6th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for Sixth Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 8: 5-8, 14-17
2. Psalms 66: 1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
3. 1 Peter 3: 15-18
4. John 14: 15-21

• Withstanding persecution
• The first reading tells of the first christian diaspora - the scattering of Jesus' followers under persecution.  Far from staying silent, Philip and the others spread the Gospel even more.  Persecution can come in many forms.
• Why do you think that God allows His people to be persecuted?
• What does that tell you about God?
• Do you think that we are ever ready for persecution?
• Where would you find the strength to resist persecution? 

• God is on the move
• God is a god of action, getting right in there with us.
• How has God been moving in your life lately?
• How do you know it's Him?
• Do you think that this movement of His in your life would convince anyone else that God is real? 

• I like Him
• In The Man of La Mancha there is a scene in which Aldonza asks Sncho Panza why he follows his master, even though no one else can see a reason.
• If someone asked you why you follow Jesus, what would you say?
• Have those reasons changed at all through the years?
• Do you think of yourself as an evangelist at all?
• Why is that? 

• Loving obedience
• We do the will of God in our lives, not because we want to earn God's favor, but because that obedience is the way that we express our love of God, and it is in that expression that our love deepens.
• How has God "nudged" you when He has something new for you?
• How do you tell God's "nudges" from just random static in your life?
• How do you tell when you have made a mistake trying to follow God's will?
• What makes you so eager to follow Him? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might I be weak, and need greater strength?
• Where is God most real in my life?
• Are there those in my life that only I can bring the joy of the Gospel?
• How might God be calling me to join Him in building His Kingdom? 

Without Seeing You

Lord, I'm more like Thomas than I care to admit.

I've tried to follow you and your ways for a long time now.

I've tried to be honest with myself, and with you.

I've tried to recognize my true motives.

And seek Your help when I need it.

 

But, really, if I'm totally honest -

I'm not so sure that I'm always on the mark.

I'm not so sure that I'm at all successful.

I'm not so sure that I even know myself.

But there is one thing that I'm pretty sure of.

 

That my desire to please you, pleases you.

That my seeking you allows me to find you.

Even in the surprising places that you are found -

Those places that I would never think to look.

Thank you Jesus for your unexpected Presence.

 

Help me to keep loving in the uncertainty,

To keep walking even if I cannot see the road ahead,

To keep giving of myself even if I don't know where it will lead,

To keep praying even when it's hard to know what to pray for,

To keep hoping that you are, and will always be at my side. 

 

Shalom!

5th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for fifth Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 6: 1-7
2. Psalms 33: 1-2, 4-5, 18-19
3. 1 Peter 2: 4-9
4. John 14: 1-12

• Serving others
• Fr. Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries tells of a parish that he served in the LA inner city.  They started sheltering the homeless in their church, but that created some unexpected challenges.  No amount of incense on Sunday morning was quite enough to remove the smell of all those homeless people who had spent the night there.
• Do you think Fr. Boyle's church went "over the top" caring for the poor?
• How should they have done things differently?
• Is a church an inappropriate place for the homeless to sleep?
• Is someone's bedroom an inappropriate place to worship God? 

• I am not alone
• God is always with us.  We are pretty confident of that.
• When have you felt the presence of God powerfully in your life?
• What difference did that Presence make in the here and now?
• How did that Presence change you in the time since then?
• What do you do to try to be in that Presence all the time? 

• Finding your purpose
• How would you define a priest?
• Does a priest have to be ordained?
• Who are some priests who have made a difference in your life?
• Do they have anything in common?
• Do you have anything in common with them?
• Would you like to? 

• Be the miracle
• How would you define "miracle"?
• How do such things happen?
• What role does God play in miracles?
• What role do we play in them?
• What are some miracles that you've seen?
• What are some miracles that you'd like to see? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me to work for justice in some small way?
• Who in my life needs a companion?
• Where is God building humility in me?
• How might God be calling me to participate in a miracle? 

Give me Ears to Listen

I am convinced that the Spirit manifests Himself in creativity.
That ability to see things in a new way unlike any other.
That ability to see a path through the present where there is none.
That ability to bring dreams barely whispered into full-throated reality.

The Spirit calls in the whispers of the day to day.
When we are able to stop and listen to what the day is telling us.
And when we are willing to silence the shouts from all sides.
And ask ourselves: "where was I closest to God today?"

And also ask ourselves "where did I feel absent, cut off, removed from God?"
How did that happen to me?
What did I do about that estrangement, that isolation?
What does that isolation tell me about God, His will for me?

Sadly, we'll never get it right.
God's direction is seldom crystal clear, at least for now.
But the only way to learn to listen is to learn to obey.
And trust God in the mistakes along the way.

For if we wait for perfect clarity before obedience - 
We'll never make mistakes, which would be a mistake.
We'll never learn confidence in our ears.
We'll never learn courage in the face of our fears.

Come, sit a spell with me and pray.
That we might both hear His voice in our separate lives together.
And learn how to build His Kingdom.
One imperfect living stone at a time. 

Shalom!

4th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for fourth Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 2: 2: 14a, 36-41
2. Psalms 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
3. 1 Peter 2: 20b-25
4. John 10: 1-10

• Survivalists
• Survivalists come in several flavors, but none of them want to depend on "the grid" for essential services because they are certain that it is just a matter of time before the conventional infrastructure has a catastrophic failure.  Sort of hard to argue with that perspective when you watch the evening news.
• What corruption do you see in our world today?
• How can we, as God's elect, save ourselves from such corruption?
• How can we help each other achieve such salvation?
• Can we have an impact on any of the corruption around us? 

• I am not alone
• I love the story of Veronica from the Mater Dolorosa.  She risked a great deal by stepping away from the crowd to minister to Jesus, no matter how briefly.  Wiping His face probably did little to relieve His physical suffering.  But it meant all the world to Him, I'm sure.
• When is a time that you have been able to be a companion to someone else?
• How did you help them through their challenges of the moment?
• How did that make you feel?
• How did that encounter with another help you in your own challenges? 

