1st Sunday of Advent

Our readings for the First Sunday of Advent are:

1. Jeremiah 33: 14-16
2. Psalms 25: 4-5, 8-9, 10, 14
3. 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2
4. Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36

• Waiting for justice can be so hard
• One school of thought says that the 2nd coming is just around the corner, so there is no real point to making things much better this side of eternity.
• What are you waiting for at this season in your life?
• How are you preparing for the coming of Jesus this Christmas, today in that person at the office that you cannot stand, your family, your Church?
• We always assume that Jesus will come with a lot of fanfare, so He will be hard to miss.  What should we be doing to be sure that we do not miss Him when He comes?

• Teach me your ways
• Think of a time when you had to learn something new, something "out of your wheelhouse".
• Did you learn that new skill by studying someone else while they did the work, or were there manuals that you read, or ...?
• How can we learn God's ways in our lives?
• Who might you be teaching, without even knowing it?

• Pleasing God
• A couple truly in love tries to find what will please the other, because each of them finds fulfillment in making the other happy.
• Have you ever felt in your life that you succeeded in pleasing God?
• Does that say more about God, you, or your image of God?
• What do you think that it would take in you to please God consistently?

• Driven to distraction
• "Situational awareness" describes a quality about someone who is aware of the bigger picture.  Someone with situational awareness understands and appreciates the details of what might be in front of them at the moment, but they don't lose the bigger picture.
• How big is your picture?  Do you have any awareness of what's going on outside of your parish, your country?
• Do you care?
• How might a broader situational awareness be a benefit?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Who do I want to become through this Advent season?
2. What is God trying to teach me through what I'm going through right now?
3. How important to me is God's opinion of me?
4. Where am I letting myself get distracted/distraught by the small stuff?

Shalom!

Christ the King Sunday

Our readings for Christ the King Sunday are:

1. Daniel 7:13-14
2. Psalms 93: 1, 1-2, 5
3. Revelation 1: 5-8
4. John 18:33b-37

• What sort of King do you want?
• There's a bumper sticker that I used to see that read "Jesus is coming back and boy is He pissed!"  That sort of casts the Parousia in a different light.
• When you think of the Second Coming, what would you want to see happen before then?  Perhaps some friend or relative come to Christ, peace in the Middle East, cancer get cured, ...?
• Once Jesus establishes the Kingdom of God, how will that differ from what you are in now?
• What is the best way for us to prepare for that Kingdom as a family, a community, a Church?

• To what end majesty?
• What makes someone majestic?
• Which of those qualities really apply to God?
• What does that tell you about majesty in general?
• What does that tell you about God?

• A priestly people
• In its most general form, what is a priesthood?
• Why do you think that we most need priesthood here on Earth?
• Will those functions be needed in the Kingdom of God?
• Why or why not?

• King indeed
• It's ironic that Jesus finally owns up to His kingship before Pilate, the oppressor of the Jews, while Jesus is on trial for his life?
• Do you think that Jesus was trying to hide His true nature?
• What purpose did that serve?
• Or do you think that the revelation of a servant king, one who is vulnerable, even weak, is somehow an essential part of God's nature and revelation to us?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How am I better prepared to meet Jesus today than I was this time last year?
2. What do I expect of God when He comes to set things right?  What role do I have in that?
3. How am I being priestly?
4. How can I identify more with Jesus in His humility?

Shalom!

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Daniel 12: 1-3
2. Psalms 16: 5, 8, 9-10, 11
3. Hebrews 10: 11-14, 18
4. Mark 13: 24-32

• Trust in the face of change
• Think back to the last time that you went through a big change.  Maybe that was a marriage, breaking up with someone, getting a new job, you name it.
• To make that change, you had to leave something behind, say goodbye to something.  What was that something?
• Was the sacrifice worth it?
• What made you decide that the sacrifice was worth it?
• Where was God in all of that?

• Finding the joy of the Lord
• How would you define the joy of the Lord?
• What/where is the source of that joy?
• How is it like the joy that all of us feel at things like the birth of a new baby, or graduating with a College degree?
• How is the joy of the Lord unlike those joys?
• Which sort of joy is more durable?

• All roads lead to Jesus
• Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets.
• Does that mean that all of those centuries of Jewish worship and philosophy were a waste?
• What is something in your life that you had to let go if to make room for something even better.
• Did you resent making that shift at that time?
• Why is it that we cannot "have it all?"

• Cultivating detachment
• It's always been easy to get confused between those things in our lives that are eternal, enduring, and those that are ephemeral, that are here for a time and then we mature beyond them.
• How do you tell the difference?
• Is it important that we know the difference?
• Which is more important, the fine workmanship of the chalice, or the contents of the chalice, or the community of the gathered faithful sharing in that meal?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How am I becoming wiser in the ways of God?
2. What is my joy based on?
3. How am I waiting creatively?
4. How am I setting my priorities?

Shalom!

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. 1 Kings 17: 10-16
2. Psalms 146: 7, 8-9, 9-10
3. Hebrews 9: 24-28
4. Mark 12: 38-44

• Trust me on this one
• Think of a time when you had to take a leap of faith, to invest yourself where you thought there was no hope for a good outcome.
• What made you decide to do that ridiculous act?
• Did it turn out as you had hoped?
• If things turned out differently from what you had hoped, was that OK?
• Why or why not?

• Option for the poor
• God clearly has a soft spot in His heart for those who seem to have little going for them in this world.
• Clearly, the lost, the lonely, the afraid, the abused, ... all need a Gospel, a good news in their life.  What is the essence of that good news?  God loves you, you're not alone, things will get better, ...?
• How can we be that good news to others?
• How can we be better at being that good news?

