4th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Jeremiah 1: 4-5, 17-19
2. Psalms 71: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 17, 19
3. 1 Corinthians 12: 31 - 13:13
4. Luke 4: 21-30

• I feel so used
• Jeremiah was tasked with telling God's chosen things that they did not want to hear.  Jeremiah probably never had a party thrown in his honor by the influential of his age, no ad agencies asked him to endorse their products, I doubt anyone asked him for his autograph.  Were I in his shoes, I would have felt like an abject failure.
• How is God using you these days?
• How has the way that God uses you changed over the years that you have served Him?
• How do you think that He might be using you in the future?

• School of gratitude
• Learning to be grateful can be a hard task.  We are easily caught up in the minute by minuteness of life, and hardly ever get a chance to look back over our shoulder to see the larger patterns, the meaning of it all.  A discipline of gratitude helps us get past the muddle.
• What are you grateful to God for today?  Come up with at least five things.  They don't have to be terribly profound, but they do need to be specific.
• If you did that every day, how long do you think it would be before you would run out of things to be grateful for?
• Can you see such an exercise as a form of prayer?
• What do you think would happen if you shared your gratitude with others on a regular basis?

• Love never fails
• We all know what failure looks like.  Failure happens when an action, initiative, project, investment does not live up to its expected results.
• If love never fails, what is it that love (or Love) is supposed to accomplish?
• Where has God's love been active in your life?
• If success is the opposite of failure, how has that love succeeded in your life?

• The main stream
• My father would sometimes say "getting back to the main stream of our seminar" as way of recalling a group to the point of the present dialog.  Jesus wanted to help his fellow villagers to come back to the point of his mighty deeds, to go to their intent, not just be bedazzled by them.
• What are some things that God has done in your life lately?
• What did you learn from them?
• How have those experiences matured you?
• Do you think that there is more that you could learn from those life experiences?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God calling me into ministry today?
2. Where have I missed some of God's gifts in my life?
3. Where is God's love calling me today?
4. How am I continuing to benefit from all that God has given/done for/done in me?

Shalom!

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Nehemiah 8: 2-4a, 5-6, 8-10
2. Psalms 19: 8, 9, 10, 15
3. 1 Corinthians 12: 12-30
4. Luke 1: 1-4, 4: 14-21

• Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
• Say you meet a young woman.  She's working at a minimum wage dead-end job.  She's living with her boyfriend who roughs her up, but generally only when he's drunk.  He doesn't mean anything by it.  She only stays with him because his disability check helps to pay the rent.  She tells you that she wants to become Catholic.  You know that there is a lot of work that this young lady has ahead of her before she's going to be truly happy.
• Where would you start?
• Would you hook her up with your parish RCIA group and hope for the best?
• Do you think that you would tell her that her first priority is to stop living in sin with her boyfriend?
• Why are so many of our parishes so ill-prepared to help people like this?

• School of wisdom
• Wisdom seems to be in short supply of late.  Noah ben Shea, a Jewish rabbi, has a series of books that starts with Jacob the Baker.  In the story line (which is much like a rambling parable), Jacob sees himself as a simple baker whom no one will leave alone because they all want to ask him for wisdom to treat their various concerns.
• How are you becoming wiser?
• What do you do when confronted with a particularly troubling decision in your life?
• If you had a better way to make decisions, decisions that would bring you closer to God, would you use it?
• Even if the answers scared you?

• You complete me
• I apologize to those of you who feel that Hollywood has gone completely overboard with the superhero movies of late, I like them.  The latest, Spiderman, No Way Home has a wonderful scene where three Spidermen (each from a different universe, it's a long story) are trying to work out a game plan, but only one of them has ever had to collaborate with anyone else.  See the movie, you'll learn something about teamwork.
• Think of a ministry, or experience in a ministry where you were part of a really functional team.
• Was the team successful?  Did you make the world a better place to live by your work together?
• Did you help each other mature as God's children in the course of your work together?
• Was it fun?
• Why do you think that team worked well?

• Welcome home
• The way that Luke frames this homecoming of Jesus' it almost sounds as though Jesus showed up at Nazareth because his day planner told him that Nazareth was the next stop on the itinerary.  But I imagine that it had to be more than that for Jesus.
• Have you ever tried to share your faith with family?
• You know that you want what's best for them, so it would seem clear that the best thing that you can share with them is that which is most precious and holy to you.
• Why is that so hard?
• How would you need to live in order to make that sort of sharing easier?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I prepared to show God's love to those in deep need?
2. Where is God teaching me wisdom?
3. Where is God looking to transform communities that I am a part of?
4. How am I sharing the best parts of my faith journey with those I live the most?

