Weekly Readings Reflections: 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

The children of Israel had to be ready. Ready to leave all that they knew, most of their possessions, their homes and take off into an unknown future. I imagine the young children asking why they cannot afford to bring along treasured possessions, why they have to leave at all, and why this night, among all others. I would not want to be their parents.
What are some things that you are particularly attached to? That might be a place, a job, a position within your company, a daily routine that you love.
If God told you that He had something that was even better that He was offering you in exchange for that treasured item, would you be able to let go?
How would you even make such a decision?
Have you ever been faced with such a discernment in your past?
Why do you think that is?

Hope sustains us through the worst of times. But hope is not always easy to find.
At bottom, what do you hope for most? Is it to be the next powerball winner, to get that coveted promotion at work, that your mother-in-law would finally stop nagging at you, ...?
Does that hope help bring you closer to God?
What sort of hope would draw you closer to God?
What would be the foundation, the root of such a hope?
How do you think that you might strengthen that hope starting today?

A liminal space is a transition, a doorway into something new. I expect that most of us want to get to the other side of such chapters in our lives as quickly as possible so that we can once more "settle in" to a new routine, get past that awkward stage of caught leaving one state behind in favor of another, and not having a clear picture of what the future holds.
What are some of the transitions that you are undergoing right now? That might be mourning the loss of a loved one, your children moving out of the house, graduating from an education into something new, creating a new relationship with someone else, ...
Why did you embark on this transition in the first place?
How much of that decision was the fruit of prayer for you?
How much of the way in which you navigate this season in your life the fruit of prayer?
If you could go back to the fork in the road that led you to this place, would you make the same decision, knowing then what you know now?
Do you think that we ever get to a place of just resting in life?

Balance is hard. Renouncing all possessions and earthly ties is tough, but trying to "live in the world and not be of the world" is perhaps even tougher. Somehow, we are called to love people, not use them, and use the things of this world for God's glory, but not love them.
How do you make sure that nothing in your life gets to be too important to you?
If you find that you have developed an unhealthy attachment to someone/something/some place/some experience, ... how to you get free of that?
Why do you think that process of achieving freedom can be so painful?

Where might God be calling me from my comfort zone?
What can I do to get closer to what I hope for in my life in God?
Is there anywhere in my life where I might be rushing to get through something that might be an invitation to draw closer to God?
How is God calling me to greater trust?

Shalom!

Weekly Readings Reflections