15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Deuteronomy 30: 10-14 
2. Psalms 69: 14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37
3. Colossians 1: 15-20
4. Luke 10: 25-37

• Finding God in your heart
• Once upon a time, I prayed for greater clarity.  I asked God to make His desires for me more clear, speak to me more plainly, relieve me from the challenge of hearing that still small voice.  Now I pray for greater sensitivity on my part that I might be more in tune with His voice, more inclined to listen, more aware of when I drift from His side.
• How does God let you know that you are wandering from the best that He has for you?
• How have His ways of revealing Himself to you changed through the years?
• Do you find that you are better at listening over time?
• Do you think that you can follow God even closer? 

• Finding your needs
• I used to scoff at those who only sought God's help when they had hit bottom.  I imagined God sitting in His favorite recliner with His arms crossed looking at such opportunists saying "where were you during the good times?  Why turn to me now?  Where will you go once you don't think that you need me anymore?"
• I'm beginning to realize that a) God never withholds His mercy from us just because we do not think to seek Him consistently and b) we always need God.
• When is a time that you have called on God to be with you to help you lately?
• Would you have thought to look to God for that earlier in life?
• What happened along the way? 

• Seeking harmony
• Harmony in music is not unison.  Rather, the various voices weave in and out in a dialogue with each other, each making their own contribution, making the result richer.
• Where do you see Jesus bringing diverse points of view, diverse backgrounds, diverse voices together into harmony among us today?
• What can we do to foster that harmony?
• Why can't everyone else just see reason and agree with you? 

• Finding a generous heart
• The words generous and generate share a common root: genus - to give birth, to beget.  Being generous to others brings new life into the world, brings about the Kingdom of God.
• What are some ways that God has called you to be generous in a new, unexpected way?
• How did that turn out?
• How did you come to recognize that God was behind that request?
• How did your generosity change you? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How could you be a better listener to God's call in your life? 
• What do you need God that you've failed to ask for His help? 
• Where do you see a need for greater harmony in your life?
• Where has God led you to be generous that you might not have realized?

Looking for a schedule

I would dearly love it if God would just learn to update my Google calendar.

Better yet, put His wants, desires, events in there with just a couple days notice.

Even better yet, ask me whether I feel up to the call before He changes my schedule.

 

But maybe the unexpected request is an unexpected mercy.

The need unseen (as yet) gives me time to prepare for the I know not what,

Before I have the chance to throw up my defenses my "not this times".

 

Lord, help me to be resilient in the face of need.

Always listening to your call in my life.

Always ready to set aside what has given me joy -

 

That I might embrace an even greater gift -

A gift that you have been growing in me all along -

A gift that has come to bear fruit in the giving it away.

 

Shalom!