Passion 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. Mark 14:1-15:47

• Dare to hope
• It's easy to be a cynic.  The cynic never hopes for anything better, never risks disappointment.
• Where have you given up hope lately in your life?
• Are there any voices of hope for you and your community?
• Could God be calling you to be one of those voices of hope? 

• The present of Presence
• Have you ever just "been there" for someone in need?
• What brought you to that place (literally and metaphorically)?
• What good did you really do by your presence?
• Could you have been more effective?

• The school of humility
• How do you think that Jesus learned humility?
• How do you think His prayer life supported that growth in humility?
• Why do you think that it was so important for Him to be humble?
• How can we learn to be more humble?

• Time and space made holy
• I imagine that the disciples were well accustomed to Jesus getting off by Himself to pray, yet this time doubtless seemed different somehow, more urgent.
• Where are the special places, special times, special rituals, people, seasons where you feel closest to God?
• Is it merely because you have found God there before, or do you think that it is something more?
• How can all of life become that sort of a doorway?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God calling me out of my comfort zone?
2. Do I have to be betting something "done" in order to serve God?
3. Where is God teaching me to be more like Jesus, more humble?
4. What in my life is God ready to consecrate today?

Shalom!

5th Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 5th Sunday of Lent (using the Cycle A readings) are:

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

• Just like it was, except ...
• When my father-in-law was convalescing from heart surgery the phrase "the new normal" came up frequently as a way to describe his post recovery existence.
• When have you had something restored to you, be it employment, maybe a restored relationship, even something mundane like starting yet another school year after a summer off.
• Was that restoration just "same song, second verse", or did you find a sense of progress, of movement in that restoration?
• How do you think that you could be more sensitive to such movement in your life?
• Is it worth the effort? 

• Kind of kind
• Have you ever had an act of kindness on your part misunderstood, or even rejected?
• Why did that happen?
• Do you think that every genuine act of kindness is well received?
• Is it worth the risk to be kind to someone?
• Does an act of kindness have to be well received, in order for that act to be successful?

• Sense of belonging
• Most of use crave a sense of belonging, a deep feeling that we are right where we were meant to be, doing exactly what we were born to do.
• We belong to, and in God, and yet that deep sense of "fitting" is so hard to come by.  Why is that?
• When have you felt that you were exactly where you needed to be, when you needed to be there?
• How did you get to that place?
• How can you get there again?

• Just like it was, except ...
• I bet that Lazarus still left the toilet seat up after Jesus raised him from the dead.
• And yet, for Lazarus and everyone whose life he had touched everything was different, new, reborn.
• Have you ever had a resurrection in your life where a person, place, occupation was totally transformed for you, and yet much was still the same?
• Did that sense of newness eventually "wear off"?
• Is that a good thing?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God calling me out of my comfort zone?
2. How can the kindness that I show others be more like the kindness that God shows me?
3. What does it mean for me to say that "I belong to Jesus"?
4. What in my life needs to be resurrected?

Shalom!

4th Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 4th Sunday of Lent (using the Cycle A readings) are:

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

• Mission impossible
• How have you decided to take up the various callings of your life, things like spouse, parent, Eucharistic Minister, prophet?
• Did you feel as though you knew what it was going to demand of you at the beginning?
• If you had known what that calling was going to require, would you have done it anyway?
• How are you getting better at discerning your calling? 

• Goodness gracious
• How do you feel blessed these days?
• Did you always recognize that as a blessing?
• Would you say that your life is full of goodness, or that you have learned to find the goodness in all things?

• Exposing the hidden
• Journalists often feel that they have a mission to expose secrets, hold the powerful accountable, let the little guy in on the power of knowledge.
• Are the so-called professionals the only ones called to that?
• When was the last time that you spoke up about something that needed to be addressed?
• Why so long?

• Free from fear
• What are some of the things that you fear most?
• How much time/energy do you spend minimizing the likelihood of those things happening?
• Do you share those fears with Jesus?
• What was His response?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God calling me out of my comfort zone?
2. Where can I be a blessing to others by helping them to see how blessed they are?
3. How can I be more prophetic?
4. Where is fear ruling my life?

Shalom!

3rd Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 3rd Sunday of Lent are:

1. Exodus 20: 1-17
2. Psalms 19: 8, 9. 10, 11
3. 1 Corinthians 1: 22-25
4. John 2: 13-25

• Times and seasons
• Our Catholic calendar is a who's who of feast days, solemnities,  and seasons, each meant to remind us, among other things, that all time is holy, all time belongs to God.
• How successful are you at setting aside time faithfully to relax in God?
• If you suddenly had nothing urgent demanding your attention on Sunday afternoons, what would you do with all of that time?
• How do you define urgent?

• Where is that written down?
• My father-in-law sums up the Catholicism of his day as "pay, pray, and obey".
• If someone were to ask you what defines the Catholic experience, what would you tell them?
• If someone asked you what they had to believe in order to be Catholic, what would you tell them?
• By that definition, how Catholic are you?

• God arrives clothed in weakness
• Jesus came as a poor, humble man.  You can argue that God disguised His divinity, that the Incarnation was a colossal concession on God's part to reach us.
• But what if that poverty is a reflection of at least a part of God's nature?  Does that change the way that you look at those less fortunate, those who are at the margins?
• Have you ever been brushed aside, taken advantage of, robbed of your voice?
• Can you find Jesus in the midst of that?

