29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. Isaiah 45: 4-6
2. Psalms 96, 1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10
3. 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-5b
4. Matthew 22: 15-21

• Who are you working for?
• The Jesuit perspective on creation is that it's still happening.  That is, the final destination for creation is still emerging.  And God wants all of us to take our rightful place in the process of fulfilling creation's destiny, of bringing creation to fulfillment, of bringing God's Kingdom.  Whether we know or acknowledge that or not.
• Why do you think that God doesn't share His whole plan with us?
• Do you think that it would help if He did?
• What would God have to do in order to earn your trust?  Don't be shy here.  He's actually interested.

• What if the other team is praying too?
• The ancients believed that gods were regional.  When we go to battle and beat our foes, we prove that our gods are stronger than their gods.  The fact that God is God over all should be a starting point for how we relate to each other.
• Do you think that God has favorites?  Favorite communities, favorite cities, nations, ...?
• Do you think that all of us can and should pray to God for peace, freedom, security?
• How can we be "our brother's keeper"?
  
• Who are our brothers?

• Finding conviction
• What is more important: what you believe, or who you believe in?
• Which of those two is more likely to change your actions, make you a better person, help you to help others?
• In your past, what has threatened your relationship with God, pushed it to the breaking point?
• How can you be better prepared for such trials?

• Paying to Caesar ...
• It's another major election, chock full of propositions to worry over.  A common theme is trying to prevent faulty legislation from getting written into law.  "Faulty" generally boils down to squeezing the citizenry for more money to put into the hands of politicians accountable to no one to perform services that we're not sure are a good idea.  James Dobson once called our current level of taxes "confiscatory" which is pretty dire.
• What are our responsibilities as citizens?
• What help can we count on God for in these times?
• What does it mean that Christians of good intent cannot all agree on important debate points in the national rhetoric?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How can I be freer to follow Jesus?
2. How can I better celebrate that we all have but one God in this world?
3. What am I doing to strengthen my relationship to Jesus?
4. How can I be a blessing to my community, my city, my state, my nation?

Shalom!

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. Isaiah 25: 6-10a
2. Psalms 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
3. Philippians 4: 12-14, 19-10
4. Matthew 22: 1-14

• We are saved
• Are you saved brother?  Growing up, the ardent evangelicals among us would start a conversation with strangers that way.  Sort of "in your face", but I'm sure that many meaningful dialogs got their start that way.  Such evangelists were always looking to find evidence of a personal relationship to God.
• Are you & God on a first-name basis?
• What has God saved you from lately?
• What is God saving you to?

• Depth of trust
• The shepherd has to earn the trust of their flock.  The sheep need to become familiar with the shepherd and his/her voice, the shepherd has to demonstrate that they have the good of the sheep at heart.  For a sheep, needs are pretty simple: protect me from getting eaten, make sure that I have food and water regularly, make sure that I have plenty of company of my own kind.
• What has God done to earn your trust?
• If someone told you that they don't feel God is worthy of trust because of the bad things that have happened to them in life, what would you say?
• How do you demonstrate to God that you trust Him?

• Whatever ...
• We all want to feel secure, that we know what's coming, that reasonable expectations like a roof over our heads, clothing, food, ... will be met.
• How much of what you enjoy today is truly essential?
• If you were able to live without those things for a day, a week, maybe longer, would that open up more options for you in life?
• Is that freedom worth the risk?

• Invitation
• God always invites us into deeper relationship with him, that never changes.  But individual invitations within that grand invitation can have an expiration date.  That dream job that God wants for you will go to someone else if you don't take it.  That person that God is calling you to help will go elsewhere if you don't reach out to them in time.
• What is God inviting you to today?
• How long have you been putting off answering that call?
• What are you worried about?
• Have you talked to God about those worries?

• Preparation for Reconciliation?

1. Where is God calling me to greater freedom?
2. Do I really appreciate all that God has given me?
3. What is one thing that really has a hold on me, on my heart?
4. Where is God calling me to greater or different generosity?

Just One Pair of Sandals

You see these home buyer shows on the TV

The real estate agent proudly ushers the eager couple into the master bedroom

Then, before they get too enraptured with that, he hustles them to the walk in closet

Where there is enough storage space to accommodate a battalion,

And the couple heaves a sigh of relief.  At last, enough room for our stuff!

And I wondered what Jacob Marley would say to such sentiments.

Would he scream "all of that, all of it is only so many chains

That you, you have forged, link by link, foot by foot,

Until your life is consumed with storing, protecting, and acquiring

Yet more things."

And they don't have to be denizens of a walk in closet

The size of a NFL locker room.

The links in those chains could be the appreciation of others,

Friendships that demand that we conform to expectations,

People that we so desperately want to impress.

What price freedom?

What benefit from freedom?