• Finding meaning
• Suffering, regardless of the nature of that suffering, often feels unfair.  We do our best to follow God's direction, and yet things go wrong in spite of our best efforts.  That's hard to understand.
• What has caused you suffering, or still causes you suffering?
• Do you feel that God owes you an explanation?
• If Jesus suffered for us, what purpose can our suffering serve?
• Which virtue(s) do you think would help you through suffering the most? 

• Finding your mission
• Jesus the gate leads us into His fold as well as outward to mission.  The two rely on each other for their renewal and meaning.
• How have others helped you find your mission(s) through the years?
• How have you helped others to find their mission?
• Why do you think that we need each other that way?
• How can we be better at helping others find where they belong?
• Does that "place of belonging" ever change?

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me to work for justice in some small way?
• Who in my life needs a companion?
• Where is God building humility in me?
• Am I where I belong in all things?

Shalom!

3rd Sunday of Easter

Our readings for third Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 2: 14: 22-33
2. Psalms 16: 1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
3. 1 Peter 1: 17-21
4. Luke 24: 13-35

• Finding your voice
• Peter must have felt himself a total failure at Jesus' crucifixion, but Jesus showed him mercy and forgiveness, and caused a resurrection in Peter that was a true transformation.  Peter had been afraid to speak up, but he found his voice.
• Speaking up can happen in many ways.  We can "speak up" by giving our time, talent, treasure away.  We can speak up by written and other artistic forms of expression.  We can speak up by helping the poor.
• How do you "speak up" about the Kingdom?
• Do you think that your voice is making a difference?
• Do you feel called in your work?
• If not, why not? 

• My Body in Confidence
• Most of us have one of two relationships to our own body: it's working pretty well so we take it for granted, or for one reason or another, we're uncomfortably aware of it and it's slow evolution as we grow ever more aged.  But there's a third option, we can learn to listen to our bodies.
• When you get tense, or tired out, or anxious, where does that emotion tend to center in your body?
• Do you ever stop to ask yourself why you are feeling that way, or do you just "power through it" since you probably don't have time to try to deal with such things as feelings?
• Have you ever "sat down" with your body and try to figure out why it's feeling the way that it does?
• What has it told you lately? 

• Divine Mercy
•  The Good News of Jesus resurrection is not so much an affirmation of God's power as it is a lesson in God's ability to transform disappointment, betrayal, suffering, death into abundant life.  But we have to find hope first.
• When have your hopes been dashed in life?
• How did you handle that disappointment?
• How did you learn to hope again?
• What do you hope for lately? 

• Faith sharing
• Things can happen in our lives that isolate us, and make us feel as though we're all alone.  That could be a dire medical diagnosis, a death close to us, depression that won't go away.  Those are the times that we must stand fast in our discipleship and weather the storm.
• Have you ever felt alone, as though you were going through something that no one else would really understand?
• What did you do to try to get through that time of isolation?
• How did you finally make it through?
• What did you learn about such occasions in your life?
• Do you think that you're prepared for the next one? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me to work for justice in some small way?
• Where might God be speaking to me through my own body?
• What in my life makes me worry about the way that God sees me?
• Can I trust God enough to share my faith with others?

I'm Forgiven

We had set out for Emmaus to try to pick up the pieces.
Neither of us had any idea what lay ahead of us.
But Jerusalem, the defeated disciples, the triumphant Jews,
None of those had anything that either of us wanted going forward.

Most of all, I worried what I would say to my parents, my siblings.
I had left all of them to follow Jesus.  None of them understood.
I could hardly articulate where I was going, why I was going.
I probably sounded mildly deranged to them back then.

Now, now I would be going back home, a mere shell of my former self.
I felt like I had aged twenty years in the past three.
The life had gone from my step, the light from my eyes.
Now, now I was just surviving, only because there was nought else to do.

But then Jesus came upon us, spent the day with us.
Broke bread with us, and in that moment of hospitality -
We knew Him for who He was, who we were with Him -
And who He is within us.

 It wasn't until we were half way back to Jerusalem -
The shadows on the road growing longer, and the night growing chill -
That I realized that I had been as big a disappointment to Him -
As He had been to us.  But He never left us.

And I realized then that He had forgiven me.
Absolved me of my despair, and doubts, and fears.
Entrusted us with the Good News for the rest of the disciples.
And all Jerusalem, all God's children.

I dropped to my knees and thanked God for seeking me out.
Finding me even as I fled the scene.
Knowing that I would not have the courage to stay.
Certain of my uncertainty.

He is alive.
He is alive in me.
Because I am forgiven.

And now, and now, I can even forgive myself. 

Shalom!

Divine Mercy Sunday (AKA 2nd Sunday of Easter)

Our readings for Divine Mercy Sunday day are:

1. Acts 2: 42-47
2. Psalms 118: 2-4, 13-15, 22-24
3. 1 Peter 1: 3-9
4. John 20: 19-31

• Community living
• In the book Kisses From Katie a young missionary to Uganda is confronted by unimaginable poverty and suffering.  One of the principles that illuminates her service is the simple statement "God doesn't make extra babies" which I take to mean that all children are God's children, regardless of how they come into this world.
• How would you define justice?
• Can justice be measured?
• Is it possible for there to be justice as long as any of us have any more than anyone else?
• How can we help to bring about justice in our immediate vicinity?
• Is that enough? 

• Finding victory
• Victory can mean a lot of different things.
• What are some things that God has given you victory over?
• How did you pray for that victory?  What were you looking for in that victory?
• Is a victory in our lives necessarily always permanent?
• Why is that? 

• Finding true joy
• Joy is a funny emotion.  We might tell others that landing that dream job gives you joy, or, if you're lucky, your children give you joy.  Or maybe your spouse gives you joy.
• Is all joy the same?
• What are some things that give you joy that never change, that are solid, despite anything else going on in your life?
• Is joy incompatible with sorrow in your life?
• What do you do to fill your life with more joy? 

