12th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Zechariah 12: 10-11: 13:1
2. Psalm 63: 2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
3. Galatians 3: 26-29
4. Luke 9: 18-24

1. Act of contrition
• You're on an elevator with someone whom you care about deeply.  Out of the blue, they ask you what "victory over sin" really means.  You have 10 floors before the two of you get off the eleveator and you part ways.  What do you say?
• How has Jesus given you victory over sin?
• Is that victory over sin (singular) or sins (plural)?
2. Glory isn't always obvious
• How would you define the glory of God?
• Where have you seen that glory?
• Do you think that God ever finds you glorious?
• Why or why not?
3. What is the most important fact about you?
• Pretend for a moment that you're speed dating.  A total stranger is sitting across the table from you and you have only minutes to acquaint them with you.  Where do you begin?
• There are no end to the labels that we can accumulate in life.  Gender, degrees, awards. jobs past and present, in what ways are those unimportant to Christ?
• In what ways are those same qualities about us important to Christ?
4. Who do you say that Jesus is?
• Based on your experiences with Jesus, what characteristics would you give Him?
• How has your appreciation of Jesus' character changed over the years?
• Why/how has that happened?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What have I done this week that will make a lasting improvement in my relationship with Jesus?
2. Where do I look for the glory of God in my life?
3. How have I reached out to someone beyond my comfort zone this week?
4. How is Christ revealing Himself in me this week?

Who Do You Say That I Am?

Sometimes, I imagine myself there in these Gospel passages.

Sometimes I'm one of the crowd, one of the disciples, 

And just lately, when I heard Jesus ask His followers who they say He is.

I imagine myself one of the disciples who is new to the group asking:

Master, who do you say that I am?  You didn't give me a new name.

I earnestly look into Jesus' rich deep brown eyes, and see kindness,

And warmth, and maybe a resonating chuckle as he looks at me.

And after a long while, He looks at me and says "you are he who follows."

But I press Him, and ask "but Lord, will I be a Presbyter, a deacon, 

Even the gardener.  I just want a role, something to hang on to.

Jesus said "I don't understand.  Tell me more."  My jaw dropped.
What's the point of omniscience if you have to ask questions I thought.
Instead I said "I saw a T-shirt once that said "I'm a teacher,
What's your super power?"  Get it?  That ability, that destiny it defines you."
Jesus nodded slowly, stroking his beard meditatively, and then He said

"I think I see where you are coming from.  You want to know ahead of time
What will be asked of you, how you will serve, how you will be called on.
I'm afraid that I can't say for sure just how or where you'll be sent.
But, I think I have a name for you if you would like that:
He who finds himself where he is needed, when he's needed there."

"But, " I stammered, "that's so generic.  Any of your disciples could be named thus."
To which Jesus smiled again and said "You speak truly.  Yet none of them,
None of them will find their way to where they are needed quite the way you will.
None of them will bring just what is needed when they get there the same as you.
You, and only you will be the answer to the need you find when you arrive."

"Lord, do you treat all of your disciples this way?" and Jesus replies "every one."
At least I am going to be in good company as I shuffle from one scene to the next.
Jesus seems to think that I'm going to somehow master this way of one day at a time.
And, in my imagination, Jesus stands, and takes off for Jerusalem, not even looking back.
And the rest of us follow, hardly daring to imagine what lies ahead.

I've given up the quest for any name beyond "disciple", knowing that's all I am,
Trusting that staying close to Jesus is all that I really need,
Trusting that all else will come my way along the way
When needed in the way needed.
Hoping that, at journey's end I'll be known as "he who followed well"

Rather than "he who got lost thoroughly and often".

Shalom!

