21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 66: 18-21
2. Psalms 117: 1, 2
3. Hebrews 12: 5-7, 11-13
4. Luke 13: 22-30

• Hey, who are you calling "brother"
• The term Balkinization refers to a geopolitical process that breaks a region up into smaller and smaller units based on culture, ethnicity, or other shared traits.  For a sad commentary on how that can happen within Christianity, read https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/2gg7dr/heresy/.
• If you look at the person next to you in Church, what do you assume about them?  Do you assume that they believe in the same God that you do, have the same values that you do, pay their bills on time, vote one way or the other, ...?
• Why do you think that it's important that we be welcoming to others?
• What are some tangible, meaningful ways that we can make that welcome clear and effective?

• God's fidelity
• No one likes a flaky friend.  We want to know who that we can really count on, so that we don't waste time with so called "fair weather friends."
• Think of a time of real hardship for you.  How was God present with you through that?
• How would you describe that Presence as an expression of God's fidelity?
• If a friend of yours had treated you that way, how would you have taken it?

• Feeling the love
• Athletes like to quote the saying "no pain, no gain".  Which does not necessarily mean that there is always gain from pain.
• Looking back over tough times that you have had in life, how have those made you a better, stronger, more empathetic person?
• Were those gifts?
• Would you go through those tough times again, if you were given the chance?

• Is heaven big enough for all of us?
• In Calvin & Hobbs, Calvin creates an exclusive club where no girls are allowed.  That exclusivity makes Calvin feel important, part of an elite, someone with advantages that might even be enviable.  We laugh at such childish sentiments.
• Would you be disappointed to find people who have betrayed you in heaven?
• What would that tell you about God?
• What would that tell you about those other people?
• What would that tell you about your sense of betrayal?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I have the courage to welcome everyone?
2. How can I mirror God's faithfulness in my life?
3. Am I grateful for everything that God brings into my life?
4. What is lacking in my generosity toward others.

You must be new here

I've heard of a church with a sign at the entrance to the parking lot:

"If this is your first time hear, please turn on your headlights."

That signal calls forth an usher standing by, a valet if you will.

Who guides you to one of the VIP parking stalls close to the door.

That valet then stays with your and your family through the service.

Showing you where the worship aids are, how to use the kneelers,

They introduce themselves and their family to you and your family,

Invite you to their table for coffee and doughnuts after the service.

Then, in the weeks following, they call you from time to time.

No pressure, just interest.  Asking how you are doing, 

Asking if you have any needs that the congregation can help with.

Making sure that you never fall between the cracks and disappear.

And the welcome continues.  In time, someone taps you.

Asks you whether you would like to join the parking lot ministry,

Or if you have the time on a few Saturdays to feed the hungry,

Or serve coffee some Sunday morning.

When does a good welcome really end?

To whom does the Church really belong?

What does our welcome say about who we are?

What would you like for our welcome to say about us?

Shalom!

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Jeremiah 38: 4-6, 8-10
2. Psalms 40: 2, 3, 4, 18
3. Hebrews 12: 1-4
4. Luke 12: 49-53

• The art of the unpopular
• Jeremiah's message from God to His people was that they needed to surrender to the Babylonians.  Not a message calculated to ignite patriotic fervor, or broad approval from his fellow Israelites.
• When have you felt called to speak up, knowing that you were not going to be well received?
• How did you decide whether or not to "rock the boat"?
• How did you realize that you were the one to share that message, and not someone else?

• What does it all mean?
• The terrifying thing about quicksand is, the more that you flail around, the faster you sink.  When our best efforts just make things worse, we can make poor choices.
• Think of a time when you were under a great deal of stress.  Maybe it was at the loss of a job, someone close to you attacks you for no apparent reason, you and your spouse have a big argument, you name it.
• Was your first reaction the absolute best reaction?
• How did you get past that first reaction to a better response?
• Was prayer a part of any of that?
• Are you sure?