• Faith sharing
• There is no second-hand faith.  I cannot give you my faith as a gift, as much as I might wish that I could.  We can share with each other of our faith, we can share experiences of God that we have had because we had faith.  But faith has to come from within.
• Have you ever become discouraged when you're trying to share your faith with others?
• If that person or persons had received faith, what would you want to see them do with that faith?
• What changes would you want to see in their lives?
• Why is faith so hard?
• Is it worse today than before?
• Why? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me to work for justice in some small way?
• Am I settling for a stale-mate when God has a victory for me?
• What brings me joy?
• Can I trust God enough to share my faith with others?

 

Shalom!

Easter Sunday

Our readings for Easter Sunday day are:

1. Acts 10: 34a, 37-43
2. Psalms 118: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23
3. 1 Corinthians 5: 6b-8
4. John 20: 1-9

• Finding your voice
• Peter shrank away from being accountable for following Jesus when all looked dark and dying.  I imagine that Peter came very close to taking his own life like Judas.  Wishing instead that he had died for Jesus so that he, Peter would not have been such an abject failure.  Yet Jesus was able to pull life from that death of Peter's.
• We have all failed in ways large and small.  Have any of your failures drawn you closer to God?
• What was the sequence of events that you went through as that failure was transformed, resurrected in your life?
• How were you praying during that transformation? 

• Finding the Cornerstone
• Jesus was rejected because He and His life, His ministry didn't fit the mold.  No one seemed to know what to do with Him, what to make of Him.
• What are some things that have helped you find humility?
• How have those things changed you?
• How did you manage to accept that grace of humility in your life?
• Has humility gotten any easier with time? 

• Finding sincerity
• It's easy to lie to ourselves and others about our motives, our desires.  But God can only call forth the best from us if we're willing and able to face that which we typically want to hide.
• How do you identify and acknowledge where you are weak, a failure, in poverty?
• Do you make a regular practice of that?
• Does it ever get any easier?
• Is it worth it? 

• It takes a village
• In those first few hours of Easter Sunday morning, I suspect that each disciple achieved a different perspective on the resurrection.  That was based on where they were in their faith journey at the time, what they saw and experienced, and their openness to the Gospel unfolding before them.  As they joyously shared their faith, a fuller and even more wondrous vision began to emerge.
• How are some ways that you share your faith with others?
•  As you share your faith, has that faith deepened in the sharing?
• Who are some folks who have shared their faith with you?
• How has their sharing deepened your faith?
• Why is that sort of faith sharing so necessary?

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• What of my failures might God be transforming to life?
• Am I OK with God leading to ministries that look like failure?
• Where might God be calling me to greater freedom?
• Are there any folks sharing their faith with me that I'm not aware of?

Who Do You Run To?

It was still dark, and cold.

Not so dark, not near as cold -

As where they had laid Him.

And I shuddered thinking of His pale, lifeless, form.

 

I so desperately wanted to say "good bye" properly.

Let Him know that He meant the world to me.

Let Him know that I planned to go a journeying.

Telling anyone who would listen what He meant to me.

 

Out of the limited options open to me,

That seemed the only one worth pursuing.

It would be lonely, and dangerous.

But I needed to continue His work.

 

I needed to be the resolute woman that He saw in me.

I needed to be faithful to my true self -

The one that He called forth into the light.

The "me" that only He could see.

 

But before I would leave,

I needed just one last moment with Him.

To promise to be faithful.

And thank Him.

 

My plans were shattered in an instant.

When I saw that the stone was rolled away.

That something profound had happened.

Something that none of us anticipated.

 

I had to tell someone.

I had to discern what this meant.

As shattered as the other disciples were -

They would have to find community again.

 

I knew then where to run to.

Where I needed to share this troubling news.

Where I could find meaning.

In the midst of His baffled followers.

 

So I ran, heedless of my appearance.

Disdainful of the danger that might be afoot.

Back to the bosom of the trauma victims

That I had come to love so dearly.

 

And you, you who now come after me.

You are going to be challenged

And shaken to your core along this journey.

Where will you run to? 

 

 

Shalom!

Palm Sunday

Our readings for Palm Sunday are:

1. Isaiah 50: 4-7
2. Psalms 22: 8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
3. Philippians 2: 6-11
4. Matthew 27: 11-54

• The cost of a well-trained tongue
• Sometimes, words may be true, but they can be spoken from a person who is in a place that makes them ring false.  Until we have learned what it is like to be in another's shoes, it is hard to give them a word that will truly reach them.  It is hard to show mercy until you have come to terms with your own need for mercy, and accepted that mercy from God.
• When was a time that you felt that you had nothing that you could say to someone else in need?
• What did you end up doing/saying for/to them at that time?
• How did you find it in your heart to relate to them that way?
• How did you grow in that encounter? 

• Awesome God
• Someone or something is awesome when they inspire awe, wonder, amazement.  Our culture tells us that awesome is about power, accomplishment, success, respect.  Jesus tells us differently.
• What has God done that is awesome in your life lately?
• Why was that particularly awesome for you?
• Have you thanked Him for that? 

• Emptying Himself
• Jesus was not afraid to give himself away.  But most of us, for our parts, wonder what will be left if we give too much of ourselves away.  We look at the story of the widow's mite and see only starvation. 
• Who is someone that inspires you with their generosity?
• Do they ever seem to run out of what they give away?
• Have you ever felt depleted because of something that you did for another?
• Why do you think that is? 

• Standing with, standing for Jesus
• Scripture doesn't mention anyone standing up for Jesus in this narrative.  It can feel as though the world, our culture, all those in power, have somehow been aligned together in one great conspiracy and the only sensible option is to get out of the way.
• Does standing up for Jesus have to make a difference in order for that stand to be successful?
• How would you even tell if something that you did actually was successful, in that your action brought the Kingdom of God closer?
• What did that stand cost you? 
• Would it make it worth it knowing that you made a real difference? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be teaching me how to reach other?
• What does God desire for me of His awesomeness?
• Where might God be calling me to greater freedom?
• Where might God be calling me to greater freedom?

