30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 30th Sunday in 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

• Family reunion
• Wars, natural disasters, severe pestilence, all can dislocate peoples from their homes, make refugees and immigrants out of them, make them vulnerable to abuse.
• Have you ever been dislocated?  Maybe transferred to a new job, or your job took you to a new city, you suddenly had to pick up and move to take care of a sick relative ...
• How did you adjust to your new surroundings?
• How long did it take before you really fit in, before it felt like home?
• How can we, God's people be more hospitable, more welcoming?

• What has God done for you lately?
• If someone were to ask you why you choose to serve God, what would you say?
• If they then asked you what it costs you to serve God, what would you say?
• And if they ask you whether it's worth it? 

• The immanent Jesus
• Jesus is still human.  He never shed that part of Himself in death.  He knows us, our weaknesses, our strengths better than we know them ourselves.  Which can be scary if you think about it.
• If, instead of praying to an invisible God, you and Jesus could go somewhere private, and you could pray to Him face to face, what would change?
• Would you pray more often?
• Would you pray at a different time of day?
• Would you pray for different things?
• Why is that?

• What do you want?
• If Jesus were to ask you "what can I do that would bring you happiness?" what would you say?
• Do you think that Jesus would agree with you that what you desire will bring you happiness?
• Once you received that gift, whatever it might be, how would that change your life?
• Are all of those changes necessarily good?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How has God been faithful to me?  How am I returning that faithfulness?
2. How has God's great gifts to me made me a better person?
3. What do I feel that I need to hide from God?
4. Do I have the courage to accept what God has for me?

Shalom!

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 29th Sunday in 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

• This was not on the recruiting poster
• In years gone by, the federal government would publish recruiting posters hoping to inspire the young to enlist in the armed forces to make the world safe for democracy.  If God were to publish recruiting posters to encourage people to leave behind their current way of life and come follow Him, what would they say, based on your experience?
• If following Jesus doesn't necessarily make the the world safe for democracy, what is the point of "joining with Jesus"?
• Why do we care if someone is Christian at all?
• What sort of promises does Jesus make to those who follow Him?
• Does it sound like a good deal?

• Shield from what?
• Skillful use of a shield seems to start with knowing your enemy.  Making sure that your shield is pointed in the right direction, keeping a firm grasp on its handles, and never letting it drop, no matter what your opponent rains down on you.
• What is God shielding you from these days?
• How good of a job is He doing?
• What do you think He's counting on from you in this battle?

• Infinite mercy
• Once in confession I had a mystical moment.  The priest said something to the effect that the sin I had just confessed was something that he heard from penitents clear into their 90s.  Several things went through my mind at once: a) this has to be boring for you, hearing the same litany of sins over and over b) you're telling me that I'm likely to struggle with this same stupid sin for the rest of my life c) this sacrament of confession, this infinite mercy that all of us live and breathe and have our being in, it binds us all together, heals us all together, and sends us forth, all together.
• Where has God been merciful to you lately?
• How do you feel about that mercy?
• How has that mercy changed you?

• Getting it done
• When I was in High School there was this kid, a couple of years older than I was, named Bob.  Bob had this incredible ability to walk into any situation, look around, figure what needed doing, and settle in and do it.  He never drew any attention to himself, but whenever he got involved, things happened.  I think that speaks of great humility, resourcefulness, creativity, and trust.
• What needs doing in your world?
• What talents, temperament, training do you bring to the party?
• Why would you say you are taking the role that you are in that situation?
• Could you do better?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How good am I at showing the benefits of serving Jesus?
2. What spiritual battles is God fighting with me, on my behalf?
3. Where has God's mercy been in my life?
4. Where is God calling me to lend a hand?

Shalom!

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

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

• What would be like to be wise?
• Every once in awhile, I wonder what it would be like to suddenly be wealthy.  Would I buy a house in the Hamptons so that I didn't have to worry about sketchy neighbors and homeless people in the park, would I give some generous endowment to one of the charities that we support, ...  That fantasy is pretty easy compared to trying to imagine what it would be like to be wise.
• If you were wise, likely word would get out, and you would find folks coming to you for help with their lives.  How would you react to that?
• If you were wise, you would probably see your decisions, large and small, in a larger context, be more connected.  Would you like that much responsibility?
• If you were wise, would you also be kind?
• If you prayed for wisdom, do you think that God would give it/her to you?
• Are you afraid to pray for wisdom?  Maybe you should be.

