5th Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent Cycle A are:

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

1. I give you my spirit
• We hear of someone "passing their mantle" on to a successor, or "passing the baton" to someone else.  How do we do that as ministers?
• In many families, over time, a division of labor develops and one household gets Christmas, another Easter, and so forth so that no one family has to host everyone else all of the time.  How do you hand on traditions, roles within the family when the time comes?
• Dignified work is a great blessing and gift.  How would you like to hand on your work to another, or to others when the time comes?
• How are are you planning to give your life away when the time comes?
2. Our past is written in us
• How would you define redemption?
• What have you been redeemed from?
• If we are the product of our decisions, and we are held accountable for our actions, what then difference does God's forgiveness and redemption really make?
3. A lively faith
• Have you ever known someone who was lively?
• How would you describe the way that they lived their life?
• What changed in their approach as they grew old?
• If we, as God's children, are called to grow more lively as we mature, how would you expect your life to grow/mature in your golden years?
4. Timing is everything
• How do you think that Jesus knew when to move on, when to stay?
• Was it a feeling, a restlessness that told Him to move on?
• Did those movements come to him in prayer?
• How much and by what means can we become more Christ like in knowing when and in which direction to move?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I courageous enough to hope?
2. When was the last time that I really felt my need for God's mercy?
3. What am I doing today to strengthen my spiritual life?
4. What in me has died and needs a resurrection?

Rolling Away the Stones

Jesus finds ways for the rest of us to participate in His miracles so many times.
The blind man washing at the pool of Siloam, loaves and fishes at the feeding of the five thousand,
Even just stopping the funeral procession for the son of the widow of Nain

All of these, all of these and more called for cooperation, involvement from us.
As though the power of God could not come without a hand from our side
Our side of eternity, reaching out to grasp that abundance and accept it.

Where are the stones in my life, laying between me and God's glory?
Is it attachment to the familiar, a need for success, a yearning for security?
Maybe fear of letting go, fear of having nothing in hand, fear of freedom.

I prayed for fearlessness, and God told me to pray for strength to overcome my fears.
I prayed for vision to see the future and God told me to pray for trust in Him,
I prayed for might and strength, and God asked me to pray for humility.

I nearly prayed for guidance, but then I realized I already had it in abundance,
All I need now is the will to follow what guidance I have
To roll away the stones of my heart, and see the glory of God.

Shalom!

4th Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent Cycle A are:

1. 1st 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

1. Chosen
• You never hear whether there was any sort of a discussion about whether Jesse was willing to sacrifice his son to serve the Jewish people as king, or whether David was keen on leaving hearth and home for a palace that he'd probably never seen before.
• Have you ever felt chosen of God for some role to play, some vocation?
• How did you hear that call?
• How did you come to terms with the changes, the demands of that call?
• How did your response change you?
2. What I want is ...
• Each phase in life has its own imperatives, drives.  What would you say are the biggest drivers in your life today?
• Now, where do you spend your time in an average week?
• How have those drives changed through the years?
• How do you think that they will change in the years to come?
• Does that sound like a welcome transition?
3. Lighten up
• At Boeing there was a slogan (large corporations have found that the best way to influence people's behavior is to tell them something snappy that they are not likely to forget) "if you see something, say something" which was aimed at getting everyone to report security violations.
• A prophet is possibly the ultimate example of "see something, say something" at several levels.  Have you ever had someone in your life who was not afraid to speak up when they thought that something needed to be said?
• If you're morally certain that saying something about a given injustice, evil practice, act of oppression is going to do more harm than good, are you still bound to say it?
• When trying to be prophetic, does it pay to be diplomatic?
• Should we look to provide some sort of prophetic immunity to registered prophets?
4. I think I see what you're saying now ...
• I notice that Jesus didn't approach the blind man until the blind man had been thrown out of the temple.  I'm thinking the blind man may have started to wonder if this whole sight thing was worth the bother.  At least while he was blind, he could attend family gatherings.  Now, maybe not so much.
• Have you had an occasion when God's guidance seemed to wait until you had hit bottom?
• Why do you think that is?  Maybe God wants us to appreciate Him more, or He waits until we're no longer distracted by other options?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I willing to see the way that God sees, even if it is painful?
2. Am I willing to trust God in and with my life?
3. Do I have the courage to be a voice for the voiceless?
4. Am I willing to give up old ways of looking at things so that I can see truly?

What I want is

Peace that passes understanding
A peace that defies circumstances,
Laughs in the face of turmoil
Finds hope where others see despair.

Joy that endures
Even while engaged in the wide world
A joy that see beneath the surface
To a celebration of God's Presence.

Contentment that sustains
Finding all that I want
In all that is given me
Finding abundance in the here and now.

