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!