Weekly Readings Reflections: 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time:

My father use to counsel me that in my career I needed to always look ahead, always ask myself what I can be doing to qualify myself for that next promotion, that next assignment, push myself to greater ability and responsibility. I don't know that that's necessarily bad advice, but maybe there's a point where ambition becomes toxic and we start to look like Shakespeare's Macbeth all over again.
Have you ever had to say "no" to an offer of more responsibility, bigger scope to your function, maybe even a pay raise?
What made you back away from that offer?
How did you turn that down?
How did you feel after that?
How did you pray through that experience?

I have never in my life been food or shelter insecure, I've never felt threatened by any form of oppression or prejudice. So finding solidarity with the poor is something that I have to work on.
What exactly makes someone poor? Is it just about money, or does it include the esteem of your peers, your security, your relationships, your education, ...?
How do you help the poor?
How did you get involved in those efforts?
How do you know that what you're doing is enough?

Cain and Abel remind us of the depths to which we can fall when we lose sight of God's love in our lives, and instead try to grab what we want, rather then ask ourselves where we have parted ways with God.
How can you tell when your relationship with God is getting strained?
When it happens, how do you find the source, the root of that strain?
Do you think that you're getting better at that process as you get older?
Why?

Perhaps the most insidious of vices is false humility. A person with false humility may use their appearance of humility as a way to manipulate others, or gain control of a situation, or gain validation of themselves. But perhaps the worst liability is that the person afflicted with false humility can eventually fool themselves.
What are some benefits of true humility?
Does true humility have any down side?
Is true humility about actions, motivation, both, neither?
How do you guard against false humility?
How has genuine humility brought you closer to God and others?

After You

True humility finds:

Joy in giving,

Courage in honesty,

Meaning in serving.

When giving, honesty, or serving become a burden,

The coward's way out is to ignore that seismic shift in perspective.

Try not to answer the really deep questions about what's changed.

And desperately hope that no one notices.

But doing the right things for the wrong reasons is a poison,

That infects everything that it touches.

Sowing seeds of confusion and doubt.

All because I was afraid to look within.

Look within and find when

When the light within me died.

The lamp of my love and passion winked out.

Leaving just an empty shell of a man where once I stood.

Maybe it was burnout from too much giving.

Maybe it was disappointment in the tangible results.

Maybe it was just time to move on, and I refused.

Maybe it was the sad, sad thought that I never belonged here at all.

Whatever the cause, I need to find it.

Pray for healing and consolation.

Admit to those that I serve that I am empty.

And maybe find solidarity with them in that emptiness.

Shalom!

Weekly Readings Reflections