6th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the sixth Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 10: 25-26, 34-34, 44-48
   
2. Psalm 98: 1, 2-3, 3-4
   
3. 1 John 4: 7-10
   
4. John 15: 9-17
   

• Being nimble
  
• I'm sure that Peter had a lovely speech ready for the occasion when he entered Cornelius' house.  But the Holy Spirit unexpectedly fell upon the gathered assembly and rewrote the agenda for that encounter.  I'm impressed by how quickly Peter got on board.
  
• Has God ever surprised you by His generosity to someone else?
• How did that generosity make you feel at the time?
• How gracious were you about accepting that God would be that generous?
  

• Revelation in our time
  
• In one sense, we Catholics claim that the deposit of faith closed with the death of the last apostle. At that point, there was no longer anyone alive who had observed Jesus first hand, seen His works, heard His voice.  But in a very real sense God continues to reveal Himself to us in new ways every day.
• Who are some of the folks who have revealed God to you?
• How did that happen in your life?
• How did that revelation change/deepen your relationship to that other person?
• How did that revelation change/deepen your relationship to God?
• Do you think that you might be that light of the Gospel to anyone else?
  

• Incarnational emptying
  
• True love for another seeks the good of the other above all else.  And the greatest good that we can wish for in another is that they draw closer to God, step more fully into their ultimate destiny as a child of God.  To do that, we first have to set aside our own expectations of the other, our own narrative and seek to help the other to hear God's voice in their lives.  Sort of like Ignatian spiritual direction.
• Have you ever had a hard time listening empathically, really listening to another?
• What was holding you back?  Was it your own desires, expectations, lack of time, lack of patience, ...?
• How did you eventually get past that?
  

• Finding joy
  
• I think that joy might be defined as "finding yourself in just the right place, at the right time, doing that which you were born for, finding the culmination of your life up to that point, and stepping boldly into all that the future holds."  As such, joy is not an event, it does not depend really on what is happening around us.  All that a life of joy asks of us is to follow Jesus with all our hearts.
• What are some times when you have found true joy?
• How did you get there?
• Why do you think that came to an end (if it ever did)?
• Do you feel that we can be full of joy at all times?
• Why?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God calling me to face a rewrite of my world view?
   
2. Where might God be revealing Himself to me that I am not sensitive to?
   
3. Where is God calling me to set aside my own agenda?
   
4. Where might God be inviting me into greater joy?

Shalom!

5th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the fifth Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 9: 26-31
   
2. Psalm 22: 26-27, 28, 30, 31-32
   
3. 1 John 3: 18-24
   
4. John 15: 1-8
   

• Transforming grace
  
• Saul had planned to go to Damascus, round up some Christians, and bring them to Jerusalem for trial.  Instead, he went to Damascus, got converted, and came back to Jerusalem, but on a totally different mission.  No one sent Paul to "apostle boot camp".  Instead, his past study, his devotion to God, his years of prayer were all put to use, just from a totally different vantage point.
• When is a time when your point of view on someone or something changed drastically?
• Why did that happen at that point in your life?
• How did you feel going into that shift in your perspective?
• How did that change you?
• Is that experience still changing you today?
  

• Known by their descendants
  
• All of us want to see our children and grandchildren grow up with the same values that we have.  After all, we worked hard to develop the values that we have, we know that our values have led to a meaningful and rewarding life.  We want that for our descendants.
• How are your children and grandchildren different from you as far as how they approach life?
• How do you explain those differences?
• How do you pray for those next generations?
• What do you see in their future?

• Ever emerging
  
• What does it mean to be full of the Spirit?
• For the person full of the Spirit, how do you think that they make their decisions in life?
• Do you wish that you could live that way?
• How do you think that we become more and more full of God's spirit?
• What's stopping you?
  

• Finding freedom
  
• Pruning is all about sacrificing in order to be more focused, more tightly purposed.  It's often painful.  Sometimes needlessly so.
• How do you know when to allow a new demand into your life?  It might be a new relationship, a new set of season tickets, a new volunteer organization that you've always wanted to support ...
• How do you make room for new things in your life?
• How do you know when it's time to prune something that may have been very meaningful once, but now is no longer needed.
• Is it sinful to be burned out?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God calling me to face a rewrite of my world view?
   
2. Where might God be calling me to trust His faithfulness in my descendant's lives?
   
3. Where is God calling me to the next right thing?
   
4. Where might God be inviting me into greater freedom by shedding something in my life?

Nothing gets wasted

All of our days are numbered.
Most of us mercifully don't happen to know what that number is.

We want so much to be meaningful, accomplished, worthy of this life.
So that, in the end, when the final curtain falls on our life, we know that we did well.

And if there's only so many days left in my calendar,
How should I spend them, where should that precious time be invested, what goals define me?

For years I worked for a community that, in the end, decided that I had outlived my usefulness.
I'm still trying to figure out whether it bothers me more that they thought that of me -

Or that they just might be right.
Either way, it's a frightening commentary on all of those years, the late nights, the lost weekends.

I got into teaching, and now I wonder -
Why didn't I make this switch a long time ago, and not waste all of that time?