What does freedom honestly look like?

How do you know freedom when you have it?

Can freedom itself be clutched at, like a well-endowed purse?

Holy Spirit

Help me to see the links that I've forged in my own chain

Help me to break those chains before it's too late.

Help me to value the freedom that you want for me,

More than anything else in this life.

Amen.

Shalom!

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 5: 1-7
2. Psalms 80: 9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
3. Philippians 4: 6-9
4. Matthew 21: 33-43

• We are called ...
• We don't often think or even hear about God's emotions.  One entry into prayer is to ponder how your life, the way that you live it, your response to what comes your way, impacts God.
• Picture God gazing on you now.  What sort of expression is He wearing?
• Tell Him about your day, the ups, the downs, and especially where, maybe now for the first time, you felt closest to Him, and farthest away.
• Has that expression on God's face changed at all?
• Why do you suppose that is?

• Family therapy on a grand scale
• Imagine that God gently suggests to you that your relationship with Him needs some help, and that the two of you should see a therapist together to bring some healing to that relationship.  You're in the therapist's office for the first time.
• What things would you bring up?  Maybe it would be some times that you felt betrayed by God, times when you felt that God had not been faithful to you, or times that you felt that God was capricious or not steady.  Remember, you can tell this therapist anything, they are very professional.
• What do you think that God might say in such a meeting?
• Most of us are not trained in this sort of counseling, but what sorts of homework do you think the therapist might assign the two of you?

• Ask, and ask again ...
• I'm finding that prayer is transformative for us.  We start in prayer with one set of issues, one set of desires, and as we pray, we see things from a different perspective, and our prayer changes.  That cycle might happen several times over before we're done.  Maybe it never really finishes.
• What are some of the things that are going on in your life lately that you have not prayed about?
• Why not?  Were they too minor an issue, you didn't want to bother God with it, you didn't really care about the outcome that much, you were too busy, ...?
• What might have happened if you had prayed about that matter?

• To whom much has been given ...
• God's biggest miracle in circumstances of real tragedy is that He's able to transform a hardship into a growth opportunity if we're willing.  In those cases, what looked like a disaster has in it seeds for new life.  In a way, if we are willing to accept them as such, every event in our lives is a chance for growth.
• What are some of the tough times in your life where God was able to tend you, make you stronger, more empathetic, draw you closer to Him?
• What did it take for you to find those growth opportunities?
• Can you think of another way that would have been easier, less traumatic that you could have achieved that same growth?
• Why do you think that other, easer, path did not happen?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. When have I taken the chance lately to gaze on God and He on me?
2. How healthy is my relationship with God, and what am I doing about that?
3. What is one difficult aspect of my life that might bring growth?
4. Where is God calling me to be generous with what he has nurtured within me?

Shalom!

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Ezekiel 18: 25-28
2. Psalms 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. Philippians 2: 1-11
4. Matthew 21: 28-32

• Getting what's coming to you
• It's hard to watch injustice go unpunished.  One cold comfort is to tell yourself that the oppressors will get theirs in the next life.  All we have to do is wait.
• Think of someone who hurt you in some way.  Maybe it was a single action or word on their part, or maybe it was a consistent pattern of behavior that they exhibited towards you.  How do you think of them today?
• If you met this person by chance today, what would be your first impulse?
• If you knew that just one kind word from you would completely change their life around, and make them a better person, would you do it?
• Maybe it's more than just one kind word, how much might you be willing to do for that person to see them truly happy?
• How much does any of us truly deserve happiness?

• Wisdom and humility, the dynamic duo
• Many of us look back on our younger years and wonder a) how anyone was able to put up with us b) what were we thinking when we said/did those things, and c) am I really all that different now?
• What are some of the hardest lessons that you have had to learn in life?
• What made those so difficult?
• What had gone on in your life to prepare you to learn those things?
• Do you think that things you're going through now are preparing you for anything?
• What might that be?

• Being open to humility
• The hard part about putting others first is being authentic about it.  We've all met personalities who take on hardship because they have a "martyr complex" rather then a motivation of true generosity.
• Who are some of the people in your life that you routinely put ahead of your own desires?
• How did you get to that point?
• If you had an intimate knowledge of God's desires, if you had a crystal clear understanding of what God wants, how would that change your life?
• Are you willing to make any of those changes with just a fuzzy idea of what God wants?

• By their fruits you shall know them
• I'm sure that John the Baptist looked like just another nut case in a long string of such prophets to the established religious leaders of his day.  Jesus' condemnation of those leaders was that they chose to cling to what they knew, had handed down to them, rather than see the consolation that John brought, and take that to heart.
• What are some things that you are especially attached to?  Lately, we've had to give up our sanctuaries, the church music, in-person meetings of any sort, and the list goes on and on.  The question is, is any of that essential?
• In your life, how to you separate the critical, the essential from the accidental, the cosmetic aspects of your life?
• How then should you treat those non-essentials?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. Where is God inviting me to show greater mercy?
2. Where is God inviting me into greater humility?
3. Where do I need to give something up in my life, in order to draw closer to God?
4. Where is God calling me to be generous?

