4th Sunday of Advent

Our readings for the 4th Sunday of Advent are:

1. 2 Samuel 7: 1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
   
2. Psalm 89: 2-3, 4-5, 27, 29
   
3. Romans 16: 25-27
   
4. Luke 1: 26-39
   

• Wrong place at the wrong time
  
• Sometimes, the hardest part about finding God's will in your life is deciding not to do a good thing.
• If some action is good, such as building a hospital, providing relief funds to refugees, working a local soup kitchen, can such an action be bad for you?
• When trying to decide between investing yourself in one good thing or some other good thing, how do you choose?
• Do you think that God cares?
  

• Finding the faithfulness of God
  
• To one extent or another, we all believe that God will never leave us nor forsake us.  Sometimes though, that belief can be hard to hang onto.
• Have you ever felt forsaken, as though there was no one who really knew what it was like to be you, no one who cared enough to make a difference in your life?
• Where was God at that moment?
• If you ever get into a situation like that again, what will be different about your attitude the next time around?
• What might help you to have a really deep down trust in God to be faithful?
  

• Finding strength to do the right thing
  
• One definition of integrity is "what you do when you know no one else is looking".  There you are, just you, all of your experiences up until that moment, a decision before you, and God.
• When you found yourself in those pivotal moments, did God seem right there with you, supporting you, or distant, obscure, maybe even absent?
• What do you pray in such situations?
• How do you know when it's time to move forward, to commit yourself, even though you still don't feel strong enough?
• How has that turned out for you?
  

• Boot camp
  
• Often God calls us in unexpected ways into unexpected ministries, and we wonder why He didn't do a more thorough job preparing us.  After all, He knew this calling was going to come our way, you would think that He could be more organized about the preparation.
• Think of a calling from God in your life that caught you by surprise, and gave you little time to prepare yourself.
• Did you find that you were better prepared than you thought that you were?
• How did you find the trust necessary to step into that new chapter in your life?
• Do you trust God any more deeply now than you did then?
• If you were able to go back in time to your younger self when you were contemplating that next step, what would you say to yourself?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where might I be trying to pack too much into my life?
   
2. Do I trust God as deeply as I might?
   
3. Where is God inviting me to deeper humility, deeper integrity in His service?
   
4. Where is God teaching me more trust today?

Letting Go

I don't think that plans are bad.

God is not some anarchist set on disrupting our carefully built expectations.

In fact, I think God teaches us how to rely on Him

Each time that we make a decision with the intent to draw closer to His side.

The danger comes when we become attached to those plans,

Let them define us, provide our identity.

Soon, nothing makes sense anymore without those plans coming to fruition.

And we lose sight of why we made them in the first place.

Planning is all about the journey.

It's part of the journey.

And just as any journey can lead to unseen places along unfamiliar pathways,

A plan that was precious and holy may have to be given up for even more trust, more holiness.

The grace and mercy of God is not -

Not in letting us walk in the way that we have charted.

No matter how much prayer went into that course of action.

Rather God's mercy lies in His intimate presence and guidance.

We are only as alone as we make ourselves.

God is only as far away as we move ourselves.

No matter how dark the passage ahead might be.

The Light of Life is there before us.

Sometimes we just have to close our eyes to see it.

Shalom!

3rd Sunday of Advent (Gaudete)

Our readings for the 3rd Sunday of Advent are:

1. Isaiah 61: 1-2a, 10-11
   
2. Psalm Luke 1: 46-48, 49-50, 53-54
   
3. 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24
   
4. John 1: 6-8, 19-28
   

• Liberty to the captives
  
• We can be captive to all sorts of things in this life. 
  
• Think of something in your life that you just cannot seem to shake.
• What do you think victory over that resentment, addiction, trauma, co dependency, ... might look like?
• How can Jesus help you get there?
• How can you start that process this Advent?
  

• We are not so different after all
  
• All of us need mercy.  Those who have achieved much, who have fame, fortune, appreciation in abundance may think that they do not need mercy, but they do.  Our common need for God's mercy binds us together as His people, whether we know it or not.
• Where/when has God been there for you when you least expected to find Him?
• How did you get into that position to need His help?
• How did you get outside of yourself enough to seek God's help?
• How did that Divine Intervention change you?
  