I tell myself that I have much to pass along to my students
That I would never have learned myself without those "wasted" years.

Just lately, I'm coming to a place that finds peace, not in finding hidden treasures in my past.
But rather, learning to trust that God is able to to redeem anything, if only we let Him.

That the miracle of these few short days that I have, that we all have together -
Is that God can take whatever we give Him, and fashion a miracle out of it.

That God can use my life to bring new life to others.
I just need to be humble enough to get out of God's way.

Shalom!

4th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the fourth Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 4: 8-12
   
2. Psalm 118: 1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28-29
   
3. 1 John 3: 1-2
   
4. John 10: 11-18
   

• The unforgivable sin
  
• Falling into sin is rarely very dramatic.  Instead, we get more and more invested in a lie of one sort or another, until we lose the ability to see any other alternative but to support and shore up that lie.  Jesus continues to be crucified today by those who cannot bear to be confronted with the truth.  There, but for the grace of God, go I.
• Think of a time where you have lived a lie.  Maybe you did something that bothered you at the time, but you took the easy way out and tried to cover it up.
• What did you have to do to protect that cover up?
• How did you eventually break free of that vicious cycle?
• How was God present to you in all of that?
  

• Sleeping soundly
  
• It's usually hard to do when someone tells you "trust me".  They tell you that they have something "covered", that it has been or will be handled, and that you need to "let it go".  Usually, when that sort of conversation goes on, red flags go up because we fear that we are being kept in the dark for some unknown reason.
• Why do you think that God asks for trust from us?
• When was a time that you profoundly trusted God to come through in your life?
• What were you expecting God to do/be for you in that circumstance?
• Did God come through?
• Did God totally surprise you?
• How can we intentionally build greater trust?
  

• Ever emerging
  
• One thread of Ignatian spirituality is that all of creation is still unfolding, and that God calls us to be part of that process.  Our stepping into our destiny occurs in and through the same awakening of creation itself.  We and the rest of creation are all one in this redemptive process.
• How would you define redemption and salvation?
• Are those two processes/goals an end to be achieved, a process to walk in, both, neither, both and more?
• How are other people, communities impacting/responsible for your own redemption and salvation?
• Given that, how ought you to be supporting those other parts of the gradually unfolding creation story?
  

• Giving it all away
  
• Another thread in Ignatian spirituality is that we need to be on the alert for disordered attachments.  An attachment becomes disordered when it comes between us and God.  That attachment could be anything.  A favorite place, a person that we dearly love being around, an activity, even a devotion.
• What is some thing in your life that you are very devoted to?
• Does that bring you closer to Jesus, or farther away?
• How would you recognize it if that thing in your life became an end in itself, rather than a means to God?
• What would you do then?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God calling me to face the truth in some part of my life?
   
2. Where might God be calling me to greater trust?
   
3. Where is God giving me the strength to walk in His way?
   
4. Where might God be inviting me into greater freedom by shedding something in my life?

Funny sheep

The Jesus people were always a little "out there".
They felt that a day without bringing at least one person to Jesus was a day wasted.
They were all about the abundant graces of God,
How God had saved them from countless forms of destruction.

I remember listening to their testimonies.
And wondered to myself what I had in common with such folk.
My God was much more calm, genteel, mannerly.
My life was placid, dependable, orderly.

But I've learned that my God can work with and through the messy.
I've learned that being open to Him breaking into the moment is key.
I've learned that I need His grace more than I could ever know.
I've learned to take nothing for granted in this life.

I have more in common with those Jesus people than I knew.
I need my God just as much as they ever did.
I just need to learn to celebrate that need, and God's abundance.
And embrace that I'm just another of those "funny sheep" in His fold.

Shalom!

3rd Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the third Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 3: 13-15, 17-19
   
2. Psalm 4:2, 7-8, 9
   
3. 1 John 2: 1-5a
   
4. Luke 25: 35-48
   

• Conversion excursion
  
• In Protestant circles, particularly Evangelical ones, hardly any service occurs without an altar call.  The problem with altar calls is that they result in a sizeable crowd of new converts who desperately need care and attention now that they have entered the fold, with no one in sight to tend these new members of the flock.  I feel the same thing happens each year when we confirm a new batch of teenagers.
• Once we welcome someone into the church, then what?
• What sort of church should we be if we are going to welcome new adults into our midst on a steady basis?
• Why does sponsorship end at Easter?
• Why is "regular" Confirmation prep done differently from RCIA?
• What should we be doing to help grow and retain our adults?
  

• Sleeping soundly
  
• The phrase "slept like a baby" was never uttered by a parent with a colicky baby.  But I imagine that saying is rooted in the perception that baby's have little to keep them awake at night.  No worries about global warming, stock market trends, where their next meal is coming from, ... so they are free to sleep soundly.
• What keeps you awake at night?
• How did you get into that situation to begin with?
• Do you think it's a situation that you need to get out of?
• What do you think that you can count on God for in that situation?
• What would it be like if you trusted God completely in this case?
• What's stopping you?
  