Training Camp

Giving generously isn't easy to do.

First there's the fear.

What I give away, I don't have for myself, my family.

Then there's motivation.

Looking at your giving as an investment.

That will yield interest in the sweet bye & bye.

Or giving as a way to wield influence.

I'll give of myself to you,

But I have a few suggestions on how you can do better.

Or using giving as a way to advance socially.

The truly generous among us occupy a stratospheric level of life,

And to be ushered into their ranks for your generosity is an amazingly affirmative experience.

But giving because it's the right thing to do.

Because it's the only thing to do.

Because it's the godly thing to do.

That's hard.

No one will hold a parade in your honor.

No one will invite you to the speaking circuit.

No plaques in the lobby to remember you.

Just consolation for the hopeless,

Just a voice for the abandoned,

Just an answer to prayer for someone who needs you.

Holy Spirit,

Grace me with trust, humility, and open hands.

That I might touch your children with your love, and not notice it.

Shalom!

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Sirach 27: 30-28:7
2. Psalms 103: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
3. Romans 14: 7-9
4. Matthew 18: 21-35

• The power of giving it away
• Injustice suffered has a way of making the oppressed feel powerless.  Certainly restorative justice repairs the harm done by the perpetrator, but the oppressed has a power that no one can take away from them, no one else can exercise: to forgive.
• What calls for more strength, to forgive, or to hold a grudge?
• What calls for more courage, to forgive, or to hold a grudge?
• What gives you more power, to forgive, or to hold a grudge?
• Why?

• Kindness and mercy chillin' together
• Oftentimes, inspiration comes to us from unexpected places.  Someone who seems to have nothing in this life, is still able to be kind to someone less fortunate.  Or someone who has suffered a great wrong is still able to show mercy.
• Can you be kind without mercy?
• Can you be merciful, without being kind?
• Have you ever consciously shown someone mercy?
• What prompted you to do that?

• What are you living for?
• A preacher with an unfortunate turn of phrase once said "I get paid to be good, the rest of you have to be good for nothing" yet retirement often feels that way.  The retiree's efforts no longer get weighed in the balance, valued, and paid for, so does that work still have value?
• Who finally establishes the worth of what it is that we do?
• How do you find out that ultimate valuation?
• If you knew just what the value of your labor was, and what was most valuable about it, how would that change you?

• Gratitude changes everything
• Often we miss the chance to be godly because we don't pay close enough attention to God's example of godly behavior in our own lives.  We miss the generosity, the abundance, the awe inspiring courage and incredible sense of timing that God exhibits.
• What of God's blessings in your life are you most grateful for?
• When was the last time that you thought about those blessings?
• What do they tell you about God?
• What is the best way that you can show your gratitude for those blessings?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. Where can I find greater freedom in life by forgiving?
2. Where is God inviting me to celebrate His kindness in another's life?
3. In the final analysis, what is my life good for?
4. Where is God calling me to be generous?

Footprints in Hearts

Sometimes, the best results of our lives

Are largely unnoticed

Often not celebrated.

That doesn't make them less worthy

Or smaller in importance,

Just less visible.

The kindness of a moment can live forever,

In the heart of someone who really needed it.

The bridge to hope from an act of mercy,

Can last for an eternity.

Look for the collateral beauty

The chance to show kindness and mercy.

Look for it in the unexpected, the brief, the fleeting.

And so savor the moments of life as they pass through your fingers,

Like the sand at the beach.

Shalom!

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Ezekiel 33: 7-9
2. Psalms 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9
3. Romans 13: 8-10
4. Matthew 18: 15-20

• Tell it like it is ...
• We often think of epic figures like John the Baptist as rugged loners, standing out in isolation.  But prophets are rarely alone.  Rather they form community where they can support and, if necessary, correct each other.
• Who are some people in your life whom you look to to help you stay true to your self?  That might be some close relative(s), friend, your confessor, ...
• When was the last time you looked to any of those folks for for help in deciding how to respond to something in your life that bothered you?
• Why don't you go to them with that sort of thing more often?
• Can you think of anyone who comes to you for that sort of help regularly.

• Hearing His voice
• Oftentimes, if something really means a lot to us, listening for the Holy Spirit's guidance in the matter can be tough.  Ignatius teaches that we need to cultivate an attitude that says "whatever leads me closer to You, Jesus, is my deepest desire.
• How do you think that we can come to such an attitude?
• How do you see trust in God playing into such an attitude?
• How do you see humility playing into such an attitude?

