20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. Isaiah 56: 1, 6-7
   
2. Psalms 67: 2-3, 5, 6, 8
   
3. Romans 11: 13-15, 29-32
   
4. Matthew 15: 21-28
   

• House of Belonging
  
• Fr. Greg Boyle tells us that the typical gang member does not feel powerful, nor strong, nor vengeful.  Their most prevalent emotions are shame, unworthiness, outcast.  The gang gives them a place to belong, to find family.  All of us have those needs.  Some of us are lucky enough to find the fulfillment of those needs in ways that are healthy, holy.
• Where do you belong, ultimately?
• How long have you belonged there?
• What makes you so sure that this is where you belong?
• What and who does that sense of belonging inspire you to do, to be?
  

• We're all in this together
  
• John Donne said it well here.  None of us is immune to the loss of another, no matter the nature of that loss, be it their life, their courage, their very heart and mind, their peace.
• Who in your life do you depend upon most?  Who are those who enrich your life the most?
• How do you support them in their daily walk with God?
• None of us can be there for everyone.  And yet, every Sunday we bring people, situations, communities before God entreating His help that we lack the resources to help.  How can we be truly authentic in such prayer?

• Mercy unimaginable
  
• God is merciful.  Ultimately, God is the font, the source, the genesis of all mercy.  The best that we can do is pray for mercy that we may show that mercy.
• When have you seen great mercy?
• What was so great about that mercy?
• Was that mercy easy for the person showing that mercy?
• How would you suppose that we could learn to be more merciful?
• Does learning to be more merciful frighten you?
• Why not?
  

• Heroic humility
  
• So many of us these days act as though we are entitled, that God (or someone acting on God's behalf) is duty bound to give us one thing or another because we ask for it, or because we have been obedient in the past, or because we have heard that God showers blessings on His faithful.
• What are some things that you are sure will come to you as God's child?
• What makes you think that those are coming your way?
• What would happen to your faith if those things did not come your way?
• Why?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God offering me a home that I might not see just yet?
2. What is God asking me to shed from my life today?
3. How has God's faithfulness made me who I am today?
   
4. Where is God calling to me to walk on the water with Him?

 Prosperity Unforeseen

The old gardener pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his brow.
Casting his gaze off into the distance as he thanked his Maker for another sunrise.
His hoe in his hands so familiar that it was an extension of his bone and sinew.

Setting to his work again he continued to cultivate the ground, -
Feeling the rocks and roots along the way, gently removing them in preparation.
Preparation for the flowers that he knew needed to be planted soon.

Else the seeds would not receive their allotted rain and sunshine in time -
In time for them explode in a riot of color, quietly praising their Maker once again.
Joyous witnesses of His faithfulness in every petal and leaf.

Living for the day, never worrying over what tomorrow will bring.
Knowing only that God will provide what is needed when it is needed -
Needed to advance, strengthen them in due course and seasons.

Deep in meditation, he removed his gloves, immersed his hands in the fecund earth
Feeling the fertility, the warmth of the sun captured in the soil, the occasional worm,
Thanking God for the eternal Now ever within reach, savoring it, and letting go.

Marveling as the soil fell from his outspread fingers
That the letting go had more joy than the gathering ever could,
That richness was found in giving, rather than receiving.

He prayed a short phrase with each seed that he sowed,
Commending it to its Maker and his,
Reveling in their mutual kinship, their mutual creatureness.

Setting the hose nozzle to spray, the gardener gently watered the garden -
Marveling at the rainbow created in the mist, communing with Noah of so long ago.
Praying "blessed are you Lord, God of all the earth.  Thank you for your bounty."

Knowing that the seed, the soil, the water, the sunlight, his skill -
All were gifts from the same quiet source.
Bowing his head in worship, he knew belonging and rootedness all over again and marveled.

Shalom!

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. 1 Kings 19: 91, 11-13a
   
2. Psalms 85: 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14
   
3. Romans 9: 1-5
   
4. Matthew 14: 22-33
   

• If you're going to fail, at least be epic about it
  
• Elijah had hoped to expose Baal as a false god, and his prophets as deceivers.  Instead, all that he did was arouse the ire of Israel's queen who put him at the top of the most wanted list.
• When have you been discouraged in your walk with the Lord?
• What was the challenge to you at that time?
• What made you lose hope?
• Where did you find hope eventually?
  