• At the end of our days
• I'm beginning to realize that of the challenges of advancing age, perhaps one of the toughest is the harsh realization that I'm running out of opportunities to make good decisions.  With each passing day, my future is less malleable.
• What of your life do you regret?
• Do you think that God can transform any of that to good?
• If He is able to somehow bring good from bad decisions in your past, how does that make you feel about the decisions still ahead of you?

• I'm not sure how I feel about that
• My father occasionally would say "I'm not sure how I feel about that" when confronted with a complex issue.  As a young man, I was imbued with the confidence of the ignorant, and I generally had great confidence in my own opinions, not to mention my motives.
• Do you think that our motives have to be pure before we take action/speak up about something?
• Do you think that we have to even be aware of our often mixed motives before we take action on something?
• Do you think that God honors a prayer to Him for discernment of our own motives?
• Do you think that God can bring us purity of heart along the way as we act on His will in our lives?

• Finding freedom in the desert
• Freedom is revered perhaps above all else in our culture and perhaps rightly so.  But maybe the ultimate freedom, the one that matters most, is more elusive than we realize.  Our God is the God of infinite freedom, calling us forward into the freedom to be who we were created to be, to horizons and vistas that are worthy of us as His children.
• What are some of the things that keep you where you are?  Perhaps familiarity, family, friends, a favorite restaurant, a pathway that you have walked with a loved one many times, a fulfilling job/career that gives you joy.
• Do you find God in these things?
• What would you think if one morning, you awoke and heard God telling you that He will be with you, will be at your side, somewhere else now?
• How do you think such an awakening might happen in your life?  Maybe out of meditation, scanning the want ads, an incredible offer coming through the mail ...?
• What are the odds of something radical like that happening in your life?
• Would you be happier answering such a call?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where can I grow in wisdom?
2. How is God calling me to build on, and transform, my past?
3. Where is God transforming me as I work in His vineyard?
4. Where might I fear to be free?

Shalom!

27th Sunday in Ordinary TIme

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

1. Genesis 2: 18-24
2. Psalms 128: 1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
3. Hebrews 2: 9-11
4. Mark 9: 38-43

• Life with you is a gift
• If you knew that your spouse was going home to Jesus in a day, how would you spend that last day?
• If you knew that they had a week?
• How about a month?
• How much of that time would be spent thanking them for all that they have been for and to you through the years?
• What's to keep you from telling them that today?  Before you start that conversation, reassure them that you are feeling just fine.

• The fruit of your handiwork
• None of us likes to have the results of our hard work snatched away before we get a chance to enjoy it.  But sometimes, our work yields different fruit than we anticipated.
• When you were a teenager, where did you think that you would be by now?  For my part, I figured I would be dead of old age.  After all, to my mind at the time, why would anyone in their right mind even want to live to be 64?
• What do think would be a just reward for all of the work that you have put in over the years in your life?  Maybe a great retirement, the respect and admiration of your children, grandchildren coming by to visit regularly, a glowing article on you in Wikipedia. ...?
• How do you think that God rewards His children?
• Do you think that's just?

• You have a friend in me
• One of the things that I love at the Mater Dolorosa retreat center in Sierra Madre is their outdoor stations of the cross.  They are about 3/4 scale, and when I really give myself over to the experience, I feel a deep sense of Presence going through them.
• We are comfortable singing "what a friend we have in Jesus".  How are you a friend to Jesus?
• Have you ever just sat in His presence, just for the sake of being there?
• If you've never tried it, what do you think might happen?
• If you have tried it, what would you like to happen there?
• What do you think makes it a good prayer session from Jesus' perspective?

• In for the long haul
• I've often thought that it's a mercy that marriage is for life.  It's looking as though it's going to take me about that long to get the proper hang of it.
• For those of you married, how does your spouse complement/complete you?
• For the rest of you, what would you like to see in your spouse?
• How is your relationship with your spouse different from any other relationship?
• How does that relationship to your spouse color/change your relationships with others?
• If the two of you met each other for the first time today, and both happened to be single, do you think that you would strike up a relationship?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is love calling me to be appreciative?
2. How is God rewarding me right now?
3. Where is Jesus asking for my companionship?
4. Where is love calling me to be more generous of the both of us?