Splinters

I had important business in the Holy City that day.

Little time for visiting family, even less for sight seeing.

And yet, here I am, trudging along in this death parade.

Struggling next to someone I hardly even know by reputation.

 

When I took that cross beam from Him, He looked deep into my eyes.

Holding that lock as though we both had hours for the exchange.

Then he very softly breathed "thank you".

And then it was time to pick up the pace and keep going.

 

No time for pleasantries.

No time for listing our family lineage.

No time even to ask how of us is doing.

Both of us breathless, Each for his own reasons.

 

At first, I wanted to quietly walk away.

Leave that cursed, loathsome timber in some ditch -

And go about my way -

And try to salvage what I could of this day.

 

But as the rotted fruit and spit meant for Him

That landed instead on me,

And the two of us became more and more alike,

I gradually came to marvel at His freedom.

 

He was trudging along, giving everything.

Freely, without reservation.

And I realized how very bound I was.

Bound to schedules, agreements, patterns

 

All of which told me -

That I was just as bound as He was -

That He was freer than  I was.

And that my shackles were worse than His.

 

And I began to see the occasional spittle,

Dirt,

Even rocks raining down on us -

As evidence that we were becoming one in disgrace.

 

He never issued an invitation to join Him.

But He steadied me with His bloodied hand

As He strove to stay upright along the way.

And I knew community like never before.

 

I have to know more about this Man.

I must search for His disciples -

And join them to join Him

And make all suffering, all insults meaningful.

 

Shalom!

5th Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 5th Sunday in Lent:

1. Ezekiel 37: 12-14
2. Psalms 130: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
3. Romans 8: 8-11
4. John 11: 1-45

• Don't give up hope, no matter how much it hurts
• Hope makes us resilient in the face of adversity, even persecution.  But its easy to lose hope if we take our eyes off the source of all hope.
• Have you ever given up hope for something?  Maybe it was that your children would regain their faith, maybe it was a hope for some political outcome in our country, maybe it was hope for proper recognition of your contributions, ...
• Did you ever regain that hope?
• Did you come to hope for something else, instead?
• Was that new hope better than the old one? 

• What is it that you want?
• God is all knowing, so there is nothing that we can tell Him in prayer that He does not already know.  God is immutable, so we cannot change His mind.  We cannot coerce God in any way.  So what is the point of intercessory prayer anyway?
• What is something that you really prayed for with all your might?
• Why did that matter to you?
• Did you have a good idea of what God wanted in that situation?
• Did you ever find out what God wanted in that situation?
• How did praying that way help you? 

• Indwelling of the Spirit
• We sacramentally confer the gift of the Holy Spirit on our confirmandi.  What does that actually accomplish?
• What are some times/places/events in which you especially felt the presence of the Spirit?
• What did that Presence allow you to accomplish?
• Do you feel/act that way all of the time?
• Would you like to?
• What would that sort of closeness to the Spirit require of you? 

• Take away the stone
• Sometimes, something that was in our lives that served a perfectly legitimate purpose gets to a place where we just have to let it go, in favor of something even better.
• What are some things that you've had to let go of in your life as you've gradually drawn closer to Jesus?
• How did you come to know that that person, place, thing, activity needed to go?
• Was it hard to let go?
• What became possible in your life once you were free of that?
• Would you do anything differently if you had to go through that whole process again? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How can I discern God's calling in others?
• What does God desire for me?
• Where might the Spirit be leading me today?
• Where might God be calling me to greater freedom?

What about my hummus?

When word reached us of Lazarus' death, I knew what to do.

His sisters would likely have half the surrounding villagers at their home.

Food would run out in hours, not to mention the wine.

 

All that I had were some chickpeas and an old press.

I went to one neighbor to barter for a few choice spices.

I went to another for some olive oil on loan.

 

I spent the next morning making a batch of hummus

Not wanting to arrive empty-handed.

And set off for the home of Mary and Martha.

 

My mouth feeling strange that I had to stop before uttering Lazarus' name.

Their home no longer his.

He's now forever confined to a cold, dark, stone house.

 

I arrived and saw what you would expect.

Mourners, professional and amateur milling about.

Mary and Martha trudging through their hospitality.

 

I barely had a chance to give them my hostess gift -

When suddenly word ricocheted through the crowd -

Jesus is here!  Too bad He got here too late to do any good.

 

Like the others, I followed Mary to the tomb.

Not having anything helpful to say, except "I came as soon as I could."

A soft word, a gentle touch, a knowing glance exchanged here and there.

 

And soon I was embraced by the crowd of mourners.

All of us sharing our loss of Lazaras.

All of us in sympathy with the rest of us.

 

Jesus and His disciples were there too.

Then Jesus shocked us telling us to roll away the stone.

All the customary ceremony had been followed.

 

What need had we to disturb the dead?

How would this help us, the living, move forward?

What good would it do?

 

Then Jesus called, and Lazarus answered.

And I asked myself what else might be possible -

If God is willing to even raise the dead.

 

Maybe I can find it in my heart to forgive my brother -

For seizing my share of the inheritance.

And shaming me before the rest of the family.

 

Maybe I can find it in my heart to reach out to Jacob -

My cousin the tax-gatherer.

I miss him and his family so.

 

Maybe I can share some chickpeas with the beggar on my street.

They are not much, but they are all that I have this week.

He has even less. 

 

Maybe I can rise in my own small way. 

 

Shalom!

4th Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 4th Sunday in Lent:

1. 1 Samuel 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13a
2. Psalms 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
3. Ephesians 5: 8-14
4. John 9: 1-41

• God's chosen
•  Usually, we're so grateful for volunteers, that we don't really ask whether the person applying for a particular ministry is God's choice.  We're afraid that if we set standards, we won't have any takers.
• Do you believe that the only reason that someone wants to be in a ministry, be it choir member, priest, catechist, food drive worker ... is that they feel called to that ministry?
• If they feel called, are they called?
• What responsibility do we have to select new members?
• What responsibility do we have to search out new members? 