• Salvation in the moment
  
• Salvation from our sins is certainly a central truth of our relationship to God.  But sometimes it's too easy to miss the present promise of that salvation.
  
• What are some things that you've been saved from in your walk with God?
  
• How did that salvation come to you?
  
• What did you have to do to receive that?
• What of that particular salvation do you think that you could possible share with others?
• Do you think that others would appreciate that gift from you?
• Why does that matter?
  

• God's fingerprint
  
• God is faithful.  God's faithfulness is for the long haul, eternity in fact.  Even when we are not actively following God, he is there, present, giving, waiting, healing, and speaking to us.
• What are some of your earliest memories?
• Do you think that God was there with you in that time?
• In prayer, get in touch with that divine Presence at that moment in your life.  We are children of eternity, in meditation we can touch those moments.
• Do you find any comfort, solace in that Presence?
• If you could talk to God during that experience in your life, what would you say?
• What's stopping you?
  

• Focus
  
• I've loved this story of Peter walking on the water to meet Jesus for as long as I can remember.  No one but Peter would challenge Jesus that way, no one but Peter would jump from the relative safety of the boat so impulsively.
• What are some doubts that you have had in times past?
• What caused that doubt?  Was it bad past experiences, something that you read, your own fears?
• How did you find the faith to carry on?
• How did God save you?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God offering me hope that I am to afraid to accept?
2. How can I live God's salvation more deeply today?
3. How has God's faithfulness made me who I am today?
   
4. Where is God calling to me to walk on the water with Him?

 Come, Walk With Me

There is nothing like looking death in the face with others
To bind you to them, and them to you.
Each of you baring your soul, each of you totally honest.

In my prayer, I put myself into the boat with Peter.
I hear the shrieking, maniacal wind's tortured lament.
I hear the timbers of our little boat groaning under the strain.

I know that we are near done.  There are no options.
And an odd calm comes over me as I resign all hope of survival.
My eyes rest lovingly on the friends that I have known so well.

Suddenly, off in the distance, where he has no business being,
Walks a man towards us, through the thunderous chaos.
He claims to be Jesus, but there's no way to tell.

And suddenly, my calm yields to longing, to be by His side.
Jesus, who has made my life make sense again.
Jesus, who has taught me that I am loved for all my impetuous words and deeds.

Even if my last breath is the one I take by His side,
It's better than cowering in this boat.
It's better than the comfort of a sinking ship

I vault over the side, scarcely touching the heaving gunwales  of our craft.
Love for Him sends me running across the crashing waves.
And for a moment, I forget myself in Him.  I find myself by being lost.

Suddenly, I see that there might be a tomorrow for me after all.
And with that, my brimming love gives way to fear.
As I wonder what it is that I'm really doing here on the water.

I come to this shore at dawn when I get the chance.
Smell the water, hear the birds, watch the fishermen.
And remember the feel of those strong arms bearing me out of the water.

And resolve to walk with Jesus a little more today.
Let my love for Him propel me through my fears to His side.
Just one more step on the trackless water.

Just one more step.

Shalom!

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. Daniel 7: 9-10, 13-14
   
2. Psalms 97: 1-2, 5-6, 9
   
3. II Peter 1: 16-19
   
4. Matthew 17: 1-9
   

• Order in order to find peace
  
• Who doesn't want things to be orderly?  When everything is "in order" you know what to expect, when it's likely to come about, what is coming soon.  It makes life so much easier.  And God has an order too, but it can get a little messy by our standards.
• How would you define freedom?
• Is there such a thing as "too much" freedom?
• How has God given you freedom in the past?
• How did you choose to use that freedom?
  

• The majesty of justice
  
• In our culture, we have a hard time seeing majesty in justice.
• What is a case in your life when you saw a great injustice remedied?
• Where was the hand of God in that?
• How did that event change you?
• Do you think that sort of righting of wrongs can happen again?
• What can we do today to help make that happen, and happen more often?
  

• Listen to him
  
• Christianity is not a self-help movement, it is a relationship.
• How does God speak most often to you?
• Can all of that communication/revelation from God be put down in words?
• Do you follow it anyway?
• Do you think that God's guidance for all of us is the same?
• If not, is there any point in sharing God's revelation to us with each other?
  

• Your majesty
  
• Life is not measured by how many breaths you take, but what takes your breath away.  I cannot claim to have authored that wisdom, but that doesn't stop me from using it.
• How has God exhibited His majesty to and for you?
• Do you ever get a chance to relive that experience in some way?
• How is that experience of majesty still influencing you?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. How is God calling me to find peace in His freedom?
2. How can I be an agent for God's justice in the world I live in?
3. Where is God calling me to greater trust?
   
