Presentation of the Lord Sunday

Our readings for the Presentation of the Lord Sunday are:

1. Malachi 3: 1-4
   
2. Psalms 24: 7, 8, 9, 10
3. Hebrews 2: 14-18
   
4. Luke 2: 22-40
   

• Getting to simple
  
• Refining, cleaning, purification, pruning are all aimed at stripping away that which is not essential so that what is important can thrive.  An old Jesuit brother once told me that "as my prayer life gets deeper, it gets simpler."
• What are some things that you have "shed" along the way during your walk with God?
• Was any of that particularly painful?
• How did you come to know that you needed to leave that behind?
• Do you still miss any of that?
• Why?
  

• Letting Jesus in
  
• I think that we follow Jesus best one decision, one step at a time.  Sometimes, that takes a good deal of concentration, intention, and humility.
• When there is no clear path forward in your life, or the opposite, there lies before your a whole constellation of possible paths, where do you go?
• In such times, do you look for advice, someone to tell you what to do, how to proceed, or do you look for someone/somewhere to hear the Holy Spirit more clearly?
• What are some of the distractions to hearing that still small voice in your life?
• Are those distractions getting any easier to ignore?
  

• Feeling like Jesus
  
• The Gospel accounts don't give us much insight into Jesus' interior life.  What, I wonder, was the range of emotions that He underwent when He walked with His disciples?  Is Jesus an introvert, did He have a rich belly laugh that would erupt from time to time (probably most often around Peter)?  I can be pretty sure that one emotion that he felt most often was empathy.
• Who are some of the folks that you find difficult to empathize with?
• Do you feel at all that you need to work on that?
• How do you think it's possible to increase in empathy for another person?
• Do you think Jesus ever had to do that?
  

• Consolation prize
  
• Consolation in Jesuit theology means something very specific.  First of all, it is a state more than an emotion.  Consolation might also be termed being in a state of grace, being in right relationship with God and your community.  That's what Simeon was waiting for for all of Israel.
• Simeon was upheld in his life by hope.  Not like the hope that you have for your favorite team going into the Superbowl, but hope that God is at work, here, now, bringing about His Kingdom.  Would you say that you have hope?
• Why would you think that hope is important?
• What is hope ultimately founded upon?
• How do you think that we as a community increase in hope?
• Is hope ultimately realistic, or are confirmed cynics the only honest people around?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me to leave behind something that is not doing me any good?
• When was the last time that I really tried to discern a decision in my life?
  
• Who might God be calling me to empathize with more deeply?
  
• Where might God be calling me to hope in Him?
  

Let Your Servant Go In Peace

Hope can hurt.
Believing that God is intimately, warmly, lovingly involved in His ongoing creation can be hard.
Especially when you look around you at all that is going on.
And you wonder how in the world did we ever get here?
Where did we as a people take a horribly wrong turn?

It can be hard to find signs of God's Presence in our midst.
Hard to come up with proofs of His might.
Or even evidence that He cares.
But true hope does not disappoint -
Ever.

Hope is grounded in Love -
The eternal, unbridled, unmerited, amazing Love that calls us forth into being -
One moment to the next.
Love that knows us, and yet knows no bounds.
Love that calls to us to join in and celebrate the Trinity from the inside.

Hope relies on faith to see God at work.
Hope gives Love the courage to join in that ongoing creation.
Love relies on faith to see Christ in the beloved.
Love gives Hope the strength of purpose.
Faith relies on Love to see the face of God.
Faith fires Hope with direction and action.

We can no more give up Hope than we can give up Faith, or Love.
The cynic is never disappointed.
The dead never feel pain.
Those who have never loved have never been disappointed.
Lord grant that I may find the courage to live in hope, no matter the risk.

Shalom!

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Nehemiah 89: 2-4a, 5-6, 8-10
   
2. Psalms 19: 8, 9, 10, 15
3. 1 Corinthians 12: 12-30
   
4. Luke 1: 1-4, 4: 14-21
   

• Covenant people
  
• When the children of Israel returned to their land after the Babylonian captivity, I'm sure that many of them felt a great relief to be "home".  But home for them was more than a location, it was a covenant.
• What makes you feel "at home"?
• How long does that "at home" feeling take when you lose a job, have to move to a new place, pick up with a new circle of friends, get a paradigm that has served you for decades suddenly shifted out from under you?
• When was the last time that you had to leave "home" and move on?
• How did that change you?
  

• The Law of the Lord
  
• Just what all is included in the Law of the Lord?
• Is that Law completely fixed, never changing?
• Is that Law the last word on what makes for sin in our lives?
• Can any one of us ever know the whole Law?
• Should we ever know the whole Law?
  

