17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. 1 Kings 3: 5, 7-12
2. 119: 57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130
3. Romans 8: 28-30
4. Matthew 13: 44-52

• The wisdom of trust
• As we mature in prayer, we gradually learn that God is far more than a vending machine, and prayer far more than merely putting coins into that vending machine and choosing what we want from it.
• How do you decide what to pray for?
• Think of a time when you desperately needed something from God, and prayed for that devoutly, for a long time.
• Did your prayer change any along the way?
• How?
• Why?

• Finding inspiration
• Creative folk fear "writer's block", that horrible moment when they realize that they have nothing left to say, that no amount of discipline is going to rescue them, that they just need to ride it out.
• What about God do you find inspiring?
• What has God inspired you to do lately?
• What do you think God might do to make that inspiration easier?

• Finding your glory
• Hebrews 1: 1-3 describes Jesus as the refulgence of God's glory. When do you feel most in touch with that glory?  Is it maybe in prayer, at the end of the day as the sun sets and you think back over how God was present with, in, and through you, when you gather around the table with family ...?
• These epiphanies in your life, what do they have in common?
• What makes you more open, more sensitive to those divine revelations?
• How can you become more sensitive to God in the day to day?

• The joy of the Lord
• Possibly the most corrosive thing that can happen to us is to lose our sense of purpose.  Our days begin to melt one into the next with no accomplishments worth noting to punctuate the time, we feel worthless and useless.
• Why do you get up in the morning most days?
• What does that have to do with your faith?
• How did you find your purpose in this life?
• Do you think that purpose ever changes?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. How has my prayer changed me lately?
2. What about my life could/should inspire others?
3. Where is God revealing Himself through me?
4. What am I doing to give the better parts of me a better chance to grown and develop?

Shalom!

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19
2. Psalms 86: 5-6, 9-10, 15-16
3. Romans 8: 26-27
4. Matthew 13: 1-23

• God's might
• It's a pretty rare person who would openly say "might makes right", but we act as though we believe that.  We're always attracted to the successful, the beautiful, the famous.  God for His part seeks out the lost and the marginalized, those with the least to offer.
• Have you ever been moved to perform a random act of kindness for someone?
• What prompted that?
• How did that action change you?
• What do you think we need to do to bring more kindness into the world?

• Loving and forgiving
• Think of a time when someone really wronged you.
• Have you find it possible to forgive them yet?
• Is there a process to forgiveness, or is it strictly an event?
• What is the hardest part of forgiving someone?

• At a loss for words
• One subtle bit of sarcasm that you'll occasionally hear is "words cannot express how that makes me feel ..." often meaning that the speaker feels outrage, anger, betrayal in response to what has just been done/said, but they don't want to be too obvious about their reaction.
• Have you ever been at a loss for words in prayer?
• Have you ever prayed to be shown how to pray in a given circumstance?
• How did God respond?

• It's the yeast that I could do ...
• Situations of creative tension are often termed "yeasty", meaning that they are generative, creative, unpredictable, perhaps even mildly explosive.  Bringing folks together of many different cultures, ethnic groups, religions ... all tend to yeasty mixes.
• Have you ever gone out of your way to cultivate a different perspective than you already have, to get out of your comfort zone?  Maybe it was picking up a brand new skill, meeting new people, taking on a new job ...
• What prompted you to do that?
• How did it turn out?
• Do you think that was the will of God in your life?
• Why?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. How can I grow in humility?
2. How am I becoming more forgiving?
3. What am I doing to improve my prayer life?
4. Where am I being yeast to the communities that I serve?

Shalom!

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. Isaiah 55: 10-11
2. Psalms 65: 10, 11, 12-13, 14
3. Romans 8: 18-23
4. Matthew 13: 1-23

• It's all gift
• Please take a look at: https://www.aish.com/j/j/132691198.html.  Sometimes, it helps to put things into a larger perspective.
• What do you think it takes to be a good preacher?
• If it's God who created the universe, sent Jesus into the world to save us, and moment by moment gives you the breath that fills your lungs, what responsibilities do we have as His children in spreading His word?
• How would you define a successful person?
• Are you a success?