Love in generosity
Opportunities each day to give away
All that I am, all that I have
To those abandoned by everyone else.

Somehow I'm sure
As long as these blessings are what I want
That my shepherd will provide them
With overflowing abundance.

Shalom!

3rd Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the Third Sunday of Lent Cycle A are:

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

1. I never promised you a rose garden
• Slavery is not so much how hard you work but why you do it.  Someone will willingly perform heroic amounts of work if it achieves something that is important to them.  Oppression is not so much about hardship as it is about why you are enduring it.  The hardship of the early settlers of the United States seems mind-boggling to us to day, but to them, it was the price you paid for opportunity.
• What do you want to be free of?
• What are you willing to pay to achieve that freedom?
• Do you think that you'll be a better person when you're free of those shackles?
• Do you think that there might be things that are binding you that you are unaware of?
2. Don't temp me
• What sorts of emotions do you think that God has?
• What sorts of things do you think make Him angry with us, disappointed, just sad?
• If you could see God's face, know how your actions affect Him, would that change you in any way?
3. Living in the Presence
• A popular Catholic devotion is to pray in the presence of the Presence on a first Friday.
• If you could go somewhere, and in that place and time, know just exactly how God feels about you at that very moment, would you go there?
• How often?
• How would that encounter change you?
4. Gently, gently
• Jesus brought the woman at the well to faith in stages, gently leading her, stretching her perceptions just a bit at a time.  Do you feel that's a fairly typical pattern with God?
• When was the last time that God gently led you past your comfort level to a place that you didn't know existed?
• As we try to show God to others, how can we be gradual, kind, merciful?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I willing to listen to God and let that listening carry me to new places?
2. Am I willing to give up my ideas, my plans in order to draw closer to God?
3. What am I willing to give up for true peace?
4. When was the last time that I had a prayer experience that I was excited to share with someone else?

Tabernacle of the Forgotten Water Jar

Local legend has it that this is the water jar left by the woman at the well.
One little boy in the tour group asked "Why would she leave her jar?"
"Well now," said the tour guide, "she had met Jesus, and she was excited."
"But He knows everything.  He know that jar was important to her, why didn't He remind her?"

The old tour guide chewed on that question for a long while.
No one had ever put it to him quite like that before.
"I recon that sometimes, when you love someone a great deal,
You can tell when they have turned a corner, crested a hill in their lives,

And you know that nothing is ever going to be the same for them.
You know that everything that they had up until that point has served its purpose,
And it's just not that important anymore because everything is new.
I guess this little shrine is a monument to transformation."

"It's like growing up.  One day, you look at something precious,
And you realize that it's time to give it away to someone who will appreciate it.
You hope that the fact that it's been in your hands all this time,
Will somehow be a benefit to the next person, and you just give it away."

The little boy was clutching a favorite bear of his, and he looked at it a long time.
"Mister, does it hurt to grow up?" he asked.
"Son, the only thing more painful, is the little deaths you die
When you don't grow up and it's time."

"How do you know when it's time?" came the question.
"Your heart just tells you, and you know."
"When do you stop growing up?" came the question.
"I think when you die, but don't quote me on that one, 'cause I'm not 100% sure."

The boy turned to go as the tour group started toward their next stop.
He turned to the guide again and asked "I want to come back.  Will you be here?"
The old guide looked deep into his eyes and said:
"I'll be here, but hopefully a better version of me.  You'll be back, but the boy in you will be gone forever."

Shalom!

2nd Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the Second Sunday of Lent are:

1. Genesis 15: 5-12, 17-18
2. Psalm 27: 1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14
3. Philippians 3: 17-4:1
4. Luke 9: 28-36

1. Name it and claim it
• Believing is more than mental assent to some statement, it's living a life based on that.  Abram was able to accept that God was going to give his heirs an inheritance, that Abram's line was going to continue, that he was going to leave a legacy, and live a life that reflected that profound faith.
• When you choose to believe a promise of God, how do you move the experience of that promise from your head to your heart?
• Do you think that the heart can "know" things that our minds are unable to fathom?
• How can we live our lives such that the head and the heart support and illuminate each other?
2. I'm here for you ...
• When going through tough times, it's a great comfort to have company.  But in some ways, we always travel this life alone, or do we?
• Why is it hard to relate to someone in real pain, regardless of the reason for their pain?
• Short of simply making that pain go away, how can any of us really support someone in great need?
• How does God support us in our need?
• Aren't we always in need in one way or another?
3. Choose wisely
• Matthew Kelly makes a great emphasis on choosing your heroes carefully, and then getting the most possible from their example: study their lives, find out what makes them so good at what they do best, and above all, practice what they do so that you too might enjoy success.
• Who are your heroes?
• What have you done to become more like them?
• Would you wish that your son or daughter had the same heroes?
4. Let's do that again!
• I'm going to bet that, as they got older, the disciples got more and more thoughtful, spent more and more time remembering, and trying to get more and more meaning from those many experiences that they shared with Jesus.
• Do you have any pivotal experiences that changed you, changed the way that you look at things, changed your attitude?
• What was so profound about those experiences?
• How are you being faithful to what was shown you in those events?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I believing in God for today?
2. How am I actively making myself available to/for others?
3. Who is helping me become more Christlike by their example?
4. What am I doing to learn the most from what I experience?