• What is it that you want?
• If we are following God as best as we can, it's a safe bet that our deepest desires come from Him.  The hard part is finding what those desires are.
• What is your deepest desire?
• Would you ever think to pray for that?
• What else are you doing to make that desire happen? 

• Good fruit
• Fruit on trees is easy to identify.  Sometimes, the fruits of our labors are harder to pin down.  Sometimes, the best thing that can be said of something that we worked on involved fruits that we never thought would come of that work.
• If you were to die tomorrow, what would be some of the fruits of your life, from your vantage point?
• Do you ever think to ask Jesus what He thinks your fruits are?
• What can you do to make your life more fruitful?
• Do you always need to know what fruits have come from your work? 

• Unwelcome apostle
• The thing that I love about these Gospel readings for the scrutinies is the recurring themes that we see in them.  One of them is apostleship - spreading the Good News of who Jesus is.
• Talking about your faith with another believer is one thing, talking about your faith to someone who is not a believer is another.  Why has that been in your life?
• One reason to be reluctant to bring up matters of faith is that we figure that the other person will never change, that they have closed their minds, that they are blinded.  Would Jesus ever want the Gospel to be shared with such a person anyway?
• Just because words are true does not necessarily mean that they are shared in love.  How can we be sure to share the Good News in love, and not judgement, with patience and not bitterness?
• Who are some "blind" people in your life that you would love to share your faith with? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How can I discern God's calling in others?
• What does God desire for me?
• What can I do to be more fruitful?
• Who might I be an apostle to?

Open My Eyes

The Master miraculously opened my eyes.

I could no longer beg for my bread.

I had to learn a trade and earn it for the first time.

 

I went to the village weaver and asked to be taught.

It was hard at first, learning to trust my eyes -

To guide these hands that have been on their own.

 

Eventually, I learned to delight in colors coming together -

Threads interwoven, crossing one another.

Hardly a design visible when first starting.

 

But the true weaver knows where they are going.

They know what the finished product will be.

Even though no one else can tell ahead of time.

 

And I know that my tapestry is still a weaving.

Threads from my deep past, 

Tastes, sights, sounds from today.

 

The touch of a friend, the lift of a verdant smile 

The sound of a beloved footstep on the hard earth

The smell of the first minutes of a gentle spring rain.

 

Even the disappointments and sorrows have their place.

To try to unravel them from my life is foolish.

For they have a sacred place to fulfill as well. 

 

Every one of them a gift, every one of them a grace.

All to be savored, celebrated, and shared.

Until all of us become one tapestry in Jesus. 

 

Shalom!

3rd Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 3rd Sunday in Lent:

1. Exodus 17: 3-7
2. Psalms 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9
3. Romans 5: 1-2, 5-8
4. John 4: 5-42

• Finding your trust
• Stepping into something new can be exciting, exhilarating, scary.  Eventually thought, the novelty wears off, the implications of your decision begin to become clear, and its easy to begin to wonder: "did I really do such a great thing?  Is this really where God wants me?"
• Have you ever done something bold because you felt led to that by God?
• How did that turn out for you?
• Do you still feel as though that was God's leading?
• Why? 

• Seeking a soft heart
• A soft heart is one that is sensitive to the will of God in your life.  The soft heart feels deeply, seeks closeness to God and others, and is willing to bear hurt and pain on the behalf of others because that empathy is what brings us together, what heals us of our hurts and wounds.
• Are there people in your life today that you might not have noticed in years past?  Maybe you were too busy to notice them, or too preoccupied with other things, or afraid of them for one reason or another?
• What made you finally notice them?
• How did that noticing change you? 

• Making peace
• Where do you find peace?
• What can take your peace away?  Maybe it's a painful memory, someone alive today who immediately sets your blood boiling, maybe its a job that you know you have to do, but which you'd rather not.
• How are you praying for that situation?
• How would you like God to change that situation?
• How would like God to change you? 

• Nobody
• A priest is someone within the community who strengthens our relationship to God, and a prophet is someone from without the community who represents God to the community, calling them to justice and reform.
• Do you see yourself as a priest, a prophet, or a little of both?
• Can we ever have too many prophets?
• Can we ever have too many priests?
• Who are some of the local prophets that you admire?
• Who are some of the local priests that you admire?
• How can we help them in their work? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where is God calling me to be bold?
• How can I be more attuned to God's presence in my life?
• What is stealing my peace?
• How can I do more to bring the Kingdom?

Courage to Stay

He's left our village and I miss Him so.

That day at the well, He changed me.

I had been bitter, disappointed, cynical.

And He gave me hope and dignity.

 

Everyone around me in the village looks the same.

But I will never see them the same way again.

All of them, all of us were so eager to hear His voice.

That we all dropped what we were doing.

 

Now, now we are changed.

No longer strangers to one another.

No longer so cold and bitter.

Each seeing in the other another disciple.

 

For whatever reason -

He came here, to our village, 

For all of us, and each of us.

He came for us, and among us.

 

At first, I wanted to follow Him.

Leave behind the jagged memories,

The long list of hurts and sleights.

But I would have missed a greater healing. 

 

It is as us, all of us -

That He offers us healing and peace.

My people and the Jews are one in Him.

Who knows what is next for us?

 

But I know that we can only find our way -

When we travel this road before us

Together.

With Him and each other.

 

Shalom!

2nd Sunday in Lent

Our readings for the 2nd Sunday in Lent:

1. Genesis 12: 1-4a
2. Psalms 33: 4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
3. 2 Timothy 1: 8b-10
4. Matthew 17: 1-9

• Don't wait for me
• Ultimately, God's call offers freedom to step out of the familiar, the known, into a much larger world in which the horizons recede, a much larger world in which we can become truly visible, truly prophetic, truly alive.  We must never accept safety and security if it comes at the expense of that freedom.
• How have you become more free, more creative, more daring as you have gone through life?
• What have you had to give up/shed along the way in order to embrace that freedom?
• Have you broken any hearts along the way on that quest?
• Would you do it again? 