• Everything is ready
• Please listen to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgQf5tx1hi4 and see what you think.
• Walking onto a stage in a theater production must be heady stuff.  All of the preparation on the part of the set designers, the costumers, the makeup artists, the musicians who have trained, the countless hours in rehearsal, it all comes down to this moment, this very second when the first line is uttered as the dialog between the audience and cast begins anew.
• Do you ever embark on anything new and feel totally prepared?
• How prepared do you think God is for those big moments in your life?
• Is there really any such thing as a "small moment" in life?

• We owe it to creation
• Part of the attraction of the Harry Potter myth is that all of us seek to step into our destiny, find who we really are, and achieve greatness by owning our true identity.
• Are you proud of who you are today?
• How has your vision of your place in the universe changed since you were 10 years old?
• Would that 10 year old boy or girl recognize you today?
• Do you feel that your true self has been revealed in your life?

• Seizing the opportunity
• Carpe diem was Robin William's advice to his students in Dead Poet Society.
• What are some of the opportunities that have come along in your life that you passed up?
• Why didn't you give that a try?
• How important is timing in life?
• Do you think that God puts opportunities in front of us that only last for a time?
• Why is that?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. How can I grow in humility?
2. What is God calling me to today?
3. What is God revealing in my lately?
4. Where are God's opportunities for me?

Shalom!

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Zachariah 9: 9-10
2. Psalms 145: 1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14
3. Romans 8: 9, 11-13
4. Matthew 11: 25-30

• The challenges of humility
• In corporate America, it's often the case that advancement very much depends upon who notices you, what projects you get to take lead on, who your sponsors/mentors are.  It can seem that getting "the right press" can eclipse doing good work for its own sake.
• Do you feel appreciated for all that you do/all that you are?
• What do you think would be fair appreciation for what you've accomplished in life?  A promotion, a raise, recognition at the next department meeting, a word of thanks from your spouse?
• If you are not getting appreciated, for what you do, why do you do it?
• Some think that humility is about never speaking up for yourself.  Do you agree?
• Is there an up side to being humble?

• Care for the lowly
• Can you think of anyone in your life who is marginalized in some way?  Maybe they are old and it's hard for them to get out.  Or they have health issues of other sorts.  Maybe they don't have much money and no one hears much of them for that reason.
• How does God care for such as these?
• How did they get to be in that "all but invisible" state?
• Do you think that they deserve help?
• Do they deserve your help?

• Life in the Spirit
• How would you define "holiness"?
• Are there any people in your life that you would describe in that way?
• How did they get that way?
• What has that holiness really gained them?
• Is it enough to make you want to be like them?

• The joy of work
• Do you think that it's possible to find work for yourself that you are perfectly suited to, were born for?
• Should such work pay enough to provide for you & your family?
• If a particular function, say neurosurgery, pays vastly more than working as a florist, what does that tell you about the surgeon and the florist?
• What's more important about your life's work: that it brought you & those you served joy, or that it earned a lot of money?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. How can I grow in humility?
2. Who do I care for, take care of, care about?
3. Do I genuinely want to be holy?
4. Am I doing God's work in my life?

Shalom!

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. Jeremiah 20: 10-13
2. Psalms 69: 8-10, 14, 17, 33-35
3. Romans 5: 12-15
4. Matthew 10: 26-33

• The cost of discipleship
• The life of a prophet is seldom easy, they often have harsh truths that they need to convey.  Increasingly, our mere existence, our way of life, our priorities as Christians will cause others discomfort, confusion, eventually hatred.
• Think of a time when you felt led to speak up about something that no one seemed to want to talk about, something that had to be talked about.
• What gave you the courage to be that voice?
• How did it turn out?  Were you able to bring about change for the better?
• Would it have been better had you never said anything?
• Why?