Sacred Memory

They're all gone now, some longer than others.
The original company of Jesus, dead and gone,
Their ashes scattered across the land and beyond.

I, I alone, here on the island of Patmos remember
The bite of the night air when Jesus came to us
Came across the water against all odds.

I'm the only one who remembers the tang of the air
Wafting out of Lazarus' tomb when we moved the stone,
And the sweetness that warned of resurrection emerging.

I remember the taste of the fish that he had cooking for us
That wonderful morning after He had raised from the dead,
And our hearts were still in the deepest grave of hopelessness.

The crackle of the fire that He had made among the rocks,
The aroma of the cooking fish, and the sound of His voice.
That always reminded us that there was more than met the eye.

I tried to share the earthiness of those memories,
Their bitter sweet texture that only comes first hand,
But this generation mistakes knowledge for understanding

And looses the essence of His life in looking to understand
Something that never really can be understood.
That He was real -- flesh -- and blood right in our midst.

And with a well-worn wonder, I look at my haggard hands,
And realize that He's still here today, as long as we keep sharing
What and where He's moving in our midst.

Shalom!

1st Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the first Sunday of Lent are:

1. Deuteronomy 26: 4-10
2. Psalm 91: 1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15
3. Romans 10: 8-13
4. Luke 4: 1-13

1. All good gifts ...
• What do you thank God for most?
• What do you thank God for the most often?
• Do you ever congratulate yourself?  For instance you might think that you're unusually fit for a person your age, and you congratulate yourself on all of the healthy habits you adhere to, no matter how tempting the occasional lapse might be.
• What do you think God thinks about those self-congratulatory moments?
• How can we become more humble?
2. Leading a sheltered life
• Things could always be worse, always get worse.  Given that, do you feel that you've led a sheltered life, do you feel that you've managed to get along without suffering any or all of the consequences of your mistakes?
• Have you ever asked God for shelter?
• How did you try to convince Him that he should shelter you?
• What, ultimately, do you want shelter from?
3. We believe
• If you were going to build a new religion, where would you start?
• What would you try to fix about the faith tradition that you have?
• How exclusive would that new religion be?  What would be the entry requirements?
• Do you think that Jesus would be that careful about who He let in?
4. One does not live on bread alone ... but a little now and again would be nice
• More and more it seems to me that temptation boils down to an offer of something that is good in its own time and place, but just not right now, not right here.
• How do you think that we can come to resist such temptations to try to shortcut God's will?
• Where do you find the strength to persevere in the face of the same temptation that comes up over and over?
• How many times do you think that Jesus faced various temptations?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. When was the last time that I thanked God for something that I had never thought to thank Him for?
2. Am I willing to trust God to take care of me, no matter what?
3. Who is there in my life that I care about so much, that I'd be willing to talk with them about my faith?
4. Am I defined by what I worry about?

What Tempts You

The sure thing is the hardest to resist.
On the one hand, we like to live as though there's no tomorrow,
No reason to hold back, no cause to wait.

And at the same time, we act as though this life that we're in
Is going to last forever, that health will always be there,
That we'll always have the strength and vitality to do whatever we want.

Oddly, both are wrong.

A life well lived is one of waiting on the Lord
Always prepared for His time and circumstances to ripen fully
Knowing that when it comes, we'll be told.

At the same time, change is always in the wind.
This very moment is sacred, and to be savored,
Because we will never pass this way again.

Fear is blinding.

Fear of missing out, of blinking at just the wrong moment,
Makes me want to take what I think is coming before it arrives,
Just to make sure that I don't miss out.

At the same time, fear of change makes me want to cling
To all that is comfortable, safe and warm,
And miss out on that still small voice urging me onward.

Pray for me, for all of us -

That our eyes will be opened to the miracle of now.
And never miss a chance to inhale deeply
And smell the richness of right here.

And yet, and yet, eyeing the horizon for that next step
That can change everything,
Even if it all looks the same.

Shalom!

