Our readings for 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
- Genesis 18: 20-32
- Psalms 138: 1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8
- Colossians 2: 12-14
- Luke 11: 1-13
- Invited to pray
- I'm struck that God hung back with Abraham and let His two companions go on ahead, as though God wanted a word alone with Abraham. The thought that God enjoys time alone with me, that He finds my company enjoyable is both liberating and moving.
- We all have favorite people that we like to share things with. One person might be your go to when your kids do something wonderful, someone else might be your favorite person to tell about some accomplishment you had at work the other day. What sort of things do you like to share with God?
- What sorts of things do you think God actually enjoys hearing about?
- A good leader receives more than just the bare facts in a report, they are looking for how those facts impact the one reporting them, how the reporter perceives those facts, and what the reporter wants to see coming out of those events. How much of that do you share with God?
- If we believe that God is the Universe's best listener, what should we be telling Him about?
- Lord give me strength
- I love Morgan Freeman in this video. When we encounter challenging circumstances, it's easy to ask God to remove the challenges, let life get back to "normal", whatever that is. I suspect the next rung up on the prayer ladder is to pray for strength to get through that challenge. Still survival mode, but better. I'm beginning to realize that maybe the next rung up is to ask that I might draw closer to God in the course of making my way in that challenge.
- When are some times that God has given you strength?
- Did it come about that you got to a place where you no longer needed that strength?
- Why do you think that God uses circumstances in our lives to teach us and build us, rather than just "zap" us with whatever grace we're looking for?
- Nailing it
- God calls us to be people of hope. That hope looks forward to something better than the sorts of things that most folks hope for: promotion at work, a house in a nicer neighborhood, our kids finally getting serious about their schoolwork. While all of these things are good, they need to be set in the proper context, the hope for freedom from sin and ever greater closeness to God.
- What limitations, fears, bad habits, ... that you have that in one way or another hinder you from getting closer to God?
- Can you imagine what it would be like if those shackles were to somehow be removed?
- How do you think that God might go about making that happen?
- Are you ready for one or more of those shackles to be broken?
- The ultimate gift
- Everything around us can be looked at as props on a stage. They are here to help us to learn how to be more trusting, righteous, holy before God. They are nothing but a means to an end. We cannot take them with us, because we will have no need nor desire to take them with us when we die.
- What are some of the best gifts that God has given you in your life?
- Do you think those all came to you by way of prayer (yours or someone praying for you)?
- How did each of those gifts bring you closer to God?
- If God had asked you ahead of time, would you have suggested that He bring you closer to Him in some other way?
- Preparation for Reconciliation
- How can I make room in my life for more/better prayer?
- Where do I need greater strength and courage?
- Where can I be more free in my walk with God?
- How is God drawing me closer to Him today?
Open My Eyes Lord
Funerals are painful for a lot of reasons.
Sharing your grief with other grieving souls is never easy.
Each of the bereft have a different set of memories,
Looking at the departed through a different prism.
Finding that all of us carry different facets of the departed,
Sharing stories with one another
Reconciling our personal picture
With the rest of the community of grief can be a challenge.
Its a rare person who loses a loved one without regrets.
Rarer still the one whose heart is more full of thanksgiving than sadness
When a once vibrate part of your life is now gone forever.
Leaving you wondering how it might have been if only you'd known.
"I told you I was sick" is a humorous headstone.
Reminding us that life is short, death often unexpected.
And we need to live with each other knowing that we might be in the last days:
Either yours or mine.
I think it all comes down to being sensitive,
Bold,
Brave,
Courageous.
So that when God comes knocking at our door in the form of a loved one,
We see them, we see Him for who they are in our lives.
And graciously welcome them in knowing that the present is always ripe.
And trust that the knock at the door is an answer to prayer.
Whether we know it or not.
Shalom!
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