• Finding strength in humility
  
• One way to look at the virtue of humility is to see ourselves, the world around us, and most especially God in a light that is certain and true.  Humility brings trust.  Trust brings resilience in the face of change because trust knows that control is an illusion.
• What are some times when you have had to learn humility?
• How has humility made life easier, richer, fuller?
• Why do you think that those lessons in humility were so hard?
• Has it gotten any easier through the years?
• Why?
  

• One you do not recognize
  
• All of us have personal heroes in our lives who have made an impact on us, who were there just when we needed them, who were the presence of God in our lives in some way big or small.
• Think of one of those personal heroes in your life.
• How did they come into your life?
• How were they the Presence of God for you?
• Have you ever thanked them for their influence?
• Do you ever get a chance to tell others about how God touched you through them?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where might God be calling me to greater freedom?
   
2. Where is God inviting me to greater mercy?
   
3. Where is God inviting me to deeper humility, deeper walking by His side?
   
4. Where is God incarnating in my life today?

Who Are You?

When we meet new people for the first time -

We try to establish our identity in terms of other things.

 

As though what we do, or did, what we have, establishes who we are -

Establishes how this new person should regard us.

 

But what might happen if instead we introduced ourselves:

I am the spouse of my beloved, parent to our children, son of my parents.

 

I am a member of my parish community -

Finding God in serving God's children with, in, and through that parish family.

 

I am seeking to find God in the ordinary, the every day.

I strive to build virtue with everything that I do and say.

 

In my service to God, I am helping to bring His kingdom to earth.

That justice and wisdom may blossom in just one more heart.

I am a sacrament of God's own Presence on earth.

A beacon to the lost who are seeking their true destiny.

And in the midst of all of that, the thing that I strive for most

Is humility.

 

Give that a try, and tell me how it turns out.

Shalom!

2nd Sunday of Advent

Our readings for the 2nd Sunday of Advent are:

1. Isaiah 40: 1-5, 9-11
   
2. Psalm 85: 9-10, 11-12, 13-14
   
3. 2 Peter 3: 8-14
   
4. Mark 1: 1-8
   

• Leading with care
  
• My father-in-law was in the hospital recovering from a heart valve replacement.  They were trying to get him to walk and he was reluctant.  Mark, his son, positioned himself a few feet away and said "Dad, you just have to get to me, that's all."  His father started slowly moving towards Mark.  Meanwhile, Mark cleverly starting walking backwards.
• How has God led you in times past in your life?
• How is God's leadership of His people similar to some of the really great leaders that we have, or have had in our midst?
• How is God's leadership different?
• Do you think that all leadership should be godly?
  

• Too many voices
  
• Our culture tells us that if you are doing just one thing at a time, you are wasting your time.  Far more efficient to multi-task.  Single mindedness is for sissies.
• What are some of the voices in your life?  They could be articulate: the news, your friends, family, things that you read.  Those voices could be memories that you have growing up, values and virtues that you have learned.  Those voices could be instincts that you might not even know where they came from.
• Do you give equal weight to all of those voices?
• Which one/ones of them can God speak through?
• How do you focus on God in all of the chatter of your life?
• When do you focus on God?
  

• Spiritual beings having a physical experience
  
• I love the original Karate Kid just because the master, Mr. Miyagi, teaches his pupil in the most mundane and repetitive tasks.  If we're open to it, there is always more going on than meets the eye.
• What do you think that you are learning, how are you growing, from some of the experiences that you are going through right now?
• Do you think that you would grow as well if you were not facing those challenges?
• What do you think God is going to do with those new virtues that He is building in you?
• Does it matter what use He's going to make of those virtues, of you?
  

• New beginnings
  
• Everything is so abrupt in Mark.  "John appeared in the desert" makes it sound as though the space was empty, and then suddenly, John was there.
• Do you think that God's revelation is still ongoing?
• Do you think that renewal, reform, transformation within the Church is going on to this day?
• What do you think God is asking of us in that ongoing renewal?
• How can we be more ready for that ongoing renewal?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where might God be calling me to lead?
   
2. Where is God speaking that I'm not hearing?
   
3. Where has God offering me graces today?
   
4. Where is God gently leading us today as a family, community, Church?

Now What?

There was a certain fiery majesty about John.

Utterly focused on the message he was proclaiming.

Utterly sure of the transformations that lay ahead.

Utterly confident that God was on the move.

Each of us and all of us there that day

Felt as though John was speaking to them especially.

No matter who you were, John had a word for you.

Soldiers, Scribes, wheelwrights, it didn't matter.

All of us had room to reform, all of us need to repent.

Our collective sin made a sorry community of us.

