13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Wisdom 1: 13-15, 2: 23-24
   
2. Psalms 30: 2, 4, 5-6, 11, 12, 13
   
3. 2 Corinthians 8: 7, 9, 13-15
   
4. Mark 5: 21-43
   

• Imago Dei
  
• Every one of us in in the image and likeness of God.  At its core, there is nothing greater that can be said of any of us, nothing higher to aspire to than the fulfillment of the luminous destiny named in that phrase.
• Who are some folks who have been that image of God to you, and for you?
• What aspect of God have they illustrated for you?
• Have you ever celebrated that in them, with them?
• How have they taught you to be the image and likeness of God?
  

• Dancing on thin ice
  
• There used to be a little placard in the parish office that read something like: "if you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance."  I always liked that sentiment.  It spoke of boldness, trust, and freedom to me.
• What are some reasons that you have gotten out of your comfort zone?
• Was it worth it?
• Was there a lasting change in you from that experience, or did you dive back into your comfort zone once the crisis was over?
• How might you handle that same challenge in your life today?
  

• Giving until it hurts?
  
• Development campaigns are as old as organized religion.  Our world is a web of needs, some urgent and life-threatening, others less so.  But all of them clamor to be met.  And God meets the needs of His children through His children.
• What are some of the ministries that you support with time, talent, or treasure?
• How often do you help others outside of those ministries.  Lending a helping hand to some other on the spur of the moment.
• Do you think that your organized ministerial life supports these random acts of kindness in any way?
• Do you think that the random acts of kindness in your life in any way support and sustain the ministries that you are part of?
• Do you think that random acts of kindness are harder to do than a regularly scheduled ministry?
  

• Rolling with the punches
  
• It can be easy to identify with Job.  One thing after another comes at us in life until we feel as though we are drowning in a sea of crisis, large and small.  I wonder at Jesus' grace in the face of getting one healing interrupted by another healing.  Jairus' daughter's need was urgent.  Yet Jesus had the time, and patience for the woman with the hemorrhage.  For my part, I like things linear.  Tackle the challenges one at a time.
• Think of a time, or a season, in your life when you felt that you were juggling too many things at once.
• Did you really need to attend to all of those things at the same time?
• How did you find the grace to be where you needed to be and be who you needed to be for all of those demands on your life?
• Do you feel that you are better able to handle such demanding times in your life?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Who might God be calling me to show His Presence to?
2. Where might God be calling me to more trust, deeper peace?
   
3. Where might I might be more spontaneous in my giving to others?
   
4. What is the next good thing that God is calling me to?
   

Just in case

Some days, I don't know what to do with my plans.

I start with the things that I know have to get done.

Estimate the time and resources that they will take.

And (maybe foolishly) conclude that the rest of the day is open.

 

Yet, it seldom works out that way in practice.

Things take longer than I would have imagined.

Needs surface that I didn't see coming.

And every once in a while, inspiration hits.

 

And my day takes off in a direction I hadn't planned.

I end up pouring myself, my energies, my time

Into something that I had no idea was going to be a priority.

And when the day is done, I'm grateful that the unexpected happened.

 

But wondering how I'm going to get around -

To all of the things that I thought were so important today.

They are still on my "to do" list.

And maybe even more urgent now than they were originally.

 

Sometimes, my roadmap of "shoulds"

The stuff that seemingly needed to get done -

Shifts on me.  The destination changes in the walking toward it.

And I find deep satisfaction in the unplanned.

Other times, those shoulds turn out to far smaller than I thought -

Melting gently into a task far more manageable than I could have imagined.

Transforming along the way, into an effort

Fitting easily into the crumbs of my day.

And I wonder whether those shoulds would have been at all possible -

Had I insisted on working them when I originally wanted to.

That exercising trust brought what I needed where and when I needed it.

And what I needed to remember is that timing is everything.

Which makes me wonder whether I'm alone in this seeming chaos.

And whether there is a much larger picture in all of this.

Some vast symphony of disciples all striving to be attuned

To the delicate web that sustains each of us and all of us.

Which makes me wonder how God somehow continues 

Continues to pull that symphony off

In spite of various ones of us missing our cues

Stumbling off into uncharted territory.

Tell me.

How can I help you step into your destiny?

How can we, together, bring the Kingdom

More deeply today than ever before?

Shalom!