• Finding your hope
• Hope is not so much for something, like hoping that your team takes the World Series, as it is hope in someone.  True hope is grounded in the faithfulness of God.  True hope relies on faith and love to give it life, just as hope brings joy and vitality to the other two.  They form a trinity of virtue.
• Have you ever lost hope?
• What brought that on?
• How did you get through that dark season in your life?
• How did that chapter change you?
• If you could go back to the you when you had lost hope, what would you tell yourself? 

• Self-induced hardship
• More often than not, stress and burnout are not the result of working too hard, but working at something that we were never meant to work at.  By contrast, true joy can be found in the strangest of places and circumstances when we are there in pursuit of holiness.
• What were you born to do?
• How did you find that calling in your life?
• Do you think that our calling in life, our essence ever changes?
• How did you know when you had found your calling? 

• Savoring the moment
• Mountain top experiences are good, and often needed.  But they become an obstacle if we try to cling to them.
• What are some mountaintop experiences that you have had through the years?
• How/when did you have to descend from that mountaintop?
• How did that mountaintop experience impact/influence the rest of your life?
• Did you ever return to that same mountaintop to try to rekindle the old feelings?
• How did that go for you? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where is God calling me to be more creative?
• Who do I actually hope in??
• Am I being faithful to who I truly am??
• How can I be better at savoring, really living in the moment?

Leaving for Parts Unknown

A coward dies a thousand deaths.

A brave man dies but once.

 

Both end up just as dead.

But the brave make a difference.

 

Lord,

 

Don't let me let my fear of less than greatness -

Keep me from trying at all.

 

Help me to have the courage to leave the familiar

The comfortable

The secure

 

Behind in favor of following you more closely.

 

Give me eyes for the wide open spaces,

The unexpected turn of trail.

 

Help me learn to sing with the brooks.

Teach me to find home wherever you take me.

 

Teach me to find peace,

Not in the certainty of what today will hold.

But in the certainty that you hold me.

 

Let me measure the span of my life -

Not by how many breaths I take.

But by what takes my breath away.

 

Shalom!

1st Sunday in Lent

Our readings for the 1st Sunday in Lent:

1. Genesis 2: 7-9, 3: 1-7
2. Psalms 51: 3-4, 5-6, 
3. 1 Corinthians 2: 6-10
4. Matthew 5: 17-37

• Finding trust
• Trust can be hard.  Sometimes trust calls on us to wait until the time is ripe, sometimes trust calls on us to give things away in order to live life more richly, sometimes trust calls on us to find contentment and fulfillment right where we are.
• What builds your trust in God?
• What has that trust allowed you to do that you would not have been able to accomplish otherwise?
• Trusting in God is one thing.  How much do you trust your understanding of God's will in your life? 

• Open my eyes Lord
• Sin is not just a matter of our individual actions or lack of action.  Sin also has a corporate identity that God calls us to address.
• Individually, we can take advantage of Reconciliation to begin the healing process.  But what can we do about systemic sins that may have come about in the larger communities that we belong to?
• Who's job is it to be the conscience of a family, a parish, the Church at large?  You could call such individuals prophets.
• How does that conscience speak to the rest of us these days? 
• As individuals, how do we participate in the necessary reflection, reconciliation, and renewal necessary to heal those corporate sins?
• What happens if we don't? 

• Finding your mojo
• Lately, I've been struck by Jesus' ability to smoothly move from prayer, hanging with the homies, healing, preaching, sleeping (occasionally).  How did He juggle all of that and find the proper balance???  I suspect that has something to do with holiness.  And I suspect that Jesus' prayer life allowed Him to do all of those things in just the right places and time in exquisite harmony with God's will.
• How do you know when your life is "out of whack"?  That ache that tells you that you've neglected some important aspect of your life.
• How long does it usually take you before you realize that you need to change things?
• How long does that change stay in place once you make it, before you're "out of whack" again?
• How important do you think it is that we do the right things at the right time for the right reason? 

• Finding freedom from sin
• If only Jesus had ChatGPT available, I'm sure He would have been able to come up with even snappier responses to the devil's temptations.
• What do you do to develop your conscience?
• What are some things that make it hard to hear your conscience?
• What help would you like in developing your conscience?
• What help could you offer to others who are looking to develop their conscience? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Do I trust God to give me true joy?
• Might God be calling me to be prophetic?
• Where is God calling me to glory, today?
• Where is God calling me to turn toward Him in a deeper way?

It's Always the Little Things

Woke up late this morning.

Didn't have time to make breakfast

Thankfully, that leftover German chocolate cake from last night didn't take long to prepare.

 

Glanced down at my belt and wondered why it's gotten so short lately.

Part of me delusional about my "diet".

Part of me hating myself for being delusional.

 

Tried to squeeze in some prayer on my way to work.

Then some jerk pulled in front of me on the freeway.

I guess I was still talking to God, but not the way I intended.

 

Day at work was nothing but sand in the gears.

Nothing went smoothly.  Everyone seemed on edge.

Me most of all.

 

Sent off a scorching e-mail saying what I thought needed to be said.

Knowing that I will cringe when I see that again later.

Wondering what could possibly be so wrong about one lousy piece of cake.

 

In a mad attempt to get something done today, I stayed late.

Only thinking to call home and let them know I'd be late while on the freeway.

Thank God my cell phone's integrated with the car, so the call was hands free.

 

Even so, chilly reception and a colder dinner waiting for me at home.

Undifferentiated and unacknowledged guilt beginning to gnaw at me.

Rather than face facts, I took it out on the kids.

 

Tried to pray, too tired.

Besides, the wife has this weird ability to give me the death glare through solid walls.

Went to bed, hoping tomorrow would be better.

 

Wondering to myself if Jesus had it better in the desert.

After all,

He only had three temptations.

 

Shalom!

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Sirach 15: 15-20
2. Psalms 119: 1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
3. 1 Corinthians 2: 6-10
4. Matthew 5: 17-37

• Finding righteousness
• We know that Jesus gives us a means to achieve righteousness before God even in spite of our sin.  At the same time, God gives us the strength, courage, trust in Him to turn from sin, and turn towards God.
• How do you find the strength to resist sin?
• When and where did you learn that?
• Is it still working?
• How have you improved on your ability to turn from sin? 