Each of us looking at each other with new eyes.

Realizing that we have all fallen short.

This baptism of John's was meant to be crossing the Red Sea.

Leaving certain slavery behind -

Along with predictable meals and shelter -

And embarking on a journey full of uncertainty and freedom.

I look upon the family farm that I inherited differently now.

I know that we are feeding the hungry, giving hope to the hopeless.

Our hired hands are God's children just as much as my family.

The very land a daily gift from God to be nurtured, not raped.

And I am afraid.

Afraid that I will not live up to the calling that I heard so clearly that day.

Afraid that life will, bit by bit, erode into just getting by again.

Afraid that all that I will have is jagged memories and regrets.

You can only cross the Red Sea once in life.

John's baptism is not a gate that you can go through time and again.

This change in me, these new eyes, these transformed hands -

Demand faithfulness, perseverance, resilience of me and my family.

And I don't know where we're going to find it.

John told us that he was making the way for this Jesus.

I just have to hang on to those desert dreams and passions until Jesus arrives.

I just hope that I recognize Him when He comes.

 

Shalom!

1st Sunday of Advent

Our readings for the 1st Sunday of Advent are:

1. Isaiah 63: 16b-17, 19b, 64: 2-7
   
2. Psalm 80: 2-3, 15-16, 18-19
   
3. 1 Corinthians 1: 3-9
   
4. Mark 13: 33-37
   

• Unfolding creation
  
• Lately, I can really relate to the image of me being the clay and God the potter.  That helps to explain the glazed look I get so often.  All of us and each of us are part of God's ongoing creation story.
• Where do you see God gently forming you into a better person lately?
• Is that process painful?
• Would you have it any other way?
• Why do you think that God is working with/on/through you that way?
  

• Too busy to pray
  
• "Barely keeping our head above water" is an apt metaphor for life for many of us.  New demands on our time, emotional resources, physical stamina sometimes seem to come at us with little or no warning, and we can feel overwhelmed.  At such times, it is hard to justify taking the time to pray.  Prayer can seem like an impractical luxury that is just going to have to wait.
• When is a time that you found it hard to pray?
• How did you respond?
• If you were able to pray anyway, do you think that it helped?
• What came out of your prayer?
• What went into your prayer?
• How were you changed by that experience?
  

• Gifted
  
• Gift-giving can be hard.  We wonder whether the person that we are giving the gift to really needs what we want to give them.  We wonder whether they will appreciate the thought behind the gift.  We wonder whether they will find the time to really enjoy the gift.  I suspect that God feels the same way when He gives us spiritual gifts.
• Do you feel as though you have all of the spiritual gifts that you need?
• If you could choose one gift that would help you the most, what would that be?
• Why don't you think that you have that gift already?
  

• Living prophetically
  
• Prophets and poets have a lot in common.  Both look at the world around them, and search out the meaning of their circumstances, culture, events, and share those reflections with their listeners.  I think that the poets and prophets among us are most often the ones who call us to be awake to the bigger picture.
• What are some things in your life that make it hard for you to see the bigger picture - where God is leading you in your life overall, where God is taking your family, your community?
• How do you think that you can make those things less distracting?
• Has there ever been a time when you suddenly saw your life in a new light, essentially had an "awakening"?
• How could you have been more ready for that awakening?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where might God be calling me to newness and freedom?
   
2. Where is my prayer life weak?
   
3. Where has God already gifted me?
   
4. How can I be more sensitive to God's leading?

Examen

Thank you God for your great love. 
Thank you for the sun that bathes each of us in its generous radiance.
Thank you for the hours and minutes that you have given me today.
That I might labor at your side -
Bringing all of creation closer to your ultimate fulfillment.

Shine your light into my heart now, as I ponder my day.
Remind me of your gentle Presence,
Your loving hand upon me at each turn of the day.
That I might see better the gifts that you have given me today,
That I might see better where you were leading and inviting me into your freedom.

Remember with me the paths that I have trod.
Remind me of your Presence.
Give me gratitude for the times that I accepted your invitation.
Show me when I have have turned away from you.
Let me learn from today how to draw closer to you tomorrow.

Forgive me when I would not accept your graces.
Forgive me when I clung to what was, just because it made me comfortable.
Forgive me when I failed in generosity out of fear.
Forgive me when I became too busy to remember why I am here at all.
Forgive me when my day was anything less than prayer.