• Humility and ambition
• St. Ignatius identifies three levels of humility that can be summarized: obedience, indifference, identification.  Obedience to God's will in my life over my own wants and desires.  Indifference regarding the outcomes of my actions so long as they lead me closer to Christ.  Becoming so close to Christ in my life that I partake of His shame and rejection, and rejoice in it.
• God hears hears the cries of the poor.  All of us can be poor in the sense that we can be humble, regardless of how God has blessed us in our lives.
• Where do you find yourself on the humility journey as Ignatius describes it?
• Is that good enough?
• How do you think greater humility would benefit you and those around you.

• The sin of the world
• I have a hard time deciding whether to repent of my sin, or my sins.  The first suggests a holistic look at my life in general, and ask whether I bring life and healing to those around me.  The second perspective is more immanent, seeking to find individual thoughts, words, and deeds of mine that need to be forgiven, atoned for, healed.
• How do you go about finding healing from your sin?
• How do you become aware of your sin?
• Is that awareness getting any better with age?
• Why?

• It will all work out in the end
• Calamity is isolating.  Everyone else has all of the normal concerns and demands on them, they don't understand what it's like to suffer.  Perhaps our greatest fear is being alone when we most need company.  Jesus assures His disciples that He is the ultimate companion, that everyone else in our life who brings us compassion, comfort, love, is an expression of Him.
• Think of someone who has "been there" for you for a long long time.  How did that relationship develop?
• We don't have to earn Jesus' friendship, but we do need to nurture that relationship.  How do you nurture your relationship with Jesus?
• If Jesus never leaves us, what does that say about the suffering that we all share?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. How can I grow in humility?
2. What is it in my life that consumes me?
3. How can I bring more life into the world?
4. How am I drawing closer to Jesus today?

Hero

"My hero" breathlessly exclaims the damsel as she rushes into his arms.

Scenes like that are in short supply these days,

The damsels are quite capable of saving themselves, thank you very much.

The knights all seem to have feet of clay and skeletons in their closets.

And yet, and yet the need for men and women of bravery, and nobility continues

Now more than ever.

To the point that we can no longer afford to outsource heroism

To an elite round table of knights.

The heroes have to be all of us.

The brave must be there gazing back at each of us in the mirror.

And bravery finds its true mettle

In far-seeing humility.

Lord grant me your ears that I might hear the cries of your poor

Give me your eyes that I might see how I can make a difference

Give me your voice to summon the best from myself and others

Give me your hands to touch and heal the afflicted.

Let me be your hero.

Shalom!

Corpus Christi Sunday

Our readings for Corpus Christi Sunday are:

1. Deuteronomy 8: 2-3, 14b-16a
2. Psalms 147: 12-13, 14-15, 19-20
3. 1 Corinthians 10: 16-17
4. John 6: 51-58

• The life of a nomad
• Jewish history is studded with God's efforts to remind His People that they ultimately draw their sustenance from Him and Him alone.  Every time that we bless our food we remind ourselves of the same thing.
• I suddenly realized the other day that our financial planner stopped talking about how Mary & I would spend our money in retirement and started talking about what legacy we were going to leave our kids.  I'm not sure what to conclude from that.
• What plans do you have for the next 10 years, or if your young enough, for the next 20?
• How much of that planning is rooted in counting on God to provide your needs?
• "God helps those who help themselves" is not found verbatim in the Bible.  Why is that?

• God in the land
• Once humanity settled down to raise crops and tend herds, life got a lot more complex, and things could go very very wrong.  All it took was a couple of years of drought, and the entire village would go hungry.
• Does it really make sense for humans to settle in desert areas, or regions subject to violent storms, and then beg God to preserve us from drought or hurricane?
• Climatologists are predicting dire consequences to the human race if we do not reverse the accelerating carbon footprint that we leave on the environment.  Does it make more sense to pray to God for better weather, or pray that we, as a people, will finally take better care of our planet?
• Are we willing to pay the price for living sustainably?