Welcome Home

Hey, Jesus ben Joseph, welcome home.  Long time no see.

Where have you been?  Your father Joseph, he's getting on in years.

I saw him the other day at the market.  Looked like he had a limp going on there.

When are you going to settle down, find a nice girl, do right by your parents?

Your mother, she worries about you brother.

She's proud that you mean so much to so many people,

Don't get me wrong.  She talks about you all the time.

But when she hears about the crowds, she worries.

Crowds, they can be so fickle.  You never know.

What they are going to do next.  What if they carry you off,

Do something wild and crazy like try to slap a crown on your head.

Believe me, the Romans will have something to say about that.

Your cousin John was a preacher, the mightiest in a long time.

Look where it got him.

I don't think the family could take another loss like that.

You don't want to do that to your mother.

Why don't you come over to Jacob's with us for some drinks.

There will be quite a few of us there, you can see all your old friends.

And the best part of all,

With you there, we know we'll never run out of booze.

Shalom!

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 62: 1-5
2. Psalms 96: 1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10
3. 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11
4. John 2: 1-11

• The Lord delights in you - believe it or not
• If Jesus were to tell you that He was going to make a physical, visible appearance to you in human form at exactly 9:00 AM tomorrow morning, but He was only going to be able to give you one hour, how would you prepare?
• What would you wear?
• What would you want to ask Him about?
• What would you think would make that a successful time for you?
• What do you think Jesus would want from that sacred hour?
• Why would that be so different from any other time of prayer that you have?

• Shekinah glory
• God reveals His glory in many ways.  Jesus certainly was, is, and always will be the most compelling of those revelations, but there are many others.  One of them might be sitting next to you at the dinner table!
• How do you, personally, know what God is Like?  What is that knowledge based on?
• Who are some of the people in your life that show you some facet of what God is like?
• How do they reveal the glory of God through their lives?
• How might you become more like them in your life?

• Gifts given to share
• At the tender age of 64, I'm beginning to realize that I'm not going to live forever.  It occurs to me that a life well lived might hinge on the depth of your generosity.  Maybe the best definition of a saint is one who has given it all away by the time they depart this life.
• If you described yourself in terms of your gifts, what would they be?
• How are you giving those away?
• How/why is the world a better place because you are in it?
• What would you like for people to say of you at your funeral?

• Abundance-making
• Over and over we see God calling on His people to participate in the miracle.  The priest's sandals had to touch the waters of the Jordan before the flow of the river stopped (Joshua 3), the blind man had to go and wash in the pool of Siloam (John 9: 7) and in today's Gospel, God asked that the servants fill jars of water.  Imagine if they had thought to cut corners and only fill the jars half way!
• What makes a miracle?
• Name a miracle in your life?
• What role did you play in making that miracle happen?
• What would have happened if you had not "stepped up to the plate"?
• Why do you think God asked that of you?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How is God's delight in me shaping me?
2. Where is God trying to reveal Himself in me?
3. How can I be more generous?
4. How can I participate more in the miracles that God is making in my life?

Shalom!

The Baptism of the Lord

Our readings for the Baptism of the Lord Sunday are:

1. Isaiah 40: 1-5, 9-11
2. Psalms 104: 1b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30
3. Titus 2: 11-14, 3: 4-7
4. Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22

• Revelation
• God's revelation comes in many forms.  Sometimes God reveals Himself in helping us transform guilt, shame, and trauma into opportunities to grow in empathy and resilience.  Some of my best managers usually had one question after some work-related disaster: "what have we learned from this?"
• Where do you need healing in your life?
• How would things be different for you once you have healed in that area?
• How would you be a different person in the wake of that healing?
• What work do you see ahead of you as you walk in that healing process?
• Is it worth it?

• Looking for the bounty
• If anyone asked you whether our God is stingy, you would doubtless immediately reply that God is generous in all His gifts.  Fair enough.  But what does that really mean day to day?
• Where has God been not just generous, but bountiful in your life lately?
• How was that bounty over the top, more than you could have imagined, greater than you though possible?
• Did you see that gift of God as a gift at the time?
• What can we do to be more open to such abundances of God?

• Temperance to find your passions
• You can tell a lot about a person by asking them what they are passionate about.  Their passion might be music from the romantic era, or great sculpture, the poetry of Keats, or hiking Mt. Whitney, whatever the passion that someone has, when they celebrate that passion, they feel connected, more alive to extravagant possibilities, more alive.
• What are your passions?
• How do you find time for those passions?
• Where do you feel that they came from?
• Do you think that you can become closer to God in the midst of passion?