Help me to decide to be more open to life
More open to freedom
More open to love given and received
More open to a prophet's sight in this world
More open to the moments of courage that come my way.

Goodnight Jesus.

Shalom!

Christ the King

Our readings for Christ the King Sunday are:

1. Ezekiel 34: 11-12, 15-17
   
2. Psalm 23: 1-2, 2-3, 5-6
   
3. 1 Corinthians 15: 20-26, 28
   
4. Matthew 25: 31-46
   

• Taking responsibility
  
• God chooses to lead and care for His people through other people, even though His leaders can sometimes disappoint Him by deceiving His children, taking advantage of them, or not following God's ways.
• Who are some of God's leaders (alive or dead) that you look up to?
• What was it about them that told you that they were godly leaders?
• How do you think God goes about raising up such leaders?
• Could you be one of those leaders?
  

• Right place, right time
  
• Not knowing the first thing about herding, I feel a little sheepish commenting on this Psalm.  But I would think that the well being of the sheep depends on being in the right place at the right time. The pasturage in any location is likely to be seasonal, not to mention the fact that the sheep need to move on after awhile because they consume all of the available pasturage.  So they have to be on the move just about all of the time.
• How has God changed things in your life?  Maybe that was a change in location, change in relationships, change in job, moving to a new home, getting a degree, ...
• If you had hung onto your present reality, clung to what you had, not dared to step forward into what was in front of you, what might have happened?
• Did you know that was the call of God at the time?
• How might you become more sensitive to that call of God in your life?
  

• Subject to whom?
  
• Our world seems full of tyrants large and small who try to wield power of their own without being subject to their right and proper authority.
• Where is an area where you have, or have had a measure of authority over others?
• Who did you work for in that capacity?
• How did their values determine what you did in that role?
• How did your discipleship to Jesus determine what you did in that role?
• Did you ever have to reconcile your "official boss's" desires and directives with those of God Himself?
  

• Getting it done
  
• Mother Theresa is famous for seeing the face of Jesus in the outcast, the marginalized, the oppressed.  But maybe God calls us to even more than that.  Maybe He's looking to us to serve those in need simply because they are in need.
• There are no end of folks in need.  How do you avoid despairing of ever making a real difference in our world?
• How do you protect yourself from burnout?
• How do you find where it is that God is calling you?
• How do you tell if you have stumbled into service that you are not called for?  Or even that you are still trying to serve in some capacity that you are no longer called to?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where might God be calling me to be a shepherd?
   
2. Is God leading me from something, to something?
   
3. Am I faithful to God as my ultimate authority?
   
4. Is there ministry in my life that is not working, that I should let go of?

Shalom!

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Proverbs 31: 10-13, 19-20, 30-31
   
2. Psalm 128: 1-2, 3, 4-5
   
3. 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-6
   
4. Matthew 25: 14-30
   

• God's work
  
• When I was a young man, I asked a respected preacher whether the work that I was considering for my career could be Godly.  His answer was "could a non-Christian do that work just as well?"  The implication was that if a non-Christian could do something as well as a Christian, then save the Christian for work that only a servant of God could do.
• Is it possible for our work to be holy?
• Even if we are paid for it?
• What makes any given work holy?
• Is it the case that a given work is necessarily going to be holy for everyone?
• How did you find the holy work that God called you to?
  

• Enjoying the fruit of your labors
  
• All of us work for many reasons.  What are some of yours?
• How have your reasons for the work that you do changed through the years?
• What do you think the most important reason is for the work that we do?
• How do you know what the fruit (or compensation) should be for the work that you do?

• Being awake
  
• Wakefulness calls for us to be prophetic in this life, to be alert to the deeper meaning of what goes on around us, to be discerning of the will and intent of God, to go beyond mere survival in this life.
• Who are some of the prophetic voices in our world today?
• How did those prophets get to be that way?
• How have their words and lives touched you, made you a better person?
• Do you think that your life could ever be prophetic?
  

• Building the kingdom
  
• When considering what final judgement will be like, I anticipate watching a newsreel of my life, and Jesus sitting there with me.  As the painful points come across the screen, those points where I acted in fear, cowardice, selfishness, Jesus will tell me that He was there, right there at that darkest point in my life.  And I'll get the chance to receive that Presence, or refuse it.
• How do you know when you are investing yourself into God's kingdom?
• Does the normal day to day that we all go through have anything to do with that setting the stage for Eternity in your life?
• Can every waking minute be holy?
• Would that be practical?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God calling me a greater sense of holiness in my work?
   