• Finding the essentials
• An old Jesuit priest once said "as my earthly mobility steadily declines, I find that I am more and more able to run toward God."  I suspect that the definition of "aging gracefully" really comes down to how well we embrace the overall paring down of our lives one piece at a time that is so much a part of aging.
• An old friend of mine has observed "of all the things that I have lost in life, I miss my mind the most."  What do you fear losing as you look forward to old age?
• Do you see any way that losing that (whatever it is) could possibly make your relationship with God, others, yourself deeper or better?
• My father in law once observed "my only hope is that I don't linger at the end".  What do you think he meant by "linger"?  Is there any possible good that could come of that seemingly endless span of time at the end of your life?

• Sticking out like a sore thumb
• Yesterday was the feast day of St. Lawrence Martyr.  He probably takes the prize for courage under fire.  In AD 258 the Romans decided to roast him to death on a gridiron.  At one point, Lawrence told his torturers "I'm cooked on that side, turn me over".  Lawrence stood up to the Roman persecutors, and gladly paid the price.  I'm not sure that I would have carried my sense of humor to the end like that.
• When you see others marginalized, taken advantage of, silenced, what is your first reaction?
• What do you think that you should do about those feelings?
• Do you think that "taking the high road" would make any difference in the end?
• Does that make a difference to you?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I have the courage to do/say what's right regardless of the consequences?
2. Do I trust God to get me through today?
3. What are the things that I really want to hold onto until I die?  Are they worth it?
4. What are examples in my life of God's faithfulness?

Comfort in unlikely places

I once worked for a manager fond of the information grenade.
He'd go to a meeting, toss out some bit of inflammatory information,
Wait a few minutes for the meeting to burst into flames,
And then he would have somewhere urgent to get to.

He took an odd comfort in discomfort.

Others find comfort in the predictable, the well worn path
Knowing what they know, content with what they don't know
Thinking, living, being inside the box all of their lives
Because the unknown is the lair of the unexpected.

These find comfort in control and predictability.

Others give to distraction
Generosity to a fault
Always shedding themselves in all directions
Hoping to atone for sins not yet committed.

These find comfort in self-inflicted penance.

Still others look to those around them for validation.
Every person that agrees with them is another friend.
Everyone else a danger, a hazard.
Closing off their minds and hearts to anything new.

These find comfort in sick solidarity.

"Peace give I to thee" Jesus says
"Not as the world gives, give I to thee"
I cannot promise everything will turn out the way that you think it should.
I cannot promise that you will always feel consoled or at rest.

But I can promise that every fiber of your being will be engaged

If you learn to find peace in living full throttle
No holds barred, no "plan B" no escape hatch
Trusting Me to be with you
As long as you are with Me.

The brave man dies but once, the coward dies a thousand times.

- Final stanza adapted from Julius Caesar by Sir William Shakespeare Act II Scene II
Shalom!

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Wisdom 18: 6-9
2. Psalms 33: 1, 12, 18-19, 20-22
3. Hebrews 11: 1-2, 8-19
4. Luke 12: 32-48

• Burning bridges?
• You have to wonder whether there were any of the Jews who stayed behind in Egypt when the Exodus took place.  Once the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, there was no going back, figuratively or metaphorically.
• When you have started a new venture, be it moving to a new job, leaving a home that you have been in for years, breaking up with someone that you have been with for a long time, is it easier if there is no going back, it has to be a clean break, or is it easier if you can change your mind later?
• When you make those sorts of big changes in your life, it represents a commitment on your part.  Who are you committing to?  Yourself, your family, your community, God Himself?
• What does it mean if things don't "work out" when you make such a change?  Was God unfaithful, did you maybe get His direction wrong, was the timing wrong, ...?
• How do you know if such a change actually "works out".  What does "works out" really mean?

• Waiting for God
• In some ways, all of us are waiting for union with God.  Some are more intentional and focused on that than others.
• What do you think that eventual union will entail?  Vindication for all of times that others have not appreciated your devotion to God, reward for your faithful service, finally understanding the meaning of life, reuniting with lost loved ones, freedom from having to mow the lawn each week, ...?
• Given your expectations, how ought you to be preparing for that?
• How much time and attention should you put into the preparation?
• Is there any part of your life that is not supporting that preparation?