4. Where is God calling to me out of His majesty?

 The Tents of our Faith

Unbeknownst to most scholars,
Peter came back to the mountain of transfiguration after all the excitement was over.
He built three tents there, one for Moses, one for Jesus, and one for Elijah.

Part of him knew it was a futile gesture.
Part of him realized that Jesus had moved on, as had Moses and Elijah for that matter.
Part of him knew that he needed reminders of that glorious day.

But whenever he was in the area, he would ascend that mountain.
Sometimes he would take James or John along with him.
And stand more or less in the same spot, and ponder.

Ponder the resurrection that Moses, Elijah, and Jesus were in.
Ponder the resurrection that all of us have open to us if we but enter in.
Ponder how much had changed, yet stayed the same in the years since.

Some days, it was hard to remember what it had been like with Jesus.
Discovering the Father's love in Jesus, and the love that Jesus showed.
Living in such freedom, yet often doubtful.  Bursting through his own comfort zone.

It all seemed so simple back then.
Now, there are factions within the various churches.
Persecution continues to rise.

The needs of the community of believers keep getting more complex.
My family thinks that all of Christ's followers have taken leave of our senses.
And maybe we have.

That rock right there is where Peter used to come here and pray.
Trying to get back in touch with the roots of his faith, and remember.
Remember the real meaning and purpose of Christ's ministry here.

Remember the real meaning and purpose of following Christ here.
Feel free to take a seat there and commune with Peter, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.
Find the answers to your questions about what's changed in your faith walk -

What's changed in your faith walk and what will never change throughout Eternity.
And then, transfigured within -
Get off this mountain and change your world.

Shalom!

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

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

• On Job Training
  
• In the early days of computer science, there were few degree programs in the subject.  When hiring computer programmers, McDonnell Douglas was happy to find anyone with a technical degree.  The rest would be learned as the new hire went along.
• If you define ministry as a calling from God to you to serve in His Kingdom in some capacity, think of a ministry that you ventured into that you felt ill-prepared for.
• Why did you get into that in the first place?
• What was your "on the job training"?
• What did you learn about yourself in the course of that work?
• What did you learn about God as you went along?
  

• The three essentials
  
• My father-in-law used to say that only three things were essential to life as a Catholic: Pay, pray, and obey.  He wasn't uniformly a cynic by any means, but sometimes, obedience to God can seem burdensome.
• What are the type of decisions, questions that you have put before God in your life?
• What made you think to ask Him for His guidance?
• How did God make His will clear to you?
• How do you know that you got it right?
  

• Whose idea of good
  
• We are always ready to say that good comes of following God.  But who gets to decide what is "good"?  And how are we at recognizing what is good?
  
• What are some tough times in which God drew you closer to Him?
• Do you think that God orchestrated that challenge, allowed that challenge and put it to use, or pretty much lets events fall where they may, and helps us through the tough times when they come?
• What good came to you from that challenging time in your life?
• Do you ever wish that God could have somehow brought about that good without the tough time?
  

• Priorities
  
• Do you eat to live or do you live to eat?  Ideally, each of us ultimately asks "how is this use of my time, this expenditure of money, this consumption, this training, ... bringing me closer to God?  I think that achieving that mindset takes a lifetime for most of us.
• Besides sleeping, what single thing do you spend the most time on in any given week?
• Why do you do that?
• Have your reasons changed over time?
• Is this use of your time making you holier?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. How is God equipping me to be better in some way that I am following Him?
2. How can I involved God more in a decision that I am facing today?
3. Where is God calling me to greater trust?
   
4. Where might God be calling me to transform my motivations?

 Prayer Changes Things

When I was young, we would encourage each other with the slogan "prayer changes things".
Deep down inside, I took that to mean that if you do it just right, and long enough -
You can pull an Abraham and change God's mind about something.  As long as it's important.

I always wondered how much time I needed to spend in prayer a day.
Was it a specific period of time?  Maybe you prayed until you got the right results?
I always wondered what it took to get the prayer gold medal.

How holy do you have to be before God starts answering your prayers anyway?
If you don't get the answer that you want, what does that mean?
How do you even know an answer to prayer when you see one?