• Purification
• Do you feel that your life has too many distractions in it, that you are pulled in too many ways?
• What are you doing to simplify?
• How will you know when you are done?
• What blessings have you already received from that simplification?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What in my life belongs to God alone?
2. What am I doing to nourish the essentials of my faith?
3. How can I embrace weakness within and without?
4. Is there anything that can/should be pruned from my life to give me sharper focus?

Shalom!

2nd Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 2nd Sunday of Lent are:

1. Genesis 22: 1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18
2. Psalms 116: 15, 16-17, 18-19
3. Romans 8: 31b-34
4. Mark 9:2-10

• Making all things new
• Do you ever wonder how the relationship between Abraham and Isaac might have changed after their experience on Mt. Moriah?
• Think of a time when something, someone, somewhere was restored to you.  It might be regaining your health after an illness, getting a job after unemployment, restoring a relationship, ...
• How did that transform your attitude toward that restored blessing?
• What was the same?
• What do you wish that you had done differently? 

• Embracing death
• Death comes to us in many ways.  It might be having to give up on some cherished dream, letting a relationship grow beyond its present form, letting a loved one pursue a different path of life.
• What have been some death moments in your life?
• How did you grow through them?
• If you were giving advice to someone contemplating such a death moment, what would you tell them?

• My God my all
• It is perhaps a delicate distinction to say that God provides us all of our needs versus God is the answer to all of our needs.
• Do you think that God's answer is "wait, it's coming?"
• Or maybe "you just think that you need that, but I have something far better?"
• Or "you already have all that you need, just open your eyes?"
• All of the above?
• None of the above?
• Come on, it is just a multiple choice question ;-)

• It's all connected
• Our liturgical year reminds us of our salvation journey as the people of God, coming to a climax in the 7 readings of the Easter Vigil.
• Do you think that we need regular reminders of God's actions since the time of Jesus?
• How might we make those blessings more present to us?
• What about the wonderful things that God has done in our midst in just the past few decades, years, months, days?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What is God making new in my life today?
2. Where is death offering me an opportunity for growth?
3. Where is God answering prayer right now in my life?
4. Where is God answering prayer right now in my life?  (No, that's not just a cut/paste error, I meant that!)

Shalom!

1st Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 1st Sunday of Lent are:

1. Genesis 9: 8-15
2. Psalms 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. 1 Peter 3: 18-22
4. Mark 1: 12-15

• Making all things new
• As devastating as the Flood was, God could have simply started from scratch.  But He saved a remnant of His children.  By emerging from the waters, Noah and his family point us toward Easter.
• Think back to some past events in your life that were really tough at the time.  Did you come to see those in a different light later in life?
• What good did you eventually find in those circumstances?
• How did that goodness eventually come to light?
• Do you think that resurrection experience is over yet? 

• Lessons in humility
• In some circles, it's fashionable to pray for humility as though it's the same as humiliation.
• How would you define true humility?
• How do you think that God has taught you humility?
• Once you learn humility, how do you stay in that state of grace?

• Looking for a clear conscience
• Do you ever have something come back to mind that you've done, said, or thought, and it makes you cringe all over again?
• Where do you think those memories come from?
• Is it worthwhile to bring those random memories to confession?
• What if you've already confessed that very sin, either specifically or in general?

• Living the eternal "now"
• If you had to describe Mark in one word, that word might be "urgent".
• Do you think that this present day in age, this year, this day are all times of fulfillment?
• Just what is it that is coming to fulfillment right now?
• Do you believe that repentance is strictly an individual matter, or do we need to repent as families, communities, nations?
• Who is there to lead us in such repentance?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What is God renewing in my life today?
2. What am I doing with the second chances that God has given me?
3. Where is my conscience before God?
4. Where is God waiting for me to repent?

Shalom!

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Leviticus 13: 1-2, 44-46
2. Psalms 32: 1-2, 5, 11
3. 1 Corinthians 10: 31-11:1
4. Mark 1: 40-45

• You're different
• What are some things about people that makes them different from "us"?
• What is it that really defines "us"?
• What benefit is there to keeping outsiders outside and insiders inside?
• Do you think that Jesus was an outsider or an insider? 

• Sin, sins, and faults
• At one time, it was common to have the "laundry list" confession, with individual sins carefully categorized and numbered, like some sort of inventory.
• Do you think confessing those makes anything better?
• How can you get behind some of your sins to the underlying sinfullness?
• How do you think that Jesus would want to heal us of our sin, sins, and faults?

• Who are you working for?
• I've talked before about Matthew Kelly's study of great athletes, great musicians, and other folks who have contributed so much to humanity.  All of them have a singular focus in their lives, an ultimate center point.
• If you were going to be known for just one thing, what would you want that to be?
• What have you done towards that notoriety this week?
• Do you think that its really possible to lead a focused life these days?

• Our part in the healing
• In this Gospel, Jesus asks the leper to show himself to the priests, as the Law requires.
• Do we always have some role to play, some action needed on our part to accept healing and restoration?
• Why do you think that we have to own a healing at all?
• Or
• Jesus touched that leper, in violation of Jewish law and custom.
• Who has touched you in your life, and restored you in some way large or small?
• How did that touch make you feel (worthy, not forgotten, part of the community)?
• How can we touch others more effectively as a family and parish community?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I doing to be more welcoming?
2. Do I honestly believe that Jesus can help me with my sinfulness?
3. Am I living the real purpose in my life?
4. Who am I touching with my life?

Shalom!