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 6: 1-2a, 3-8
2. Psalm 71: 138: 1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8
3. 1 Corinthians 15: 3-8, 11
4. Luke 5: 1-11

1. Here I am ...
• Those of us who are hard-working and motivated are all about proper preparation for a task.  How do you think God feels about that?
• If you feel called into something, a ministry, a job, parenthood, marriage, and feel totally unprepared, does that mean that you don't have a calling into that role?
• When you've ventured out of your comfort zone to follow a leading, 
• Did you find that you were more prepared than you thought?
• That the new venture required less of you than you thought?
• That you got a lot of "on job training" along the way?
• All of the above?
• None of the above?
2. Witness talks
• When someone else gives a "witness talk" about how God intervened in their life and helped them out, how does that make you feel?
• Inspired and hopeful
• Envious
• Happy for them but still doubtful that this could ever happen to you
3. All on the same page
• How do you explain the diversity between well meaning Christ groups on such things as ordaining women to the priesthood, papal infallibility, and other dogmas?
• How can you tell which beliefs are fundamental, that is to say they form the foundation of our relationship to God, versus beliefs that are less pivotal, less a requirement for God's graces?
• How can we be sure that we're accurately passing along not just the truths of our faith that can be articulate in words, but what it is like to be in relationship with Jesus?
4. Do not be afraid
• What fears are you dealing with in your life most frequently?
• Imagine Jesus telling you that you have nothing to fear from that.  What do you think might be the reason(s) that He's telling you not to fear because:
• It's all going to work out in the end.
• What you're afraid of is nothing to compared to what you ought to be afraid of.
• Your life is about to change in ways that you could never have imagined, and your present fears are about to be set in a whole new context.
• What you fear is going to happen, but Jesus is going to be there with you.
• Some combination of the above.
• What do you find comforting about following Jesus?
• What do you find scary about following Jesus?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I willing to let God tell me what I'm ready for and what I'm not ready for?
2. Am I willing to let God find strength in me in places I didn't know of or want to know of?
3. Am I willing to pass along all of my faith, not just that part which can be put into words?
4. Am I willing to set aside my worries?

I Hate it When You're Right

There used to be this series on TV called Kung Fu about a young man

Rescued and raised by monks in a monastery.

The master had a simple test to tell when the young boy was ready

All he had to do was to snatch a pebble from the blind master's hand.

Would that life were so simple for the rest of us.

Leaving our comfort zone because it's gotten too small for us is never easy.

But what often makes it even harder is the gnawing feeling that we're not ready for the outside

Or that the outside is not quite ready for us.

That "outside", that next frontier may seem coldly indifferent to our passage.

But we have the power to fashion our horizons as we go,

If only we are able to venture into them at the proper time,

In the proper direction, with the proper attitude.

Oddly, the first sign that it may be time to move is the sense that the present is too comfortable,

When the limits of our questing gaze begin to implode.

The hard part is to be always in a state of readiness for the next thing,

To mentally have your bags packed, say all the things that need saying, no regrets holding you back.

It's hard to snatch that pebble if you don't see a need for it to begin with.

Shalom!

4th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Jeremiah 1: 4-5, 17-19
2. Psalm 71: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15, 17
3. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-13
4. Luke 4: 21-30

1. Ready or not ...
• God doesn't wait for us to be ready, just willing.
• When are some times that, looking back now, you can see that God moved in your life before you really felt ready for that change, that movement?
• How did you manage to get out of your comfort zone?
• What were the rewards?
2. You rock!
• If someone were to tell you that you are a rock in their life, what would you think that they mean?
• Do you think that God sends others into our life to be that rock for us?
• If someone did tell you that you are a rock for them, how would that change things for you?
• Shouldn't you live that way all of the time anyway?
3. Hope and endurance meet
• Thinking back on the tough times in your life, were they all about just putting your head down and plowing through, or was there something else animating your passage through those seasons?
• Do you feel that there is always hope?
• What would that hope be in, or for?
• As you've matured, has your hope grown stronger?
• Why is that?
4. Claiming your identity
• You've just stepped into an elevator and there's only one other person there.  They turn to you and ask "who are you?" totally out of context.  How are you going to answer them in the next 10 floors on that elevator?
• Now let's say that you are at a religious education conference.  Same scenario.  What would you say then?
• Change the scene again, you find yourself standing next to someone at a funeral.  You don't know this other person, but they turn to you and ask the same question.  How would you answer them?
• Why are the answers different?  What is the same about them?  What does that say about who we are from one situation to another, what face of Christ we are revealing?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I willing to pray to be indifferent to my present circumstances, be willing to pick up and venture into unknown territory for God?
2. Am I really bearing the responsibility for those who are counting on me, both the ones that I'm aware of and the ones that I am not?
3. Am I willing to follow God even if I feel utterly lost?
4. Am I willing to be bold in my ministry? 

Shalom!