Then I began to see prayer as a way of getting out of myself, getting a little distance
Giving God some room in my heart on the matter so that He can speak to me above the noise of my worry.
Giving me a chance to see things from a different perspective, and maybe learn about the bind I was in.

Then I began to see the things that I wanted to pray about as a door to the sacred -
A means to draw closer to God, learn His perspective on the situation
And find solidarity with all those who have or are having the same problems.

And I realized that my call in all of this was to grow in trust and indifference.
Trust that God was going to be with me -
And the freedom to be indifferent to the outcome, as long as it brings me closer to Him.

And now I realize that prayer does change things.
It changes how I see things, why I do what I do.
Prayer changes me.

Shalom!

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 16th Sunday of 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: 24-43
   

• Jesus I presume?
  
• More has been written about Jesus and His ministry on this earth than probably any other single topic.  Yet it is quite possible to read all of that, and still not have a relationship with Jesus.
• What is your relationship with Jesus founded on?
• What has Jesus done for you that commands your loyalty?
• Where have you seen the hands, the feet of Jesus in your life?
• Based on that, how would you describe Him to someone who has never met Him?
  

• Strength in yielding
  
• Most of us have burdens to bear, struggles that threaten to overwhelm, weariness that longs for relief, even if for just a small span of time.  Often, when in such circumstances, we can be tempted to find relief in giving up.
• What does the phrase "let go and let God" summon from you?
• What does it really mean to give something over to God?
• How has that worked for you?
• Was that the first thing that came to your mind when you were confronted with challenges that you felt were beyond you?
• Why?
  

• Learning what to pray for
  
• Sometimes words fail us, and that can be a good thing.
• Have you ever gone to prayer, and not known what to pray for?
• How did you pray then, without words?
• Did words ever come to you in that circumstance?
• Does it matter?
  

• Size isn't everything
  
• Stagnation is never good.  In fact, God calls us to continuous growth in depth in our lives, and our relationship to Him.  But that growth is hard to measure sometimes.
• Looking to the years ahead, how would you like to see one or more of the ministries that you are involved in growing?
• How did you come to desire that?
• What are you doing to make that happen?
• Are you sure that God's not going to change direction along the way?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Do I spend time to consider God's work in my life?
2. Where is God calling me to give over to Him?
3. Where is God calling me to silence in my prayer?
   
4. Where might God be calling me to greater depth in your relationship with Him?

Color me Quiet

Another day is done, there's nothing more that I can do about it now.
Most of my emerging plans that were dewy and bright with the first rays of the dawn,
Are pretty much done in now.  And tomorrow is likely to be about the same.

Before leaving bed in the morning, I try to give the day back to God -
From whom I received it in the first place.
Telling Him that it's His to use as He wills.

But in my heart of hearts, what I really long for -
Is a day of steady progress on all the projects that I'm trying to move.
Deeper still, I pray that God would see reason, and want what I want.

Then I could pray with more confidence, knowing -
Knowing that we were on the same page,
And that I can count on Him to do the right thing.

I am sure that God appreciates honesty.
Even if honest prayer gets rough around the edges.
Anger, frustration, longing, are all emotions that He has seen, felt, sighed through.

To be honest, I'd love to know whether any of this that's so important to me -
Amounts to anything in the grand scheme of things.
Better to find out, and move on with holy goals, dreams, desires.

Better that,  than cling to the ones that I have just because they are so familiar.
I don't even think that I need to know why God's longings for me are better.
After all, what would I do differently if I did have sublime understanding?

In fact, maybe my words have served their purpose for now.
I don't need the last word, nor even the first word in prayer anymore.
Maybe what I need most, is to just gaze on Jesus.

And let His heart speak to mine in a language that we both know.
Without me setting the agenda, writing a to do list,
Or a checklist of things to cover in my prayer.

Maybe, just maybe, I won't need so much time each day -
Crowding the hours from sunrise to sunset with busyness.
And instead can learn to find Jesus in seeking Him.

Rather than seeking accomplishment.

Shalom!

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 14th Sunday of 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
   

• I'd like a word with you
  
• Being a man of many words, sometimes the most meaningful thing that I can say to someone is "words fail me".  The word of God comes to us in many ways, many forms, and I think that is because we need all of them to adequately experience God.
• What are some ways that God comes you you to be with you, to share Himself with you?
• Are all of those revelations verbal?
• Are the non verbal revelations any less important or inspiring?
• Is it worth the effort to try to put some of those non-verbal revelations into words?
  