• You are needed
  
• The culture that we find ourselves in tells us that our worth is strongly attached to what we are able to do, the tasks that we can perform.  When you meet a person for the first time, its one of the first questions that comes up: "what do you do?", rather than "who are you?"
• Do you think that God values any of us more than others?
• If so, what is the criteria that He uses for such valuation?
• If so, what does He use that assigned value for?
• Why do you think that He might make someone who is of lesser value?
  

• The power of the Spirit
  
• God calls us His children to continue the ongoing incarnation of Jesus to earth.  We can only achieve that through the Holy Spirit.  Easier said than done.
• When is a time when you really felt the Holy Spirit working with/in/through you?
• What was your contribution to that work of the Holy Spirit?
• What had you done to prepare for that?
• Was the work successful?
• How do you know?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where is home for me?
• Where does my sense of sin come from?
  
• Who am I becoming in God?
  
• Where might God be calling me to "let go and let God"?
  

A Land Ravaged

I remember when we were led away from here so many years ago.

This land had been our home for generations by then.

Every valley and hill like an old friend that you know you can trust.

I remember hearing the song of birds, the babbling of the streams,

The ewes and rams greeting one another in the morning stillness,

The whisper of the breezes through the olive trees.

All of creation was so ordered, and abundant.

But we lost our way without ever leaving home.

We forgot who we really were, and why we were here.

And now, the vineyards are ruins.  The irrigation ditches clogged.

Once beautiful farms are all but erased by time and neglect.

Fields once bursting with abundance produce nothing but thistles.

Yes, there is a great deal of work to be done here.

Work that is for younger hands and backs than mine.

But before that can truly begin, there is other work needed.

We need to find our soul.

Remind one another of who we are, and always have been.

Remind one another of the faithfulness of our Father.

That work of the prophets in our midst -

That is something that I can lay claim to.

Not just because I am old, and have memories.

But because I never forgot what it means to be God's child.

Shalom!

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 62: 1-5
   
2. Psalms 96: 1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10
3. 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11
   
4. John 2: 1-11
   

• Your land espoused
  
• While in Boy Scouts, my father & I went on a lot of hikes in the local mountains.  Our scout master, a devout Lutheran and student of ecology, would take time to point out to us the interconnected nature of nature, and marvel at God's creativity and our place in that ecology.
• What would you say is our responsibility as God's stewards of the planet?
• Does that necessarily mean that we leave behind manufacturing, farming, dense population centers in order to be more sustainable?
• Where can we as individuals make a difference in our world?
• Is that enough?
  

• Governing with equity
  
• We believe that God is ultimately in charge, that all rightful authority derives from Him and His will for His children.  But sometimes, connecting the dots between that concept and day to day living can be a little tough.
• Is God's kingdom strictly something that is revealed at the end of time, or is that revelation a process, one that it going on right now?
• God's kingdom is not like an earthly kingdom in many ways.  What are some of those differences?
• What are our responsibilities regarding bringing about God's kingdom in the meanwhile?
• Where can we start?
  

• You are gifted
  
• All and each of us are gifted in God.  Sadly, it's all too easy to think of that giftedness as though it is something that we need to publish on some sort of resume, some way that we have to sell ourselves in the Kingdom.  The good news is that God is totally sold on us from before we were ever born.
• What are some things that make you feel good about yourself?
• Do you think that God is proud of you, of the way that you have turned out (fact is, that process never ceases)?
• Can you imagine God pointing to you and saying "this is my beloved son/daughter in whom I am well pleased".
• Why do you think that is the case?
  

• Perfect trust
  
• I am always struck by the ways that God involves us in His movements.  The servers were probably grumbling to themselves at having to draw all of that water, one bucketful at a time, to uselessly fill the stone jars.  But if they had not done so, this lavish miracle would not have happened.
• What are some miracles that you have participated in?
• Why do you think that God asked you to get involved in the first place?
• How did that experience change you?
• Do you think that you are more or less likely to be trusting the next time God leads you?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me to be a better steward of His blessings?
• In this era of contentious politics, where might God be calling me to bring peace?
  
• Is God calling me to make different/more use of the gifts that He has given me?
  
• When I pray, do I look for ways that God might be calling me to be part of His answer to my prayer?
  

Do We Need to Fill All Six of Them?

Drawing water was no picnic in first century Palestine.

Most often, the wells were deep,

Each bucket of water slowly emerging from the cool depths of the earth,

Heavy and dripping at the end of a rope wound on a balky crank.

 

You have to wonder why Jesus chose to to gladden the feast at Cana this way.

He could have had them fill just one jar, and make it so that jar never ran empty.