• Finding your baptism
• For most of us, baptism is just the beginning.  Look back over the years since your baptism.
• How has your baptism changed you?
• How has your baptism changed others?
• Try to imagine that scene, when you were baptized.  The family there for the ceremony, the priest, the church, the weather outside.  How did your parents feel at the time?  Look up the ceremony itself and read what was said at your baptism.
• If you were able to go back there as your adult self, what would you tell your parents?
• In your mind, pray with those present over you as you are baptized, and give yourself a special blessing.  What would you pray?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How is God looking to bring healing into my life today?
2. Where is God inviting me to receive His good gifts?
3. How is God calling me in my passions?
4. How can I be more faithful to my baptism?

The Candle

lay there in its box, top shelf of the china cabinet.

A good deal shorter than it was the first time it had been lit.

His slightly shaking hand gently lifted it from its cradle,

And he put it into a solitary candle holder on the table.

"85 years ago, I was given this candle.

My parents accepted it on my behalf.

And they promised to share the light of Christ

With me, that I might share it with others.

Every year since then, they would bring it out,

On the anniversary of my baptism, light it again, and remember

Remember their promise, and remind me

That I was put here to share The light, be a light.

This candle is all that I have from them, and it's enough

To connect me to what matters most about my youth.

I light it once more today, to honor their sacrifice,

And to renew that promise made so many years ago.

I never know how many more times I will light this,

So I try to savor the smell of the beeswax

Observe the detail of the carvings in this old wax,

Remind myself that life is at once precious and uncertain.

Thank you for being here with me to touch once again,

My deepest roots, my strongest hopes, the well

That I draw life from daily.

To make each day full of light and life."

Shalom!

Epiphany Sunday

Our readings for the Mass of Epiphany Sunday are:

1. Isaiah 60: 1-6
2. Psalms 72: 1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
3. Ephesians 3: 2-3a, 5-6
4. Matthew 2: 1-12

• Mission statement
• Organizations with no articulated mission merely survive.  They might mange to keep the wheels on the bus, the lights still work, but nothing new is emerging.
• Do you feel that you have a mission?
• How successful do you think that you have been at that mission?
• What about your parish?
• What about the entire people of God on earth, yesterday, today, and in the future?

• Finding wisdom
• Most of us look for wisdom as a commodity.  We have a tough decision to make, we don't know what to do, and we crave a dollop of wisdom to get us through the immanent crisis, and then it's business as usual.
• If you had to choose between being wise, and being smart, which would you choose?
• Who are the wise people in your life, those who seem to be able to make sense out of what's going on?
• How do you think that they got that way?
• Do you think that we can ever have too many wise people?
• What would you do with deep wisdom?

• Howdy stranger
• The Gospel of Matthew starts with a genealogy of Jesus.  Through all of those generations, upheavals, revolutions, betrayals, deaths and wars, God was quietly at work bringing about salvation history.  Some see that genealogy as a tribute to God's control.  I see it as a tribute to God's resilience.
• Paul regards with wonder that salvation history includes the likes of you and me, that the fullness of God's glory is reflected in the fact that His grace is ineffably inclusive, broad, deep, boundless, infinite.
• How does that inclusiveness of God's mercy reflected in our worship together?
• How is the boundlessness of his mercy illuminating the way that we treat each other?
• How is the sheer, courage of God's grace changing the way that you look at yourself?

• Watching for I know not what
• Whatever else you might think about the wise men of the east, you have to give them credit for being watchful, observant, seeking, flexible.  Finding God in a child is no mean feat, particularly in that culture.  One lone star might easily go unnoticed, particularly from a distance.  Yet these magi saw, pondered, discerned, and acted.
• When do you typically find time to ponder what happens to you in your daily life?
• What do you typically take away from such meditations?
• Would you call such times prayer?
• Why is that?
• How much of your action is the product of meditation?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How well am I fulfilling God's mission for me?
2. Where is God teaching me wisdom?
3. How are you welcoming others into God's emerging salvation history?
4. What are you watching for?

Shalom!