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. 2 Samuel 12: 7-10, 13
2. Psalm 32: 1-2, 5, 7, 11
3. Galatians 2: 16, 19-21
4. Luke 7:36-8:3

1. Act of contrition
• Unfortunately, Scripture doesn't often give us insight into the inner workings of people's minds.  I can only imagine King David struggling with a whole range of emotions when Nathan confronted him about his infidelity.  I can even imagine David struggling with thoughts such as "this is what kings do, we take what we want", or "how dare you try to tell me that I am wrong after all that I have done for this nation?".  All we get is the outcome from that struggle: "I have sinned against the Lord".
• In your past, how have you come to grips with the sin in your life?
• Who are some of those who have helped you with that process?
• Why do you think that is so hard?
• For those of us over 20, does it ever get easier?
2. Freedom is a funny thing
• Particularly in the US, we hallow freedom, but the problem is that the true nature of what freedom really is can become indistinct in our minds when we stop thinking critically about the purpose of that freedom.
• How has God made you more free in the past few years?  Think of freedom perhaps in terms of being set free from preconceived notions, free from habits of mind, approach, or activities, free from fears about certain outcomes, not because you were certain that things were going to go your way, but because you knew it was going to work out regardless.
• How has that freedom transformed you into a better person?
• How have others around you benefited from that transformation?
3. Mending fences is hard to do
• How do you think that our relationship with God impacts our relationships with others?
• How do you think that our relationships with others impacts our relationship with God?
• If you gave your best friend the same treatment that you gave God, how long do you think that friendship would last?
4. If only Jesus had Twitter
• You have to respect this woman's resourcefulness in tracking Jesus down.  She had to find Him in some public setting, yet not one that would be mobbed with people, she had to get the ointment together and get it to him, and most of all, she had to have the courage to approach Him.  All of that without Facebook or Twitter to tell her what His status was moment by moment.
• Have you always felt welcomed by the Church?
• How would you say that the mercy of God has been evident around you and to you in recent years?
• How can we show more mercy, more hospitality, be more godlike in our dealings with others?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Are there things in my life that I don't want to talk to God about?
2. Where do I need to seek more freedom?
3. Where are the relationships in my life that need tending?
4. How have I been the mercy of God to others?

Servant Leadership

History is full of sad accounts of great leaders with feet of clay.
Oddly, most of these are men.  I'll have to figure that out someday.

Made great contributions, inspired others, improved their communities,
And fell into sin somehow, and felt trapped in the jaws of a vice.

To let that failure come to light would devastate those innocent ones
Those who had drawn strength from our once mighty hero.

Disappointment, loss, sense of betrayal would wound them
If they found out about this secret sin, this hidden failing.

The merciful thing seems to spare them all of that, keep it secret.
When the reality is that Jesus is calling for a true healing, a release.

And what of those who have looked up to our fallen leader?
Maybe, just maybe, they'll be inspired by humility and honor

Inspired in ways that they never could have been by success and triumph.
Greatness doesn't lie so much in fruitful campaigns, but in courage and honesty.

Admitting who we are to one another is just so hard.
Admitting that we all have that in common isn't easy either.

It's said that Jesus came to comfort the afflicted
And to afflict the comfortable.

Lord grant me honesty with myself and others
And the courage to be free.
Shalom!

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. 1 Kings 17: 17-24
2. Psalm 30: 2, 4, 5-6, 11, 12, 13
3. Galatians 1: 11-19
4. Luke 7:11-17

1. Putting it all on the line
• If you read the first part of 1 Kings 17, you see that Elijah had announced a drought on the land, and had gone to a widow in Zarephath to live during the drought.  God had provided their food and water needs miraculously up until the time of today's reading.
• What do you think that God's long term goals are for your life?
• How do you think that He is accomplishing that in the near term?
• How much of God's plan do you need before you feel comfortable trusting God with your life?
• What can you honestly say that you're certain of about God's direction for your life, given your experience so far?
• Are you scared yet?
2. Count your blessings
• We probably all can relate to a definition of God's grace as "the unmerited outpouring of God's love on each of us and all of us."  But how do you break that down?
• What expressions of God's grace have come your way lately?
• What are the graces of God at work in your life, day in, and day out?
• What are some of the things about you that truly define you, that you can thank God for?
• How are those graces transforming you today?
3. Position of authority
• What would you think of someone who didn't have the time to read anything, but who wrote prolifically?
• Do you think that each of us is called to greatness in one measure or another?
• What role do you think prayer plays in the lives of such folks as Dorothy Day, Pope Francis, Mother Theresa, Richard Rohr, or any other prophet of our day?
• What is keeping you from greatness?
4. Healing touch
• One thing that strikes me about Jesus is that He's never late for an engagement, and the Gospels never mention Him consulting his pocket watch.  After all, this was a long time back, I'm certainly not silly enough to think He'd have a cell phone.
• How do you think that Jesus always managed to be at the right place at the right time?
• How much advance warning do you think that He had that his day was going to include things like raising someone from the dead?
• How can we be more in tune with the Spirit's guidance?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I willing to serve God, even if there's no guarantee what the immediate outcome will be?
2. How is God making a better person of me, stretching me, helping me grow?
3. What am I doing this week to achieve the greatness that God has in mind for me?
4. How am I learning generosity toward others?