• What legacy?
• 20 years after you are gone, what do you think of your present life will still be around in any form?
• Is that encouraging, or discouraging?
• What sort of a legacy do you want to leave?
• Do you think that is at all realistic?

• Losing my way
• "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" is attributed to Lord Acton in 1887.  I suspect that observant folks have felt the same way long before then.
• Are there any servant leaders in your life?  These leaders put their people first.  Servant leaders see their first obligation to serve, to protect, to foster the growth of their people.  Everything else grows out of that.
• Are such leaders always successful?
• Define success.
• All of us lead in some manner.  What sort of leader are you?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How committed am I to the course that God has set me on?
2. How am I getting closer to God today?
3. What's on my "bucket list" for this life?
4. How can I be more Christ like toward those who depend on me?

Clearly we Needed a Plan B

My mother hen instincts are raging full throttle.
I'm sure that the tribe straggles over far too much terrain
To be safe out here in this howling wilderness.

So far, our most visible companion is not the God of our fathers,
But the buzzards circling effortlessly on the rising thermals.
In my experience, the buzzards are never disappointed.

This Moses character told us that we would be free
Free from the shackles of our Egyptian task masters
Free to worship our God with all our heart, soul and mind.

From the looks of things, that freedom will be cut short
By lack of water for us and our flocks,
Lack of food for our bellies, and lack of shade.

This God we worship seems to have a sick sense of humor.
First getting us past the clutches of the Egyptian army
Only to abandon us to a far worse enemy, the desert.

Maybe there's still time for me and my family to go back.
Sneak away from the community late at night.
Find our way home in time for a hearty breakfast.

This nomadic life that we seem to have embarked on
Was not what we voted on at the last meeting.
I wrote the minutes, I ought to know.

I'm pretty sure that I would not have signed up for this
This wanton deprivation, if anyone had asked me.
The risk of failure is too high, the consequences too dire.

I'm not even sure that anyone did a cost benefit analysis here.
And yet, there is still singing in the camp.
Dancing even around our camp fires at night.

Folks here are giddy with delight that they have been delivered.
Confident that things will somehow work out in the end,
If only we stick together and rely on our God.

I suppose that if I and my family bail on this venture,
We could start a trend, and avalanche of departures,
And ruin it for everyone.

Out here in the desert, we need each other more than ever.
Finding God here in the desolation is easier.
Fewer distractions than we've ever had before.

Maybe not knowing for sure where my next meal will come from
Helps me focus on things that are even more important.
Maybe its better to support my tribe, this nation, this people,

And hope that God who got us on this journey so dramatically,
Plans to stick with us to the end.
Wherever that "end" might be.

Shalom!

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23
2. Psalms 90: 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17
3. Colossians 3: 1-5, 9-11
4. Luke 12: 13-21

• What's the use?
• Once there was a small village with a teenage boy who was given a beautiful horse by his uncle.  Everyone in the village marveled at the generosity of this gift and said among themselves "what a lucky boy".  The village Zen master just said "we'll see".  Some weeks later, the boy was riding, and the horse threw him and he broke his leg.  The villagers now said "such sorrow for that poor boy".  To which the Zen master again said "we'll see".  Some days later, the local king wanted new recruits to fight a war, all of the young men were conscripted and sent to battle except the young boy, since his leg was broken.  Everyone in the village marveled and said "what a lucky boy he is after all."  The Zen master just said "we'll see."
• When has hardship, disappointment, suffering come into your life?  Did any of that seem to serve a higher purpose eventually?
• Do all such events in our lives have to serve a higher purpose?
• What do we mean when we say that we look for meaning in our lives?

• Pacing yourself
• WC Fields was never a very religious man.  Near the end of his life however, a friend happened in on Mr. Fields, lying in his bed, reading the Bible, perhaps for the first time.  His friend remarked in astonishment "WC, whatever are you doing?"  To which Mr. Fields replied "cramming for finals."
• A useful though experiment is to ask yourself "if I knew that I was going to die tomorrow, how would I use the time that I have left?"  Follow that up with the same question for a week, month, year, and think about the differences between your answers.
• Why do you think that those answers change?
• Should they?

