8th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Sirach 27: 4-7
2. Psalms 92: 2-3, 13-14, 15-16
3. 1 Corinthians 15: 54-58
4. Luke 6: 39-45

• The potter's kiln
• Richard Rohr says that we never get in touch with our real self until we have been through great loss and/or suffering.  Part of me hopes that he's wrong.  Part of me hopes that my real self isn't really all that important.
• When have you felt tested by some sort of loss or suffering?
• Did you get better, or bitter?
• Why do you think that that experience affected you that way?
• Would you react any differently to that today?
  

• Bearing fruit in old age
• I have lots of things that I never had as a younger man: a bald spot, wrinkles where I didn't even think that you could wrinkle, more and more joints that click, and the list goes on.  I hope that I can look forward to different sorts of fruits as I venture deeper into my golden years.
• What are some of the fruits that God has brought about in your life?
• How did those come about for you?
• Were you looking for them?
• How are those fruits blessing those around you?
  

• Labor in the Lord
• What are some of the things that you have labored over in your life?
• Looking back on that labor now, was it really worth it?
• Is it worth it because of what you accomplished, or who/what you became along the way?
• How do you know if you are, or have been, laboring in vain?
• Is it enough for our labor to just put food on the table?
  

• Soul friends
• Friends are essential.  They bring out the best in us, sometimes in spite of us.  But finding really good friends can be hard.  Nurturing friendships has to be intentional.  A soul friend is someone who you can share deeply with, and whom you trust implicitly.
• Who is someone in your life that you would term a soul friend?
• What is it about them that helps you on your walk with God?
• Have you ever thanked them for that?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me to embrace loss or suffering in my life?
• Where might God be calling me to bear new/different fruit?
• Is my labor at all fruitful?
• Are all of my relationships really good for me?

Your Inheritance

The old man had died poor. 
He had never held on to much.
Instead, he gave it all away.
Saying "you can't take it with you.
So why bother so much now?"

To the first son, he gave a fishing pole.
"Learn to relax a little each day"
Said the attached card.
"And you'll never go to bed with regrets."

 Disappointed, the son left in disgust. 
For his wealth was vast,
And his worries even larger.

The second received a journal.
"Write what you are grateful for."

But the young man would have none of it.
Because he never had enough.

The third son received a smooth, round, pebble.

Seeing it, he clutched it to his chest and sobbed.

"Dad and I would search the stream banks
For the smoothest stones, the ones tumbled by the currents
Until all of their rough edges had worn off.
Until they had become beautiful in the hands of God
Worn and embraced in a thousand trying times and seasons.

And now here he is,
Showing all of us the beauty of trials, the love found only in turbulence."

Shalom!