Christmas Day

Our readings for the Mass of Christmas Day are:

1. Isaiah 52: 7-10
2. Psalms 98: 1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6
3. Hebrews 1: 1-6
4. John 1: 1-18

• You can't go home again
• If you are lucky, "home" is a place of belonging, where you "fit in", feel affirmed and appreciated, a rooting from which you draw sustenance even after you are long gone from the geography, the time, even the people of what constituted home.  The tricky part is, that our relationship with home has to evolve and grow in order for it to continue to sustain us.
• Where/what/when/who do you call home?
• Where is God in your roots?  Do you regularly pray for those that make home?  Do you ever pray your way through any of your old experiences, good and bad, and bring Jesus to those memories in new ways?
• How does your sense of belonging make you a better person today?
• How can you help others find their way home?

• Showing the face of God
• Our God is not confined to one stretch of ground, one race, one culture.  It is precisely that He transcends any boundaries that we can make up that is a mark of His greatness.  Truly, all of the ends of the earth have seen His saving power.  Or have they?
• Maybe you see God manifesting Himself on a regular basis.  Ministries that you participate in, or benefit from remind you time and again that God has a deep and personal love for you, so you feel sure that everyone around you feels the same.
• How are you warm, welcoming, hospitable to others in your family?
• How about your parish?
• If we in the US really were serious about showing God to the world around us, what would that look like?
• How might it change the world if we did some of those things?
• Where can we start?

• Is there a prophet in the house?
• Jesus should not have been a surprise to anyone.  God had been promising the advent of a savior for centuries through His prophets.  Now that Jesus has come is there anything left to be prophetic about?
• What are some of the qualities of a contemporary prophet?  Is it boldness, courage, profundity, ordination, official recognition?
• Who are some prophets of our day?  Martin Luther King, Pope John Paul II, Billy Graham, Mahatma Gandhi, Sister Theresa, ...?
• How do you think they became prophets?
• How do you think that they heard that call in their lives?
• If you heard that call, would you recognize it?

• Incarnation incognito
• "Hey honey I'm home!" was a stock greeting from the man of the house when he joyfully stepped through the front door of his home after a long day at work.  When Jesus tabernacled with us, it should have felt like a home-coming for Him.  Instead, Jesus was born on the edges, scarcely noticed, hardly acknowledged.
• If Jesus were here today, where do you think that He would find most at home?  Maybe a soup kitchen, a hospital ER room, your local day-care center, your home?
• Where would Jesus be welcome?
• What can you do today, to make Jesus feel more welcome?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God inviting you to be more inviting?
2. Where is God welcoming you to be more welcoming?
3. How are you speaking up for God?
4. Where is God finding a home in your home?

Shalom!

4th Sunday of Advent

Our readings for the fourth Sunday of Advent are:

1. Micah 5: 1-4a
2. Psalms 80: 2-3, 15-16, 18-19
3. Hebrews 10: 5-10
4. Luke 1: 39-45

• What it takes to be great
• Greatness is possibly as ill-defined as it is elusive.  We think of a great football player who has stunning statistics on the field.  Or a great violinist who is able to transport audiences with their fervent playing.  You hardly ever hear of someone lauded for being a great family woman, or family man.  "Great integrity" is not a phrase you hear often these days.
• If you could choose, where would your greatness lie?
• How would you be able to tell whether you had achieved greatness in that area?
• Is it possible for someone to be greatly humble, or great in their humility?
• Who gets to tell who the "hall of famers" are as Christians?

• Seeing the face of God
• Matthew 14: 22-34 tells us of Jesus walking on the water, Peter following him out onto the deep, and Jesus rescuing Peter.  In all of that, Peter never lost sight of Jesus.  Probably a good thing for Peter.
• Do you feel as though you are where God wants you, that you are here today because God planted you here?
• If not, where do you think you took a wrong turn in life?
• Do you think that God can take you, just as you are, right where you are, and make something wonderful of you?
• How would you help God in that wonder-making?

• A body you prepared for me
• If you were to meet a complete stranger to pick them up at the airport, and you described yourself to them so that the two of you might have better luck finding each other, how would you describe yourself?  Now, pretend that they are able to see inside of you, discern your character, your strengths, weaknesses, where you are full of courage, and where you can be cowardly.  Now how would you describe yourself?
• How is your body a reflection of who you are?
• How is your body a reflection of who you are becoming?
• Do you like what you see?
• What would it take to like yourself better?

• Leaping for joy
• All of us look for joy, for things in our lives that bring us joy.  We don't often give it much thought.
• What most often brings you joy?
• How long does that joy last?
• Do you think that Jesus felt the joy of the Lord?
• Do you think that joy ever left Him?
• Then what is the difference between the joy of the Lord and what we so often call joy?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God calling you to greatness today?
2. Where is God inviting you today?
3. How are you and your body coming closer to God today?
4. Where is God offering you joy in unexpected places?

Shalom!