• We're in this together
• "Baa ram ewe, to your own breed be true" was the "password" that allowed Babe the pig invoked obedience in the sheep in the movie Babe.  If you've not seen the movie, don't worry, this will make sense anyway.
• What are some of the communities that you belong to?  What are some of the membership criteria?  Geography, common beliefs, shared experiences, ethnicity, gender, ... can all be the discriminators between who's in versus who's out.
• Imagine for a moment that you truly believed from the bottom of your heart that every particle of creation was God's ineffable presence, His revelation to us, and that He's waiting for us to really realize that, embrace it, and find Him and ourselves in all of reality.
• How would such a notion change you?
• Would that make you any truer to your own breed?

• Where did I go wrong?
• If you didn't know for sure whether a carefully thought out plan would work, you normally either a) abandon the effort b) try to figure out a way to reduce the risk or c) try to find a way to reduce your investment in the outcome, so it doesn't matter as much what happens.
• When you make a conscious decision to go one way versus another because you feel God's design/will/direction in that path, what do you expect will happen because of that decision?
• Did God ever sign up for that agreement?
• So what can we count on to come our way from a life of obedience?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I looking to God for rewards for my devotion?
2. How am I getting more flexible in my walk with God?
3. How am I becoming more inclusive in my life?
4. 20 years from now, what of what is important to me today will really matter?

I'm not leaving you and your sister a legacy

Said my father
Slump seated in the living room one evening.

"What do you mean Dad?"
My twenty-something self asked.

Leaving a legacy only happened at death in my mind.
And Dad seemed pretty far removed from that event.

Turns out, he had grown up in the 30's
Seen plenty of want.

He wanted to be sure that the next generation
Had remarkably better opportunities, a better starting place.

Maybe not "Christmas with the Vanderbuilts" sort of memories,
But at least considerably better than his.

If I were to have that conversation with him today,
I might have had the courage to challenge his notion of "legacy".

Tell him that he had encouraged my every interest,
Always fostered my explorations of the highways and biways of life.

Let me know that I was valued, loved, appreciated.
Far above the abuse that my Dad grew up with.

And that was more than legacy enough for me.
I hope that he eventually came to know what legacy he left all of us.

Shalom!

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Genesis 18: 20-32
2. Psalms 138: 1-2,2-3,6-7, 7-8
3. Colossians 2: 12-14
4. Luke 11: 1-13

• Knowing your place in the world
• We used to say "that's decided way above my pay grade" as a way to tell others that whatever they were asking about was not our choice, that we were there to implement, not set direction, and that it was pointless to take issue with the direction.
• When you pray, is it a conversation?
• Some folks in authority reject any attempts on the part of those under them to question their authority, question their decisions.  What about God?
• Do you think that God punishes those who are audacious enough to ask Him the tough questions?
• What makes you say that?

• God's answers to prayer
• Sometimes you can hear someone say to another "you are an answer to prayer."
• Who are some of the people in your life who are an answer to your prayers?
• What were you praying for when they came into your life?
• How did their presence in your life bring you closer to God?
• Who might you be an answer to prayer for?

• Daily baptism
• No one gets baptized a second time, even if it looks as though the first one didn't "take".
• How do you find yourself renewing your baptismal vows?
• One family that I know used to light their baptismal candle on the anniversary of their baptism, and say a short prayer together as a way to remember their baptism.  How else might you do the same?
• How is it that our celebration of our baptism changes through the years?
• How does it stay the same?

• Help me be hospitable
• Hospitality is serious business in many parts of the world, to the extent that folks in those cultures regard hospitality as an essential part of their nature.  I'm sure that most folks try to be ready for the unexpected visitor as much as they can.
• The example of prayer that Jesus gives us is that of a man who needs help to be hospitable, who needs help to be faithful to his very nature, who needs help to fulfill an element of God's call in his life.
• When you pray, how do you know what to pray for?  At bottom, do you pray for success, appreciation, guidance, consolation ...?  And behind those things, what really lies at the bottom of your prayer life?
• What do you think is the driver when Jesus prays, His ultimate motivation?
• In general, what do you think is the ultimate goal of prayer itself?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I trust God enough to be honest with Him?
2. How am I answering someone's prayer today?
3. How does my baptism inform and illumine my life today?
4. How does the rest of my life sustain my prayer life?