Shalom!

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. Numbers 11: 25-29
2. Psalms 19: 8, 10, 12-13, 14
3. James 5: 1-6
4. Mark 9: 38-43

• Are we a non-prophet organization?
• Every ministry has its qualifications.  Perhaps the most important qualifications for any participant in any ministry are humility and inclusivity.
• Think of the ministry or ministries that you are a member in.  If your members suddenly doubled, what would be the good news there?
• What would be the bad news?
• What makes it hard to welcome new participants?
• How do we gently tell someone that maybe God is calling them to another (any other) ministry?
• Who among us is honestly humble enough to give that sort of advice well?

• Make me pure of heart
• Just about all of us has had the experience of realizing, sometimes in time to make amends, that our motivations for doing something were mixed, at best.
• When you find that there just might be a hint of selfishness to your motives for doing good, what do you usually do?
• Do you think that we should wait until our motives are 100% pure before we do anything in God's service?
• Do you think that God honors prayers for pure motives from His children?
• What can we do while we're waiting for those pure motives to arrive by UPS?

• Missing the forest for the trees
• We've all been there.  Caught up in the details of what's right in front of us, we forget to take the longer view.  Maybe you forget to enjoy your vacation because you worried too much about keeping to the schedule.  Or your child's infancy flew past before you had a chance to really savor parenting.
• What are some of the "trees" in your life: things that occupy your attention on a frequent basis?
• Are any of those "trees" part of a larger forest, do they have a larger meaning?
• How often do you think about those forests?
• Why don't you take a walk in one of your forests right now?

• Looking out for the little ones
• I imagine that just about any of us has gone through fragile periods, times in our life when we were just hanging on, when some loving connection with others would have made all of the difference in the world.
• The last time that you really needed a friend, did you reach out?
• If not, why not?
• If not, what could have made it easier for you to call for help?
• How might the rest of us be more sensitive to those in our midst who are silently suffering?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God calling me to be more welcoming?
2. Where is God inviting me to be pure of heart?
3. Where is God inviting me to savor my life?
4. Where is God inviting me to reach out to another?

Shalom!

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. Wisdom 2:12, 17-20
2. Psalms 54: 3-4, 5, 6-8
3. James 3: 16-4:3
4. Mark 8:30-37

• Defend me oh God
• We always like to be on the winning side.  No one likes to be a member of the team that consistently loses, it's just bad for morale.  We all are betting that God will come out on top in the end, but what about in the meantime?
• As a faithful (and faith-filled) disciple, do you feel as though you are entitled to anything?  Maybe good health, the respect of your peers, retirement home in Martha's Vineyard ...?
• What makes you think that your list of entitlements should come your way?
• Where did that list come from?
• What do you think Jesus felt entitled to?

• Be careful what you ask for
• All of us want to know that God hears us when we pray.  But sometimes He's a little hard to predict.
• If you asked God for something that would ultimately do you harm, do you think that He would give it to you anyway?
• Do you think that everything that comes to/at you in life is a gift from God, or at least allowed by God?
• When things go wrong in life, just what is it that you think that God is looking for from us?
• Why is this so hard?

• Passion gets a bum rap
• What are your passions?  What moves you so much, that when you are doing that thing, enjoying your passion that time seems to stop?
• Where do you think that passion came from?
• What role do you think that passion should play in your decision-making?
• Do you think that we should all have the same passions?
• How did you discover yours?
• Do you think that your passions can change over time?
• Should they?