• Love is ...
• We all know that we need to love and be loved, so we try to define love so that we recognize it when we see it, and supposedly we will know how to pursue it.  Popular literature and the media tell us that love is some sort of chemical reaction that cannot be predicted.  When Mary & I went to Engaged Encounter, we were told that love is ... a decision.
• Do you think that all love is "tough love"?
• How would you describe "tough love" to a 10 year old?
• Since each of us has limited wisdom, and tough love depend on doing what's best for the other person, even if they don't see that right away, how is it possible for us to love?

• Let me help you with that ...
• I cannot remember the last time that I tried to correct someone, or someone else tried to provide me some correction.  How about you?
• If someone does a wrong to you, what makes you reluctant to bring that to their attention?
• What sort of relationship do you need to have with that other person in order to correct them with authenticity?
• Is there anyone in your life that fits that description?
• What does that say about you?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. Where have I chosen to take the easy way out and not say something uncomfortable to someone else.?
2. Where is God trying to get me to release something in my life?
3. What new ways could I show love to those that God has put into my life?
4. Who are the prophets in my life?  What am I doing to encourage them?

Shalom!

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Jeremiah 20: 7-9
2. Psalms 63: 2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
3. Romans 12: 1-2
4. Matthew 16: 21-27

• We need to talk ...
• It's easy to see the prophetic as something epic, grand, larger than life that dedicated professionals give their lives to.  The problem is that perspective leaves the rest of us "off the hook" as it were, for speaking up when things are wrong, for being a voice when God needs one.
• We've all seen examples of folks who are full of themselves, who think that they have all of the answers, and are, in actuality, inauthentic.  How is such a windbag different from a true prophet?
• Are there situations in your family, church, community that need to be spoken about, called into question?
• How do you know that you are not the one to begin those conversations?
• How would you like for God to let you know that you have a responsibility to be prophetic in some situation?

• I'm happy as a seed
• Seeds are pretty hardy.  Depending on the plant species, a seed can tolerate conditions that would kill a plant in no time.  But a seed, by itself, is not developing, growing, bearing fruit, giving of itself.  It needs moisture, soil, and sunshine before it can move into that next stage of its existence and development.
• How has God been kind to you?
• How has that kindness changed you?
• Has your trust for God deepened because of God's kindness?
• What has that trust in God enabled you to do that you could not do otherwise?

• The search for meaning
• We all fear many things: loss of a cherished job, the collapse of the nation's economy, someone close to us coming down with COVID-19, the list goes on.  But one of the most profound fears that I have is that of lack of meaning.
• What do you think makes for a meaningful life?  Is it measured in the number of great grandchildren you leave behind, the financial legacy that you leave behind, the memories that others have of you, the number of patents that you have, ...?
• Do you think that we should necessarily know how meaningful our life has been before we die?
• What would you say is the relationship between meaningfulness and holiness?

• Insight
• Poor Peter.  He was doing so well in last week's Gospel, and now Jesus has to rebuke him.
• How have you "lost" your life in God's service?  Maybe turning down a promotion so that you could stay close to family, giving up on a cherished degree program to raise your children ...?
• Did you make that sacrifice willingly?
• Do you think it's important if you sacrifice gracefully?
• Is it possible to start out in a resentful sacrifice, and gradually "step up to the plate" to the point that you embrace and find joy in that sacrifice over time?
• How do we avoid a martyr complex?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. Where is God calling me to be His voice?
2. Where is God calling me to greater trust, greater risk?
3. What meaning has God implanted in me?
4. Where is God calling me to greater growth by giving something up?

It Isn't Easy Being a Martyr

No wonder the surest way to get canonized is to be a martyr.

For starters, you have to find some calamity that's big enough.

Maybe your parents, or worse, your spouse, become chronically ill.

Or your kids need braces right after you lose your job.

Your cross has to be something folks can relate to.

Then there's the whole advertisement campaign.

Making sure that everyone knows what you're suffering.

How it's changed your life, made a better person out of you,

Not to mention how your sacrifice helped others around you.

Otherwise, no one's going to appreciate the depth of your martyrdom.

Sadly, there is no such thing as "martyr's anonymous" 

Where you can go and get hints on how to be a good martyr.

Those wanna-be martyrs are insufferable anyway.

Always whining about their problems, how no one knows -

The depth of their sacrifice the way that they do.

And honestly, that joy that I keep hearing about in sacrifice

Just is not coming my way.

Selling my classic '76 Pinto to pay for my daughter's college -

Sounded like a good idea at the time.

But she's failing chemistry, and I miss the upholstery on that car.

Maybe I'm doing this wrong.

Maybe I just need to tell the right kind of people,

People who appreciate vintage automobiles,

People with ungrateful children,

People who really know how to suffer loud and long.

Shalom!