• Missing the forest for the trees
• All of the rituals, the smells and bells, the church building, ... are there merely as pointers to the true faith that God has come, is come among us, to live with us and guide us.
• How do you tell the transcendent, that which comes from God's own self, from pale reminders of who He is?
• Why do you think that we need these pointers, these signposts to Eternity?
• Could we be just as close to God with fewer of them?

• Cultivating detachment
• Youngsters sometimes end an argument with the word "whatever".  In its twisted way, that one word speaks volumes.  "Have it your way, I really no longer care, clearly my opinion does not matter here, just leave me alone" all get rolled up into one word.
• What is the difference between surrender to God, and "whatever"?
• When was the last time that you surrendered to God in anything?
• How did that turn out?
• What did that tell you about God then?
• What does that tell you about God now?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I ever guilty of reckless generosity?
2. How am I reaching out to the forgotten in my life?
3. How am I pointing the way to God through my life?
4. Where is God calling me to give today?  Where is God not calling me to give?

Shalom!

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Jeremiah 31: 7-9
2. Psalms 126: 1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
3. Hebrews 5: 1-6
4. Mark 10: 46-52

• Welcome home
• Define "home".
• What people/places/activities/things make you feel "at home"?
• Given the itinerant nature of His ministry, what do you think that Jesus needed to feel "at home" somewhere?
• How can we be more like Him?

• Coming back
• It is probably a rare thing for someone to honestly "hit bottom".  If you look hard enough, things could nearly always be worse.
• Think of a time when you felt that life was far from "good".  How did you get through that?
• What sort of an outcome were you looking for?
• How did you expect for that outcome to happen?
• Where was God in all of that?

• One of us
• At the presentation of gifts, those who bring up the gifts come from among the gathered assembly.  The Lector climbs into the ambo from a seat in the gathered assembly.  Oftentimes, for the offertory at Thanksgiving, we process to the altar rail to put our offerings into the baskets.  The children come from the gathered assembly to offer canned food on behalf of their families.  At communion, the extraordinary Eucharistic ministers arrive at the altar from among the gathered assembly.
• What do these liturgical movements tell us about the place of the gathered assembly?
• What do they speak about our individual participation in the Mass, in ministry, in the bringing of Christ's kingdom to earth?
• Who are we as we go our separate ways after dismissal?

• Putting it all on the line
• Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak, perhaps his only possession, to answer Jesus' call.
• What do you think Bartimaeus was hoping for at that moment?
• Where do you think that event took him in later life?
• Where do you think Bartimaeus showed courage?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How am I helping others to find home?
2. What are the desires of my heart that I have not shared with Jesus?
3. How can I be a better witness to God's Presence?
4. Where is fear holding me back from God?

Shalom!

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 53: 10-11
2. Psalms 33: 4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
3. Hebrews 4: 14-16
4. Mark 10: 35-45

• Greatness is in what you give away
• There was a horrible bumper sticker that enjoyed some popularity.  It read "He who dies with the most toys wins."
• What do you think Jesus would have to say to that?
• If that sentiment is not true, write a bumper-sticker worthy statement of your own that is true.
• Is your bumper-sticker worth copyrighting?
• Why or why not?

• No regrets
• Archbishop Oscar Romero was canonized today, in part for his courage to the point of martyrdom.
• Do you think that true faith is always going to have its costs?
• How do you tell when calamities in your life are a result of you following your faith, or other, less noble reasons?
• How is God kind to us through all of that?

• Finding grace
• How would you define grace?
• How have you been graced in your life?
• How do we go about receiving grace in our lives?
• What can we do to be more open to that grace?

• I remember him when ...
• It's a common scenario.  Someone you never expected makes it big and all that you can do is to tell your friends "I remember him when he was just a punk ..." hoping that your familiarity with the new celebrity will somehow rub off on you.
• How would you define or characterize the humility of Jesus?
• Do you think that Jesus had it easier than we do, or harder, to be that humble?
• What sort of humility do you think that we are called to?
• What can we learn from Jesus' humility?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What do I truly desire?  What am I willing to give up for that?
2. Are there times and places in my life where I have tried to avoid the cost of my faith?
3. What graces do I most want in my life?
4. Where am I trying to grab the attention or credit?  Is that of God?

Shalom!

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Wisdom 7: 7-11
2. Psalms 90: 12-13, 14-15, 16-17
3. Hebrews 4: 12-13
4. Mark 10: 17-30

• What is it that you desire
• Indecision is a terrible thing.  Sometimes, the pain of it is enough to make us do something rash just to get the decision process over with.
• How do you think that Jesus made decisions?
• Do you think that he had a process?
• Do you have anyone in your life that you can go to for better perspective on your decisions?
• How do such people supplement your prayer life?

• No regrets
• None of us wants to die with regrets.  We want to check off every item on our "bucket list" before we go.
• What do you think contributes to a "regret free" life?
• Have you ever learned to be thankful for a decision that you once regretted, or something that was hard to bear at the time?
• How did that process happen?
• Is it possible to help that process along?

• Looking at life from both sides
• It's almost universal that we wish that we had a better memory for things, but be careful what you wish for.  I believe that at judgement day we will have perfect recall of our entire life.
• We are never going to know everything about the decisions that we make, so how do you know when you have thought about something long enough?
• How do you know when your own desires are helping you, or hindering you from making a good decision?
• What really makes a good decision anyway?

• Disordered attachments
• In Ignatian spirituality, we are told to avoid getting so attached to anything that it begins to distract us from our primary mission in life.
• What are you attached to?
• How do you tell when that attachment has become too strong?
• How would you go about breaking that attachment?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What do I truly desire?  What am I willing to give up for that?
2. What am I thankful for this year that I could not have been thankful for earlier in my life?
3. How am I learning to follow Jesus more closely?
4. What in my life am I incapable of giving up?

Shalom!