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!