• Open my eyes Lord
• Sometimes, we have to work a bit harder to see how God's Law applies to a given situation, and we know what God is calling us to.
• Has there ever been anyone who helped you see that you were falling prey to sin?
• How did they let you know?
• Did you find it humbling, inspirational, convicting, embarrassing,  ...
• Did you ever thank them for their service? 

• Finding your glory
• Glory can be defined as celestial bliss.
• Do you think that we can achieve any measure of that glory this side of eternity?
• What do you think contributes to that glory in our lives?
• If we were all glorious, would the world be a better place? 

• Finding freedom from sin
• In the examen prayer, we review the events of the day and ask God to reveal to us where we made decisions, thought thoughts, said things that drew us closer to God, and those that did not.  From a steady practice of our day, we gradually become more in tune with God's will for our lives, and we learn what gives us life.
• Are there practices, friends, activities, places that you no longer invest yourself in as a result of coming closer to Jesus?
• How did you come to see the need to give those up?
• How do you bring yourself back when you feel that old temptation?
• How do you reinforce the life-giving, the holy in your life?
• Are you getting any better at it? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Do I trust God to give me true joy?
• Who might be helping me draw closer to God in my life today?
• Where is God calling me to glory, today?
• Where is God calling me to turn toward Him in a deeper way?

 

Shalom!

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Isaiah 58: 7-10
2. Psalms 112: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5
4. Matthew 5: 13-16

• Finding your glory
• Each of us has our own destiny, our own path to manifest God's presence to those around us.  Burnout is not so much a consequence of working too hard, as it is working at the wrong thing.
• What are some things in your life that give you deep, abiding joy?
• Do they ever leave you exhausted/empty from putting in too much work? 
• How did you originally get involved in that work?
• How do you see that work of yours making the world a better place? 

• Lavishly giving to the poor
• Giving to the poor happens at many different levels in many different ways.
• What are some needs of the poor that you see that still need to be addressed?
• Who (either individuals or organizations) would be the best ones to address those needs?
• How do you think new folks could/should be recruited to take up that work so that there is always a steady stream of "new blood" coming into those ministries?

• Strength in weakness
• In our culture, leaders want to show themselves to be strong, capable, resolute, maybe even wise.  But hardly ever humble.
• Who are some real leaders that you respect and try to emulate?
• What is it about them that you admire?
• What is it about them that inspires you?
• Do you feel as though you are at all inspiring? 

• Taking a stand, making a difference
• Ours is not a defensive faith, one that builds walls and barriers to ward off corrupting influences.  Rather, we are called to be bold, to speak prophetically to the communities, culture, and world around us, to be heard, to be remembered, to make a critical difference.
• In our world today, hope seems in short supply.  What do you hope for?
• How do you see bringing that hoped-for reality about?
• Is it fair to say that this hope filled reality is the Kingdom of God?
• How do you think that we can convey that hope to those around us?
• How can we begin to lead, rather than just hold on? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Do I trust God to give me true joy?
• Where is God calling me to be His Presence?
• Where is God calling me to deeper humility?
• Where is God calling me to lead?

  Heal my Fear

I'm not good at being generous.

I always worry where an act of reckless giving will end.

I don't want to start something that I cannot finish.

I don't want to start something that I'll not be able to follow through on.

 

There's so much I don't know about my future.

How long I'll live, how much care I'll need, how much it will cost.

I long for security and safety, always knowing -

That there really is no such thing in this world.

 

Only trust.

Only an open hand.

Only eyes to see the need with my name on it.

Only ears to hear those whose hunger God has sent me to fill.

 

Help me to learn that my greatest joy

Lies in letting go.

Getting out of Your way.

Letting the miracle into my life and others.

 

Shalom!

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Zephaniah 2: 3; 3: 12-13
2. Psalms 146: 6-7, 8-9, 9-10
3. 1 Corinthians 1: 26-31
4. Matthew 5: 1-12a

• Recovery plan
• What does true victory over sin really look like?
• Is it possible to recover from a sin pattern in your life without humility?
• How do we ever achieve true honesty with ourselves regarding our failings and shortcomings?
• How do we ever know if we're being real with ourselves? 

• Rock bottom
• Have you ever hit rock bottom in your life?
• How did you get there?
• What did you find in that set of circumstances, that season in your life?
• Was God at all present for you in that time?
• How did you come to recognize Him?
• How did He change you in that experience? 

• Strength in weakness
• We all want to be strong, or do we?  Strength means responsibility, discernment on when/where/how to use that strength.  Strength is easily corrupted if we don't use it properly. 
• What is your greatest strength?
• How did you acquire that strength?
• How do you continue to build that strength, like a muscle?
• How has God found ways to use that strength of yours? 

• Finding peace by making peace
• Peace comes to us as we find and follow God's will in our lives.  That can take a long time to find that perfect peace.  Once found, we cannot become careless, but seek God's will for us each day so that we don't drift.  A part of that mission of our lives is to help others find God has been and is in their lives.
• Who are some folks that you know who help others find Jesus in their lives?
• How is it that they manage that?
• How have they inspired you?
• Do you know whether you have been at all successful in leading others to Jesus?
• Do you have to know that in order to carry on? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Do I trust God to give me true victory in my life?
• Where is God calling me to trust Him more?
• Where is God developing new strength in me?
• How can I help others know Jesus better/deeper?

  Where do I Begin

To listen you into hearing God's voice in your life?

Where do I begin

To help you see that creation is going on right here, right now, in your heart of hearts?

Where do I begin

To tell you how deeply God loves you, in spite of, because of, through the scars on your heart?

Where do I begin

To ease you into the arms of Jesus, despite your fear and anger?

 

Lord

Help me to embrace the freedom to give You my all,

To trust you with the five loaves and two fish I clutch,

In the face of need with no visible bottom.