2. How can I find/make more holiness in my work?
   
3. Where is God calling me to be healing on this side of Eternity?
   
4. Where is God calling me to be His Presence in unexpected places?

Shalom!

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Wisdom 6: 12-16
   
2. Psalm 62: 2, 3-4, 5-6,7-8
3. Thessalonians 4: 13-18
   
4. Matthew 25: 1-13
   

• Free from care
  
• Jesus tells His disciples to fear not.  I'd have a lot easier time taking Him at his word if I knew that he has ever had to pay a mortgage, or worry about outliving his money in retirement.
• Do you think that a person who is wise worries more, or less, then a person who is not wise?
• Do you think that the wise person does not worry because:
• They trust God to meet all of their needs
• That they know that, no matter how bad it gets, God will always be with them
• They know that none of this really matters in the long run
• Some of the above?
• All of the above?
• If you knew that you could cast all of your cares aside if only you had sufficient wisdom, would you seek out wisdom?
• What's stopping you?
  

• Spiritual dehydration
  
• As a Boy Scout I heard about the dangers of dehydration.  Once your body gets past a certain point, you no longer feel thirsty, a pervasive fatigue sets in as your brain starts shutting down for lack of water.  To give in to sleep at this point often leads to death.  I believe that your spirits can become parched to the point that we no longer feel it anymore.
• What do you do on a regular basis to replenish your soul's reserves?
• How did you come to that practice in your spiritual life?
• How is that working for you?
• How do you respond when times are especially stressful for you?  Do you spiritual practices grow stronger or weaker?
  

• Dead in Christ
  
• When I was in aerospace, one thing that I prayed for was accountability.  I longed to see the consequences of decisions made in haste, decisions made out of convenience or cowardice would come home to roost so that those who made those decisions would finally know the true consequences of their actions.  Of course, because I was always above reproach, I would have nothing to fear from accountability.  I wish.
• When we all meet each other as one vast assembly, do you think there will be awkward moments?
• What of injuries that we've dealt to others, and never asked pardon for?
• What of damaged legacies that we've left to those who came after us?
• What would be the best way to prepare for that great gathering today?
  

• Survivalist
  
• These are the folks who know that armageddon is immanent, and the only ones who are going to come out the other side of that are those who are prepared.  The spiritual life is somewhat like that, just a little less whacked out.  We're not engaged in a sprint, but a marathon.  Perseverance, patience, endurance, none of these are splashy virtues.  But they are what the coming days, months, and years call for.
• What are you enduring lately in your life?
• Do you know when that challenge is going to end?
• How are meeting that challenge in your daily life?
• Are you sure that you are prepared for that challenge to endure a good while longer?
• How are you praying about that challenge?
• How can you flourish now, today, because of, not in spite of, that challenge?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where is God calling me to greater wisdom and less care?
   
2. How can I be better at caring for the Spirit within me?
   
3. Where is God calling me to be healing on this side of Eternity?
   
4. Where is God calling me to flourish that surprises me?

It all Turns to Dust In Time

Sooner or later, that flat screen TV that you always wanted
Will first become obsolete, then needing repair, and finally -
Just one more piece of junk to safely dispose of and recycle.
Even the beloved sports teams that you watched will get sold to another franchise.

That coveted honor bestowed on you by your boss last year -
Will soon be forgotten by the colleagues who watched you receive it.
Later yet, the organization that you were in at the time will be disbanded.
Later yet, the company that you were with will outsource to India.

The profound insights that came to you, unbidden, along your life -
That showed you to be a person of intellect, judgement, and intelligence -
Are very likely going to seep out of your conscious memory.
Leaving you with nothing but a memory of a memory to haunt you.

Yet we all hope that somehow, we will be immortal.
That there is some essence of our lives that will endure,
Be a benefit to those coming after us, our legacy.
So that there will, in the end, be some meaning to all of this.

All of the heartache over those close to us,
All of the long lonely nights agonizing over life decisions -
Trying to discern where, how, when to give yourself away -
And in so doing be a living sacrament, a sacred vessel.

Wisdom is not knowing how to advise someone in a jam.
It is the patience to listen for that still small voice -
Gently showing you the way that God has set before you.
Wisdom is simple, and it is simply this: 

What we receive, no matter how wonderful, joyous, and blessed -
None of that endures.
What we give away, freely, without measure or accounting -
That, that brightens the skies of Eternity.

Shalom!