An Answer to Prayer

I have found, late in life, that humility is the hardest virtue of all.
Hard to learn, even harder to continue in, harder still to see the need for it.
Humility runs against some of our deepest instincts.

I had heard to be careful what you ask for, you might get it.
And yet I prayed for humility, because I see so much of it in Jesus,
I see humility walking among God's people in His servants.

My answer came to me in a gaggle of nuns one day.
I was privileged to go to Mass at Little Sisters of the Poor
Among God's aged children and the nuns helping them.

And I saw those sisters gently, patiently, helping their charges
In to the chapel for Mass, in all their glory.
Wheelchairs, walkers, braces, oxygen bottles, water bottles and all.

No matter how slow their patients move
No matter how feeble their arms and legs
Those nuns saw straight through to the beautiful soul in each one.

And celebrated the Christ at the heart of each pair of shuffling feet
Each palsied pair of hands
The eyes dimmed by age.

These servants of God didn't look for thanks, or acclaim, or appreciation.
What they sought after was closeness and meaning
As they poured out their lives, one day at a time.

Never asking where else they might be instead,
Never fearing for what they were missing,
Always knowing that they were right where they belonged.

Shalom!

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Genesis 18: 1-10a
2. Psalms 15: 2-3, 3-4, 5
3. Colossians 1: 24-28
4. Luke 10: 38-42

• Here comes the future
• Life is full of surprises.  Often we wistfully think to ourselves that a glimpse into the future would help us prepare better, meet what is coming our way with more composure, be more effective in our lives, our ministry.  But I wonder ...
• Are there any parts of your life today that you would not have expected 10 years ago?
• If you had known then what you know now, how would you have lived differently?
• Would that have actually made things better?
• Why do you think that God didn't brief you ahead of time?

• God's Presence
• How is God with you in your everyday living?
• Normally, how aware of that Presence are you?
• What difference has that Presence made to you?
• How are you present to God?
• What difference do you think your presence makes to His Presence?

• Today in Eternity
• We tell ourselves that Jesus suffered for all of us.  That suggests a finality, a completion to Jesus' suffering.  We also claim that God has revealed Himself fully in sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, which also suggests a closure, a finality.  No new revelations, no hidden truths are in our future.
• Yet there is still suffering in the world, and we seem to need new prophetic voices in our midst to call us once again to the truths that have ever been before us.  If we still need prophets, is it possible that we still need suffering?
• If so, how is suffering redemptive?
• What do we, as ministers, have to do with suffering to make it redemptive?
• When we suffer, how can we turn that into a blessing, a grace?

• Losing the forest for the trees
• Hospitality can be a rare gift when offered in love.  My theory is that Martha was happy to "put it all out there" for Jesus, but as she worked, and she kept thinking of more things that "needed" to be done to make it all just right for Jesus started mounting in her mind, she despaired of getting it all done in time to actually enjoy the visit.  Meanwhile, her "useless" sister was enjoying the visit.
• Have you ever missed out on life by preparing for it too much?
• How did that happen?
• How can we better see what the important elements are in daily life?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How is God preparing me for something new?
2. How am I companioning God today?
3. How am I being Presence to those in need?
4. What distracts me from what is important?

Just Being

I envied the nurses.

They all had their jobs, their training.
Coming in one after another to draw blood, check blood sugar,
Take blood pressure, check for fever, administer medication.

Me, I just tried to stay out of their way.

His life was really measured in bursts of activity
Done on his behalf,
Punctuated by short spells of quiet.

Or maybe it was the other way around.

Either way, I tried to not be alone in that hospital room.
To reach out beyond my discomfort, my "to do" list for the day
My sense of helplessness.

The fact that his hearing aid batteries were dead didn't help.

Somehow, the fact that I had to yell to be heard bothered me.
As though that one final inconvenience was just one too many.
As though it really didn't matter what I said.