Knowing that my poor offering is never enough,

Until I'm willing to give it away without strings,

Letting you have it all. 

 

Shalom!

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Isaiah 8: 23 - 9:3
2. Psalms 27: 1, 4, 13-14
3. 1 Corinthians 1: 10-13, 17
4. Matthew 4: 12-23

• The light of life
• It's not too early to start thinking about the light and darkness that we will celebrate this coming Lent and Easter.
• Light and darkness are both symbols.  What are some areas of darkness in your life?
• What are some areas of light in your life?
• How has God changed your attitude towards those shadows (areas of darkness) in your life over the years?
• Do you think that you will ever resolve/remove all of those areas of darkness?
• Why? 

• Finding trust
• What makes someone trustworthy to you?
• What is the benefit of giving someone your trust?
• If they abuse/betray that trust, how can it be repaired?
• Does the same apply to your trust in God?
• Why would you want to trust God more? 

• Servant leadership
• Perhaps the greatest challenge to a leader within Christianity is to always be sure that the ones that they lead are, ultimately, following Jesus, and no one else.
• Who are some leaders who really inspired you?
• What was it about them that first caught your attention?
• Did they ever disappoint you?
• Do you feel that you have emulated them in any significant way?
• Do you think that they would be proud of you? 

• Fishers of men
• Jesus calls us to be His disciples, and to make disciples of others.  What does that really mean?
• In the Catholic Church, we have the OCIA process for inducting new Catholics.  Those who are involved in that ministry are no doubt discipling others.  But not all of us can be directly involved in that ministry.  Are we also called to disciple others?
• Depending on how you define a disciple, how are some ways that we can disciple others?
• Should that discipling relationship endure, or not?
• How could we do a better job of teaching our members to disciple others?
• If we got really good at discipling, what changes do you think that we would see?
• Where do we start? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where is God calling me to face a shadow in my life?
• Where is God calling me to greater trust today?
• Where is God calling me to form the next generation of His leaders?
• How can I help others to help others to know Jesus better?

  What a Difference a Day Makes

Yesterday, the master called me and my brother Andrew to be His disciples.

We both dropped everything to follow him.

This morning, I came back here to the shore the Galilee to find myself.

 

This lake has been everything to me for so long now.

My siblings and I played on its beaches when we were young.

My father taught me this lake's whims and moods as I grew older.

 

I learned respect, and awe for the tempests that could rage across her face.

I learned how to reach deep within myself when needed -

When the storm threatened to send us all to the sandy bottom.

 

This body of water has buoyed my whole family on its bosom.

Providing us with a living from its bounty.

Giving me my identity as a fisherman and husband.

 

Its the same gentle waves slapping the beach before me as ever before.

Its the same gentle sunrise in the east, signaling the end of another night's work.

But I am changed.

 

Somehow, the life that I have led has led me here on this strange shore.

No longer familiar to me as I gaze on it with new eyes.

I am no longer a fisherman, I'm told that I'm a fisher of men.

 

I am no longer someone just trying to make a living.

No longer just another generation in a long line within my family.

I'm here to bring about the Kingdom.  A kingdom no one can see - yet.

 

The mud between my toes still feels the same.

The smell of moisture all around is achingly familiar.

But I will never feel the same about what I am feeling now.

 

In a way, whenever I come here again, I will just be passing through.

A visitor come back from a distance.

Home will be wherever Jesus leads me.

 

In one sense, this new sense of mission feels lonely.

But at the same time, I know that I'm more connected than ever before.

This work before me, whatever its form, will change the world around me.

 

Each of us standing on our own unknown shore

Looking out across the waters of our destiny

Toward a New Jerusalem that only God can see clearly.

 

Shalom!

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Isaiah 49: 3, 5-6
2. Psalms 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
3. 1 Corinthians 1: 1-3
4. Matthew 3: 13-17

• Formed from the womb
• Some of you may remember Kelly Smith in the choir.  Years back I remember her relating an experience when she was teaching her kindergartners and it suddenly came to her that she was doing, right at that moment, what she had been born to do.
• How would you know if you are doing what you were born to do?
• What might that feel like?
• Would you necessarily be the world's best at it?
• Would you necessarily enjoy that?
• Do you think that you might have different "destinies" as you go through life? 

• Open my ears Lord
• We follow God, draw closer to God, become holy and wholly in God one decision at a time.  I don't think that means that every decision must be perfect.  Rather holiness comes to us as we humbly seek God's will and follow that to the best of our abilities.
• What are some things that make it hard for you to tell the will of God in your life?
• Is it always the case that your close friends and family help you make the right choice?
• How do you tell when you have made the right choice? 

• Is there an apostle in the house?
• How would you define apostle?
• Can you name any?
• What do you think all of them have in common?
• Are all of us called to be apostles?
• Is it possible to be apostolic by yourself? 

• I remember when
• Some of you may remember Andy ("Dad") Anderson.  Every year on the anniversary of his baptism, he would pull out his baptism candle and light it again and reflect on his baptism.
• How did you first come to know the Lord?
• In what ways is that experience still with you today?
• How have you come to know Him more deeply in the months/years/decades since?
• How would you describe God in one word today? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How can I become more attentive to God's will in my life?
• Where is God calling me today?
• How am I living out my apostleship?
• How am I celebrating my conversion today?

  Right Place, Right Time, Right Now

I have had many dreams through the years.

When I was young, I dreamed of being a great runner.

All it would take is enormous discipline, and perseverance.

 

Failing that, I dreamed of deep understanding -

Of how the universe works,

And why thermodynamics makes everything run down.

 

Then I dreamed of understanding my wife.

That I could ever be just the husband that she needed.

Always having her needs, our needs, in proper context and sharp focus.

 

Failing that, I dreamed of  somehow becoming wise.

Having counsel, encouragement, just the right word -

For anyone needing consolation along their way.

 

Now, I just ask that I be where I'm supposed to be,

When I'm supposed to be there,

With my heart open to whatever will come.

 

That will have to be enough. 

 

Shalom!