• Perfecting the love of God
• Loving Jesus and keeping His commandments are two sides of the same coin.  Each makes the other possible, each makes the other authentic, each makes the other meaningful. 
• In a nutshell, what are Jesus' commandments to us?
• How have you learned to act on those commandments in your life?
• Have those decisions and actions of yours made your love for Jesus deeper?
• How?
  

• Hey, it's me!
  
• Years ago during an RCIA session Fr. Martin asked why the early apostles would have a special devotion to Jesus' mother Mary.  We had all sorts of ideas, most of them pretty good, and finally Fr. said, "she looked like Him."  The family resemblance between Mary and Jesus was doubtless noticeable, and that connection between them was something precious then and now.
• When was a time that you recognized the presence of Jesus in another?  Maybe that other person extended a hand to you when you needed it most, or they were the face of Jesus in need, or the cry of the poor looking for shelter.
• How did you respond?
• Did you respond that way because you saw Jesus in them, or just because that was the right thing to do in the situation?
• When you did recognize His face in them, how did that happen?  What allowed you to see things in a new light?
• How did that recognition change you?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God calling me to be an evangelist?
   
2. Where is God inviting me to greater trust today?
   
3. Where can I love more authentically?
   
4. Where is God leading me to see him in unexpected places?

Without Seeing You We Love You

 Lord, help me to see you in the faces of those I serve.
That I might touch you in touching them.
That they might touch you in touching me.
That I might be utterly authentic, recklessly real.

Teach me how to touch those pushed to the margins.
The homeless, the unwell, the poor, the forgotten.
Touch them without fear.
Touch them without making myself a martyr.

Give me the eyes to see your glorious wounds in theirs.
Your merciful eyes in theirs.
Your loving hands in theirs.
And give me the grace to see my wholeness in their wounds.

Resurrect me Jesus.
By your side, bring me back a new man.
That I can leave behind the shackles of my own fear and ignorance.
And walk in the light of your crazy incarnate love -

That knows no bounds, no boundaries.

 

Shalom!

2nd Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the second Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 4: 32-35
   
2. Psalm 118: 2-4, 13-15, 22-24
   
3. 1 John 5: 1-6
   
4. John 20: 19-31
   

• Building community
  
• In our daily struggle to make ends meet, prepare for eventual retirement and any other anticipated or unanticipated events in our lives, it's easy to lose track of the connectedness (it's a word, look it up) that we are heir to as a people of God.
• What are some of the communities that you belong to right now?
• How do they provide you strength, resilience, meaning in your life?
• What are your contributions to each of those communities?
• Do you think that you are the richer for your participation in those communities?
• Are you actively making any of those communities better?
  

• Finding divine mercy
  
• God's mercy has sustained all of us throughout our lives, but sometimes, it's hard to see that mercy for what it is.
• When was a time that you particularly felt the mercy of God?
• How did you come to understand that God's gift to you at that point in time was mercy?
• Do you ever tell anyone else about that event, or others like it, in your life?
• How should you share those sorts of stories?
  

• Training for victory
  
• It's easy to get discouraged when you look at the sweep of history over the past few decades.  It seems as though our entire culture is turning its back on treasured values that once sustained us as a people, in favor of "lesser gods" that offer nothing more than quick gratification.
• Do you feel as though your actions, your decisions, your prayer has any hope against the trends that you see all around you?
• Do you feel as though things are only going to get worse before they get better?
• What do you think is going to turn these large trends around?
• How are you preparing for that turn around?
  

• The human touch
  
• Thomas wanted to experience Jesus for himself, not just rely on the testimony of others.  Today we face similar challenges.  It's not enough to have a "second-hand faith" that we inherit from someone else, we are each called to appropriate our faith ourselves.  And we cannot merely believe today just because we have always believed.  Our faith must be ever aborning, ever deepening, ever finding new vitality.
• How did you first come to faith in God?
• How is your faith today different from that early faith that you had?
• What are you doing to nurture that faith in your life?
• How would you like to be nurturing that faith in your life?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God calling me to deeper connectedness?
   
2. Where am I missing the mercy that God is extending to me today?
   
3. What is the bigger picture, the context that I am in?
   
4. Where is God leading me to deeper relationship with Him?

Those Glorious Wounds

Jesus, in my own small way, I want to walk with you.

Feel the disappointment that you felt when Peter denied you.

Tell you that your friend will come through this trial and emerge the stronger.

 

Look you in the eyes when those soldiers mock and beat you -

Because they don't understand you,

Because they have no idea how much they too, need you.

 

Carry your cross to the extent that I'm able.

Knowing that only you can die for me.

Knowing the ghastly weight of my sin on your shoulders far outweighs this wood.

 

Hold your hand when your mother beholds your battered visage.

Comfort you that she will find comfort in you.

Assure you that I will take her into my home.

 

Bring you a veil to wipe your brow of its blood and tears.

Not because that makes so much of a difference at the time.

But to let you know that you are not alone amid this swirling chaos.

 

Grant me the courage to touch your glorious wounds -

That I might find strength and humility in their depths.

And come to find Your Presence in my trials.

 

Shalom!