At this rate I'll never get there in time

Artaban is reputed to have been the fourth wise man to set out long ago to greet his savior.
Packing his treasures, he set forth, but never seemed to have things go according to plan.

One after another, needs crossed his path, empathy moved him, and gradually he gave away
All that he had, in both time and possessions, helping others who needed him.

He missed Jesus in Bethlehem because the Holy family had fled to Egypt.
He tries to follow Jesus to Egypt and never catches up to him.

Finally, all but spent, poor Artaban finds Jesus, on the cross,
Both their pilgrimages at an end.

Artaban bitterly disappointed that he's not been able to give the Savior of his treasures,
Until he realizes that's exactly what he has spent the past 33 years doing.

It's often who we are, how we give, whom we heal along the way,
That defines us, makes us whole, shows Jesus to the world.

Goals and objectives, timetables and schedules are all very fine as a starting place,
But the true pilgrimage of our days is often written by a hand other than ours.

Shalom!

Corpus Christi Sunday

Our readings for Corpus Christi Sunday are:

1. Genesis 14: 18-20
2. Psalm 110: 1, 2, 3, 4
3. 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26
4. Luke 9: 11b-17

1. Time, talent, treasure
• What are your gifts?
• How has God contributed to the ongoing development and unfolding of those gifts?
• How have you expressed your gratitude for those gifts?
• If you get paid for doing something, is it still ministry?
• If you don't get paid for doing something, is it necessarily giving back to God?
• How would you be better able to tithe of all your gifts?
2. Priestly people
• How would you describe the function of a priest?
• Beyond performing rites, performing administration, what else?
• What would you think are the deepest qualities needed in a priest?
• What about you is priestly?
3. Putting it all on the table
• The preparation of the gifts reads: Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.
• Why do you think that it's important that the bread that we offer is both the fruit of the earth and the work of human hands?
• Is Eucharist the only place where this dynamic is operative?
• What does that tell us about our work?
4. Christ in me arise ...
• What do you think Jesus expected His disciples to do for all of those hungry people?
• What sorts of "feeding" do you see that need to go on in our parish today?
• Who do you think is going to meet those needs?
• Does it necessarily need to happen within a parish context?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Have I offered up my work, day in, day out, to God?
2. Have I been there, really there, for those around me who needed the Christ within me?
3. Is the work of my hands giving life to others?
4. How am I giving myself away this week?

I'd rather work the ladle if you don't mind

Working the soup kitchen with the Confirmation kids was always a tough one.
The kids, they all come from middle class homes, no food or shelter anxiety.

First shock to their system is that these people who live welfare check to check,
Are just a couple of miles down the road, right there in downtown.

Second shock is that these folks, they're grateful for the food and drink.
No doubt about that, but they want, they need more.  They need someone to care.

Best way to show that is to give them some of your time.  Hear their story.
Let them open up a little and share how they got there, what's holding them.

Hard part is, you only have the resources for one meal, not a lifetime.
There is no easy fix for this, no one shot fund raiser is going to fix this one.

And in the meantime, these folks, they're making it as best as they can,
One day at a time.  No grand future, no long range plans, no expectations.