• What purpose the body
• Paul likens us to organs in the Body.  Personally, I'd rather be a guitar.  But that aside, the purpose of the various parts of the body is not just to sustain each other.  The Body has a higher purpose, an over arching calling that we each contribute to.
• Does your church have a mission statement?
• Does anyone refer to that statement regularly?
• How do the various ministries in the church support that mission?
• How often do you as a Body review that mission to keep it fresh?

• Bread of Life
• In times past, the Church had to guard against folks taking the consecrated host and trying to use it as some sort of talisman, manipulating God's presence for their purposes.  Such misuse of the Presence is essentially a desecration.
• If we not only have the Presence within us, but we are the Presence is it possible for us to desecrate ourselves?
• If I am called by God to be a plumber, but I insist on living my life as a carpenter, is that a desecration of the Presence within me?
• How then can we show honor to that Presence within us?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. How does my trust in God transform my life?
2. How am I stewarding God's gifts to me?
3. How am I living out God's mission for my life?
4. How am I God's Presence in the world?

Shalom!

Holy Trinity Sunday

Our readings for Holy Trinity Sunday are:

1. Exodus 34: 4b-6, 8-9
2. Daniel 3: 52,53,54, 55
3. 2 Corinthians 13: 11-13
4. John 3: 16-18

• Introductions
• Whenever a speaker is introduced at a conference, their current position, and their many accomplishments are listed so that the audience has a context for what they are about to hear.  They know where the speaker comes from, what has shaped their perspective on this topic, and ultimately, what authority they have to speak on this matter.
• God introduces Himself with "The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity."  If that was our first and most prominent impression of God, it might well change us in many ways.
• If someone were to ask you to introduce yourself in one sentence, what would that be?
• Would your introduction change for different audiences, different people asking?
• Why is that?

• In the heat of the moment
• This passage from Daniel comes just after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had them thrown into the furnace for refusing to worship the king's statue.  These three disciples did not know whether God would deliver them or not, but they did know, that they would not abandon their God.
• How do you decide what to pray for?  Do you pray for the really important things, things that others ask you to pray for?
• Or do you try to find what is important to God for you to pray for?
• Has your prayer changed over time as you have prayed for something?
• How have you changed over the years through your prayer?

• Seeking peace
• No matter what your definition of peace is, peace seems such a long ways off these days.  More and more Evangelical Christians see the end times in the morning newspaper, the violence and rage seems to mount week by week, and yet, God calls us to find peace.
• Is peace the absence of conflict?
• Is peace the absence of emotion?
• How are we to find peace during these times?
• How will peace change us once we achieve it?

• Hope brings pain
• I used to work with a programmer who's catchphrase was "I feel so much better now that I've given up all hope."  Until you've been in a situation where all seemed lost and there was no way that things would improve, it's hard to see that perspective.  The opposite is also true.  Hope for many of us can be painful because hope draws us from our comfort zone, holds before us the promise of a better day in our lifetime, invites us to work toward that new day.
• If Jesus did not come to condemn us and the world that we live in, what did He come to do?
• Is that process over, or is it ongoing?
• How can we, as church, participate in that process?
• How can you participate in that process?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. How does God define me as a person?
2. How can I be more open to the outcomes that God wants in my life?
3. Where is God calling me to create peace around me?
4. Where is God working redemption in my life?

Whatever

Often signals the bitter end of conversation with teenagers these days.

Signaling a giving up, a passive aggressive surrender

When they feel that nothing that they say will really matter,

The deck of life is hopelessly stacked against them,

And no amount of work or effort on their part will change that.

Whatever transformed is far removed from giving up, giving in.

Whatever transformed acknowledges God's deep commitment to us,

Banks on His mercy and trustworthiness,

Opens up to the possibilities,

And puts trust into action, and discernment to the test.

Whatever transformed prays "whatever you will, 

However you reveal it,

Whenever you reveal it,

I'll be ready to help make it happen,

Because I trust your trust in me."

Whatever transformed places my hand in God's

My footsteps in His,

My motivation, energy, vision at His direction.

There's freedom in such abandon,

And always more than a little fear.

I'm banking that the freedom is worth it.

Shalom!