That would have been just like the jug of oil that fed Elijah the prophet for three years.

But instead, Jesus asked for six jars to be filled, one after the other.

 

I'm glad that I wasn't there to present that water turned to wine to the steward.

Because I'd be wondering what it was going to taste like.

I'd wonder if I was going to look the fool for presenting common well water.

And then trying to explain why I had bothered the steward in the first place.

 

Maybe that's the whole point.

In order to receive a miracle, we have to be the miracle.

We are more than onlookers in this life,

More than merely passing through.

Instead, we are called, like Jesus,

To become immersed in the miracle,

Put some skin in the game,

And trust Him just enough to let His Kingdom come to earth.

Lord teach me to learn to trust You enough,

To do what you ask of me, no matter how small.

Knowing that is all that it takes

To usher in the miracle of your Presnce in our lives.

Shalom!

The Baptism of the Lord

Our readings for Baptism of the Lord Sunday are:

1. Isaiah 40: 1-5, 9-11
   
2. Psalms 104: 1b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30
3. Titus 2: 11-14, 3: 4-7
   
4. Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22
   

• Finding comfort
  
• God offers His people comfort in the knowledge that He has forgiven us our many and various sins if we ask for and receive that forgiveness.  But that can be hard to do.
• How do you know when you have fallen into sin?
• How do you prepare yourself for that revelation, that is, what do you do to make yourself open to God's prompting?
• Once you've asked for forgiveness, do you ever have trouble really believing that you are forgiven?
  

• Give us this day
  
• Food insecurity is a terrible thing.  Long Beach State has a locally sponsored pantry for students suffering from food insecurity.  We all long to be secure, to know where our next meal is coming from, where we will sleep at night, how we will clothe ourselves, but sometimes, the pursuit of that security can become an end it itself.
• What are some things that you do because you trust in God to provide for you?
• What do you think the phrase: "The Lord helps those who help themselves" really means?
• How does that phrase square with trusting God in all things?
  

• Revelation
  
• The fact that the Baptism of our Lord is part of the Christmas season may be a bit counter-intuitive.  But this feast can be seen as an extension of Epiphany - Jesus's revelation to the Gentiles.  And the Baptism of our Lord points to a larger, ongoing epiphany that continues today, in and through all of us.
• Who is someone who has revealed God to you in some way?
• Is that revelation something that you necessarily can put into words?
• Have you ever shared with that person how they have changed your life?
• How might you be changing the lives of others?
  

• When did Jesus' ministry start?
  
• Typically, we say that Jesus's public ministry started at His baptism.  Certainly the Synoptic Gospels recount His ministry in a way that supports that timeline.  But what of His growing up years?
• Do you think it is ever to early to be the Presence of God to others?
• Is it ever too late in life to be that Presence of God to others?
• What are some of the things that you did or participated in as a young person that prepared you for ministry later in life?
• If you had the chance to live your life over again, what might you have done differently during those early years?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• When was the last time that I turned to God for forgiveness?
• Where might God be calling me to greater trust?
• How might God be revealing Himself through me today?
• Where is God looking to build on the life that I have led in my life today?
  

What are You Doing Here?

I will never see these waters with the same eyes again.
This stretch of the Jordan has always called to me.
The sighing of the wind as it walks the ancient dunes,
The clear, uncluttered sunlight as it warms the air,
All speaks to me as no other place can.
This is truly one of the thin places on earth.
Where the veil between the earthly and the divine is so very sheer.

I feel their wandering, these children of Israel.
Looking, seeking, searching, longing for peace.
And not finding it, no matter where they look.
Until they come here, and share this grainy tabernacle,
Listen to the sermons of the wind and flowing water,
Turn their fevered gaze inward,
And find the God who made them, there all along.

They come looking for a new start.
They seek a way out of meaninglessness,
From the darkness into the light.
That their hearts may once again find their way home.
That they may find their true place in God's eternal orchestra.
That they may truly believe and live, and breathe
That their God loves them beyond all telling.

My Lord, what are you doing here?
John, my cousin, my herald, my inspiration, 
Let me ask the same question of you.
I am only here doing Your bidding, preparing Your way.
Helping Your people become ready for You.
Surely You have no need for a baptism of repentance.
Then, between us, let this be a baptism of consecration.

I come today to sum up my life to this moment
To thank our Father for all the graces that He has showered upon me
To ponder what my flesh has learned, and is teaching me
And from all of that, find my way forward to my unfolding destiny.
And I ask you, cousin, brother, and son
To be Abba's minister
And by this sacrament, make a sacrament of me for all generations.

 That I, Abba, and the Spirit might do the same for all of you.

Shalom!