• Missing the forest for the trees
• I once thought that a person was truly old when everything that they once took for granted, getting out of bed in the morning, eating a hearty meal, being able to drive to the grocery store, ... become a chore that had to be carefully managed.  Then I thought that the onset of old age came when you thought more about the past, than you do about the future.  Lately, I've developed the opinion that old age comes when change, any change, is seen more as a bother, than an opportunity, a gateway to see God in some new and profound way.  And in that sense, I never want to grow old.
• In today's Gospel, the poor disciples just could not get their heads wrapped around the concept of a suffering savior, so they started working on a different problem, one that they could understand: figuring out the hierarchy in this new kingdom.
• Do you suspect that God might be calling you into a new kingdom in some way?  Calling you from a familiar, comfortable place into a broader horizon, an undiscovered country of some sort?
• How long has this been going on in your life?
• What do you think would happen if you answered that call?
• What is the first step?
• What's holding you back?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God asking me to rethink my expectations of Him?
2. Where is God trying save me through adversity?
3. Where is God leading me through my passions?
4. Where is God calling me out of my comfort zone?
5. Where is God?

Shalom!

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 50: 4c-9a
2. Psalms 116: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
3. James 2: 14-18
4. Mark 8: 27-35

• Embracing it
• Sometimes the best that we can do with something in our lives is to manage it.  Sometimes, we get lucky and there's a solution for the problem.  Other times, God calls us to embrace it like Paul's mysterious "thorn in the flesh" in 2 Corinthians 12: 6-7.
• Have you ever doubted God's presence with you during a time of loss, grief, stress?
• Did you ever figure out whether God sent that into your life?
• Does it matter whether God sent that into your life?
• Do you think that God can get some benefit out of anything that comes our way?

• Stumbling
• When calamity strikes, it is easy to feel isolated from God, from others, even yourself.  You begin to wonder what happened to that happier you that you are having a hard time recalling.
• The last time that you prayed really really hard to God, what did you pray for?  Faithfulness on your part, God's presence in your life, courage to keep on keeping on, perseverance, relief, ...?
• What did God give you in response to those heartfelt prayers?
• What did you learn about God in that experience?
• What did you learn about you?

• Hands on
• As part of Confirmation prep, we require a certain number of service hours from each young person.  Hopefully that exposure will help them see themselves in a larger context, help them realize that serving others is sacramental, help them realize that living out their faith is more than just an intellectual exercise.  But I often wonder.
• If we had the resources, what sort of service projects would you think would make good Confirmation sacramental preparation fodder?
• How could sacramental prep be transformed so that the focus shifts entirely from weekly teaching and fellowship with a sprinkling of service to a two year service project with supporting theology sprinkled in to help them see their service in the bigger context?
• So, these kids get confirmed, they are now adults.  Then what?  How is the rest of the parish going to be ready to receive them?

• I'll take you up if you take me up
• Taking up your cross is easy to mess up.  Particularly when we identify someone else as our cross to bear.  Even more so when we let them know that they are our cross to bear, and we are very grateful to God for giving us that cross.
• What/who are some of the crosses in your life?
• How are you taking those up?
• How do you pray about/for those crosses?
• Are you getting any better at bearing them?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God calling me to be more grateful?
2. Where should I get angry at God?
3. Where is God asking me to look at my world through the eyes of service?
4. Where is God calling me to let Him help me with the crosses in my life?

Nostalgia

There once lived a little girl born with an old soul.

Tucking her into bed one night, her father heard her ask
"Daddy, do you miss the toddler me?  I think I do sometimes."

Her father, being something of a philosopher pulled up a chair.

He knew the start of a long conversation when he heard it.

"Well dear," he said, "yes and no."

Your mother and I enjoy the you that you are today.

Your toddler self will always be with us in treasured memory.

We know that we had to give up the old you for the new."

"But what if I was a better person as a toddler.  What then?"

"Then ", he said "the rest of us would be here to help you

Grow into the best version of you that you can be."

"But how do you know that's going to be better?

No one knows what lies ahead, how I'll grow

Whether I'll ever get the right of whatever's next."

Her father leaned back in his chair, stared at the ceiling.

His daughter held her peace, having learned this was thinking time for her dad.

Eventually he came back to her room from his wanderings and said:

"Remember that crab that we saw molting at the aquarium?

If that crab never got out of its old shell, and grew a new, bigger one

It would die because it could not grow into its new horizons.

You & I, we are like that crab.  We have to leave our old selves behind

To embark on new, wider, bigger journeys,

Or we die."

"I understand.  But I'm still afraid."

"So am I, so am I.

But never forget that neither of us is ever alone in this process."

Shalom!