And you don't know where this listening is going to take you either.
I just know it's safer in the kitchen, loading up soup bowls.

Takes courage to set the utensils down, set a spell with the folks,
And be more than just a meal that they'll soon forget.

If Jesus were here today, would He be one of the ones organizing the food drive,
Chopping the vegetables for stew, serving it up, setting down with the guests,

Or maybe shuffling in off the street, looking for someone to show some concern?
Shalom!

Trinity Sunday

Our readings for Trinity Sunday are:

1. Proverbs 8: 22-31
2. Psalm 8: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. Romans 5: 1-5
4. John 16: 12-15

1. God finds me ineffably delightful
• Can you say that with a straight face?
• Why or why not?
• Is there anyone else in your life who finds you a delight, who believes that the world is a better place for your being in it?
• How does their attitude toward you make you feel about yourself, about others, about God?
2. Making room for the beautiful
• Where/what do you find beautiful about creation?
• What do those places/times/events tell you about God?
• Why do you think that God made all of this so beautiful?
• How do you participate in that beauty?
• How can you be more beautiful?
3. How much character to I really need?
• Do you think that joy and sorrow are necessarily mutually exclusive, or can they reinforce each other?
• What gives you joy?
• How long does that joy last?
• Are you a better person for that joy?
• How can we learn to take joy in things that last?
4. Infilling of the Spirit
• How does the Spirit enlighten up as a Church?
• How does the Spirit enlighten us as families?
• How does the Spirit enlighten us as individuals?
• How can we be better at discerning as a community?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I delight in God?
2. Is the world a better place, is creation a better place for my being in it?
3. What am I doing to become stronger in my faith?
4. How has the Spirit spoken to me lately?  Have I shared that?

Discernment

First Fridays always struck me as a hard form of prayer.
Contemplating Jesus in the form of the static Presence
There on the altar, mute witness to an earlier Mass Celebration
Whose original attendees have all left for the day and gone home.

I wondered whether those who were here for that consecration
Were still connected in some way, still a part of each other
And of this Presence here before me, in a way that I could connect to
Some way without the whispered greetings of God's people gathering.

I wondered who was here that day, and where they all are now,
How they are faring, these children of God in the world.
I imagined some of my good friends among them
Some that my kids have grown up with.

And somehow it hit me, that if they were all here, with Jesus,
That they would have whispered greetings for me and my family
A hand shake, a nod.  A well known usher waving from a distance,
And I realized that the face of Jesus really was gazing at me.

And I felt closer to Him on His altar
And I felt closer to His people here in front of His altar,
And I thanked Him for His hospitality, now and always.
As I got up to leave, I realized I may be leaving His house,

Leaving his house, but not His Presence.
Shalom!

Pentecost Sunday

Our readings for Pentecost Sunday are:

1. Acts 2: 1-11
2. Psalm 104: 1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
3. Romans 8: 8-17
4. John 14: 15-16, 23b-26

1. Our God is on the move
• The mighty acts of God don't seem to get a lot of press these days.  He enjoys a certain anonymity that would doubtless be the envy of many a celebrity.
• Who among us in the Body of Christ is qualified to read the signs of the times, the events of our day, and find the meaning in all of that?
• Where do we go to find such analysis?
• Once we had such findings in hand, how would we live differently?
2. Making room for others
• Driving over the Vincent Thomas Bridge into San Pedro affords you a sprawling vista of one of the largest ports in the world.  Unbroken human technology arrayed for maximum efficiency and throughput as far as the eye can see.  Magnificent in a way, and yet ...
• God shows His glory in His creatures, His creation.  How much room should we leave for those other inhabitants of this planet?
• As stewards of creation, what are our responsibilities to the rest of creation?
• How can we live sustainably, generously with our neighbors and each other?
3. Sharing the sufferings of Jesus
• One description of the Mass is "eternal unbloody sacrifice".  If that is the case, in what sense and by what means are the sufferings of Jesus with us today?
• Do you feel that those who have radically given themselves away in God's service share in Jesus' sufferings?  Think of Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Dorothy Day, Archbishop Ramiro, and others.
• Can the rest of us look to these great pillars of our faith and take comfort in the fact that they have that "sharing in Christ's sufferings" covered and we can go about our business?
• What makes you think that there is a "the rest of us"?
4. Without seeing You we love You
• The formation of our own conscience is one of the most important things that we do with our time on this earth.  What are some of the ways that we do that?
• It's perhaps easy to believe that if we stray from following Jesus' will in our lives, that our love for Him will cool, but what about the results of trying to follow Jesus more closely each day?
• What can we do to become more sensitive to God's will in our lives?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I spread the word of God's decisive actions in my life (give witness)?
2. What am I doing to become more humble?
3. What joy do I find in taking up the cross?
4. When was the last time that I took inventory of my relationship with Jesus?