And I realized that was completely right, it didn't matter.

Then I comforted myself with the thought that he must know that I'm there
That a familiar face amid all of the clatter and commotion would steady him
Make the whole experience less threatening in some small way.

And I wondered whether he would even remember that I was there.

And then I found peace.  Knowing that all that was asked of me was presence.
That somehow, in some mystical way, I was the hands and feet of Jesus just by being there.
All I had to do was let His Presence flow through my poor presence.

And I realized that my "nothing much" could be transformed into Everything.
Shalom!

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Deuteronomy 30: 10-14
2. Psalms 69: 14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37
3. Colossians 1: 15-20
4. Luke 10: 25-37

• Heart knowledge
• We have all had that disturbing experience of knowing something in our minds, but not feeling it in our hearts.  Perhaps its some standard of excellence in your work, some morale principle that you remember well but are unable to summon the courage to follow, some teaching that you remember distinctly, but no longer know whether you can live that.
• Which of the two is more likely to be closest to God: your mind or your heart?
• Think of a time when your heart has led your mind to a new closeness to God?
• Think now of a time when your mind summoned your heart back to God?
• What causes that distance between your mind and your heart?

• God hears the poor
• Looking around the room at my Confirmation students one evening I reflected on the advantages that they had.  Many were from middle to upper-middle class homes, every one of them had a cell phone better than mine, they all had good educational opportunities in front of them.  But they were poor in the sense that they often lacked a good moral compass, were very confused about their values, and overall, poorly equipped to enter adulthood.
• Who are some of the poor in your life?
• What makes them poor?
• Why do you think that God hears their prayers?
• How can we be the answer to those prayers?
• In what way are you poor?

• My all in all
• We sometimes feel overwhelmed by all of the demands on our time, our attention, our emotions, and we might sigh and say "I'm not sure how much longer I can hold it all together."
• Do you think that God ever feels that way?
• What role do you think God plays in "holding it all together" across the cosmos?
• Do you think that God is like a top executive at a corporation: He just pays attention to the big stuff, or does He deal with the small stuff too?
• Is your life big stuff or small stuff to God?
• How might all of us help in that process of "holding it all together?"

• Our God of Mercy
• I think that one of the great tragedies of modern life is that we let it all get away from us instead of savoring, pondering, meditating on events as they occur.
• Think of a time that someone hurt you, by something they did, said, an attitude that you picked up from them, ...
• Why does that still bother you?  Remember, you're the one who was quick to remember that.
• Have you ever thought to intentionally, deliberately, forgive them?
• Why or why not?
• If you have forgiven them, or you did forgive them, how would that bring you closer to Jesus?
• Is it worth the risk? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How can I make God more accessible to someone in my life?
2. Where in my life do I need to turn to God more, trust more, live more?
3. How is God holding me together that I have not appreciated?
4. Who are the poor in my life?

One Day At a Time

The spear of the Roman guard made a wet sucking sound as it came out of His side.
Blood and water ran down His inert form.
No movement rebelled at the raw intrusion,
No nerves fired in response to that deadly thrust.

He just hung there, with nothing left now.
But exhaustion and grief hanging from him
Like a dark cloak from His broken shoulders.
And that sight brought back memories.

Memories of an awful day on my way from Jerusalem to Jericho.
There, baking in the merciless sun,
Spent, bleeding, broken, discarded like an old cloak.
He lay there, without a friend in the world.

I was in a hurry,
On my way to close a deal for some prize olives.
But the blood, the gore, the helplessness spoke to me
And I knew that scene would haunt me if I did nothing.

So, more out of self interest than anything else,
I touched him, found life still throbbing in his veins,
And realized I had little time to save the both of us.
Fortunately, my donkey did not balk at such a messy burden.

Looking up to Him on that awful tree,
I asked myself if I could have somehow spared Him
Shown mercy when He needed it most
Eased His loneliness, soothed His sorrow.

About all that I could think to do
Was to be sure to pack another flagon of oil
Another skin of wine
For the next battered, crushed unfortunate that I came across on the road.

Shalom!