that they may find the face of the Prince of Peace within me.

 

I'm not sure what lies ahead, but I know what will sustain me in these weeks and months before me.

The smell of bread baking in the hearth, the sound of the village blacksmith, the calls to prayer.

The hand of my Father through all, in all, because of all.

It is all within reach, none of it to be grasped, but only to be given away.

I run my hand over the satin smooth surface of my last trestle table.

I smell the forest from whence it came, and the creator from which the forest came.

It is all one.  I'm never far from home.  Home is always where my Father has called me.

I am leaving that I may bring them home with me, to me, through me.

Shalom!

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Leviticus 13: 1-2, 44-46
2. Psalm 32: 1-2, 5, 11
   
3. 1 Corinthians 10: 31-11:1
   
4. Mark 1: 40-45
   

• Outcast
  
• Calamity can often lead to loneliness.  Even if the stricken one receives visitors, those visitors do not share your circumstances, they cannot know what it is really like, they are other from you, separated by an invisible barrier of need.  Only the truly empathetic can cross that divide, and so identify with the one in need that they are really able to touch the stricken deeply.
• When has anyone ministered to you when you were stricken with some calamity, be it the loss of a loved one, your job, a relationship that dies ...?
• How did they reach out to you, help you really feel that they were, in some significant way, with you in that circumstance?
• How did that reaching out on their part change you?
• Do you think that it changed them?
• What does it take to be able to minister to someone else that way?
  

• Transparency
  
• It's easy to confine repentance and forgiveness to the confessional.  But I think that confession goes on frequently in a healthy relationship.  Forgiveness even more often.  By forgiving and accepting forgiveness, we have a unique opportunity to learn the heart of Jesus, and find mercy as we learn how to be merciful.  Giving forgiveness frees the wounded one.
  
• Have you ever gone to someone to tell them about a failure in your life?
• What prompted you to do that?
• How did they respond?
• Was the experience healing for you?
  

• The good of the many
  
• Doing something for the glory of God is not as easy as it sounds.  What is easy is self-deception.  Someone might put themselves last in all cases out of a false humility, or out of a poor self-image that needs healing.  Conversely, someone who has achieved a measure of fame during their lives, like Billy Graham, did so to God's glory.
• How would you define the Kingdom of God?
• What are you doing to help bring that kingdom to earth here and now?
• How do you know that your actions support the coming of the Kingdom?
• How would you know when/if God calls you into something new/different?
  

• The human touch
  
• Jesus touched the leper before He cleansed him.  Which was more amazing, that Jesus, an observant Jew touched a man with leprosy, or that He was able to heal him instantly?
• Who are some people who have welcomed you in one way or another into the community of saints?
• How did they do that?
• How did that welcome transform you?
• Was that welcome a single event, or a process?
• How have you welcomed others?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Is there anyone in need in my life that I need to reach out to?
   
2. Where might I need to seek or give forgiveness?
   
3. How am I bringing about God's Kingdom today?
   
4. Where is God calling me to be more welcoming?

The Road Home

When I first went to the priest to be examined,

We both cried.

He found some bread for me, wrapped it in cloth,

And sent me on my way.

I left word with him to tell my family of my condition.

I could not endure the long, last goodbye.

I knew that I was near the leper colony by the smell

Carried on a wind of despair.

They all knew I would eventually look, 

And smell just like them.

No welcome to a new way of living death.

They were all past all that.

And I knew that if I stayed there long enough -

I would be beyond empathy as well.

But then Jesus touched me, defiled Himself -

Knowing my hideous state.

I rushed to the priest again to present myself cured.

We cried again.

And now, now I look at the road to home

That is not the same.

I can never see friends, family, village, my people

The same again.

I do not want to settle back into a comfortable place

Of indifference to others.

I hardly know where to start this next journey in my life

Toward what Jesus calls the Kingdom.

Maybe this Jesus can teach me how to touch the refuse of society

And in so doing complete my healing.

Shalom!