Peace

Is something that grows and blossoms only with careful attention.
Like a cherished bonsai that has been passed down through generations.

Peace is dynamic, yet strong when well tended and founded.
Built upon discernment and listening, listening and discernment.

Peace is born of awareness and intimacy with the goings on
And kind attention to what that means to me, where I fit in.

Lose awareness, and authenticity suffers, I soon become
A shabby caricature of myself, and lose relevance.

Lose focus on where I fit into the unfolding salvation history
And all of that awareness sifts into chaos, meaning nothing.

The peace that Jesus leaves us is like the manna of the desert.
Harvested daily, consumed as it comes with faith for the morrow.

Come, let us share our stories together, see Christ in each other's faces
Find new perspectives on where God is on the move.

And in so doing learn where salvation history is taking us,
All of us together.

Shalom!

7th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 7th Sunday of Easter/Ascension are:

1. Acts 7: 55-60
2. Psalm 97: 1-2, 6-7, 9
3. Revelations 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20
4. John 17: 20-26

1. Knowing when to speak up
• Our actions never just impact us.  Acts of courage on our part require courage from those around us who will share in the repercussions of what we do.
• So then, is bravery an individual matter or a communal one?
• Do we need other's permission to be courageous?
• In the end, who is responsible for the response that we reap from being prophetic?
2. The glory of justice
• The glory and strength of God lies in His mercy and justice.
• What are we to say of institutions/individuals/communities which seem to be great and powerful, but are based on fear, hatred and greed?
• Have you ever been a witting, or unwitting part of such an institution?
• What can we do about that?
• How can we have a clean conscience?
3. Going out to Meet Him
• In the cultures at home in ancient Palestine, the local leaders would go out of the city to meet noteworthy travelors coming into the city, invite them to partake of the hospitality that the city could offer.
• The rapture is likely a matter of us leaving the earth to meet Jesus as He arrives from heaven to judge all of us, and then He, and His followers will go back to earth to begin the reign of God here on earth.
• What does that tell you about our role as stewards of this planet?
• What does that tell you about our role in the care of the New Jerusalem after Jesus' coming?
4. Glory
• Jesus is inviting us into the Trinity, that we may enjoy the same intimacy with each other that He and the Father have.
• How can we understand each other better?
• How can we understand ourselves better?
• Do you think that the dawning awareness of how God sees us and those around us will come over us all at once at judgment, or will it rather be a process?
• How can we better prepare for that process?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I supportive of others who feel burdened to speak a prophetic word?
2. Is the Lord above all other gods in my life?
3. What am I doing to be more ready for Jesus to return?
4. When was the last time that I had the time to really listen to someone close to me?

One is

The thread that connects one breath to the next
The tie that unites the light, the breeze, the pregnant anticipation
Of a new dawn, with the night that it is replacing.

One is the host of dappled creatures woven through the earth
Each connected to the next, all connected to the whole
The whole, waiting, breathless, for each of us -

Each of us to step into who we were born to be,
To step into the inheritance that has been kept for us all these long years
That we might finally take up our eternal citizenship

And see beyond ourselves, to the vastness and intimacy of Eternity,
And awaken to the one through whom we live and move and have our being
The one who gazes upon us through ten thousand eyes not his own.

Shalom!