• Learning from the grapes
  
• When we celebrate the Eucharist it is with bread and wine, not grain and grapes.  Grain and grapes are edible by themselves, they can sustain in their original form, yet we transform them to bread and wine before offering them to God in the Eucharist.
• What are some things that God has gifted you with, that you have transformed into something new, nurturing, life-giving?
• How did you know that God had a calling for you in that capacity?
  
• How did that experience change you?
  

• Revealing God
  
• Revelation might be a string of events.  But I think that more often, it comes as a process.  We as God's children are called to be His Presence here on earth.
• Who are some folks who are a living revelation of God?
• What do they teach you about God?
• What do these people teach you about being a disciple of God?
• How have they inspired you?
  

• Growing together
• Our ministries are seldom a solo process.  Instead, we find ourselves working with others, ministering with, and through them, and growing with them.
• Who are some folks who have helped you in your ministries in years past?
• How have they helped you to grow, deepen in your faith?
• Why do you think that God sent them into your life?
• Why do you think that God sent you into their life?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where and how am I revealing God in my life?
2. How is God drawing me into creating with Him today?
3. Where is God calling me to reveal Him more deeply, with greater courage?
   
4. Where is God calling me to bring His Kingdom with someone new?

Can You Help Me Be Me? 

We all take it for granted that the young grow with time.
Taking on more responsibility
Shouldering burdens large and small
With steadily more strength and willingness.

But somehow, we act as though that growth ends.
Maybe when we get married, or land that first big job.
Maybe when we buy our first home,
But we all act as though creation grinds to a halt in our lives.

Maybe adolescence is too hard,
We desperately want to find a steady direction,

Steady pace,

Steady purpose in life rather than pushing our limits.

When I was young, I stuck to the familiar and comfortable

Out of fear of failure.

Out of fear of wasting my time with something I could never be good at.

Out of fear of being inadequate, lost, purposeless.

Lately, I cling to the familiar

Out of fear of success -

Finding out that all my adult life, I harbored 

An inner sculptor, poet, or elephant trainer.

And that I have never had the courage to hear that voice

That anthem welling up within me.

And maybe now it's too late.

Too late to make a difference in a different way.

Please, take my hand.

Draw me out onto the ice of uncharted possibilities,

Reassure me that it's better to fall and rise again -

Than to have never fallen at all.

Whisper that you'll be there to help

Even if the ice is as thin as I fear it is.

Show me that's not the point in this life.

Venture does not require boldness, it begets it.

Shalom!

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. Zechariah 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
   

• Finding your inner mighty
  
• The world that we live in is a dangerous place.  Enemies seeking to undo us seem to be everywhere, and it seems that the only way to achieve safety and security is to properly protect ourselves, no matter what the cost of that protection might be.
• Who do you feel threatened by?
• What makes you feel that they are a danger to you, your family, your various communities?
• Is there a true defense against the dangers that these enemies present?
• Who's job is it to provide that defense?
  

• Learning mercy
  
• Mercy and compassion are rich themes throughout God's word to us through the centuries.  The amazing thing is that God, who is so far above us, is still able to feel compassion for His children, no matter the extent to which they fail to live to their potential.
• Have you ever found real compassion for someone?
• How did that come about?
• Was it a process, or an event?
• How could you become more compassionate, exercise your compassion muscle more often?
  

• Doing the deeds of the Spirit
  
• I suspect that we are, to a large extent, defined by the really tough decisions that we have had to make in life.  Perhaps in equal measure not only by the decision itself and how it affected our lives, but the process that we went through to make that decision.
• What was a really hard decision that you have had to make?
• How did you come to the conclusion that you did?
• If you had to make that decision all over again, would it go differently?
• Why is that?
• Where was prayer in that decision?
  

• The little among us
  
• There are lots of reasons that someone might get noticed: exceptional looks, youth, talent, wealth, education, position, charisma, and so forth.  If someone has none of these things, do they have the same capacity to love God?
• Who are some folks in your experience who are easily missed or ignored in our society?
• How do they/can they experience God in their lives?
• Do you think that their perceptions of God might speak to us who are more fortunate?
• How can we be more hospitable to such folks?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God calling me to rely more on Him to defend me?
2. How is God drawing me into greater compassion?
3. Where is God calling me to be more open to His guidance?
   
4. Where is God revealing Himself to me through someone who is all but invisible?
   

Shalom!