Holy Family Sunday

Our readings for Holy Family Sunday of Advent are:

1. 1 Samuel 1: 20-22, 24-28
   
2. Psalms 84: 2-3, 5-6, 9-10
3. 1 John 3: 1-2, 21-24
   
4. Luke 2: 41-52
   

• We are all dedicated
  
• The Bible is full of people of great purpose, whose lives were dedicated to God's service:  Noah, Moses, Abraham, Samuel, David, Ruth, Deborah the prophet, Mary, ...  We all in some way benefit from their ministries, but they can be a little scary.  We wonder, just how disruptive to my current way of life might God be?
• When you meet someone new and start talking about yourself, what is the first thing that comes up?  Is it your job, where you're going to school, your dreams and aspirations, your faith?
• What does that tell you about your priorities?
• Do you expect to keep doing what you are doing until you cannot do it anymore, or do you think that there are changes ahead in your life?
• How will you know for sure?
  

• Where is everyone?
  
• Certainly a church standing empty can be a profound place for meditation.  The celebrations that have happened there through the years soak into the walls and woodwork in some mystical way, and faint echos of the loud hosannas through the decades can still be heard.  And yet ...
• Who do you miss that you no longer see?  They may have died, left the area, stormed out of the local church in protest, or stored out of Church period.  Maybe they are folks that God is calling today, and we have not met yet.
  
• How were you welcomed into your present church/Church?
• What parts of that original welcome are still with you today?
• How might you share that welcome and belonging with others?
  

• We don't belong here
  
• I have a friend, whose children are all grown and out of the house, and who has very few family nearby.  Each Thanksgiving, he & his wife invite folks to their home who have nowhere else to go for Thanksgiving, and give them a place to belong, even if only for one evening.
• Ultimately, where do you belong?
• What are some communities where you belong here in your life?
• What has your membership in those communities taught you?
• How might they have prepared you for heaven?
  

• Jesus has left the building
• God has a way of failing to match our expectations.  Hopefully, when that happens in our lives, we can learn from that.  And just maybe, the very act of seeking Him is, itself, a form of prayer.
• When you have sought God in your life, what were you seeking?  Was it a closer walk with God, a better relationship with your spouse, guidance for a tough decision?
• Where/when/who did you find God in that encounter?
• Is it always that way for you?  Is there just one place/time/person where we can find God?
• How has the act of seeking God in your life changed you?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How might I become more in the image of God?
  
• Who in my life needs a warm welcome to the people of God, from me?
  
• Where is God drawing me into deeper community?
  
• Where is God in my life?
  

He's All Grown Up

 

I can still remember changing His swaddling clothes when He was an infant.

Feeling His warm breath on my cheek when I would hold Him after nursing Him.

Feeling His heart beating so close to mine, and knowing peace like no other.

 

When Joseph and I first realized that He had not left the Holy City with the caravan,

We panicked.  There was no one to go back to Jerusalem with us, no comforting companions.

We were on our own through those treacherous trails.  But we had no choice.

Jerusalem never looked so vast as it did when we were seeking our lost boy there.

Joseph and I so distraught that we could not speak to each other.

Each of us fearing the worst.

Finally, we sought Him in the Temple.  At least we could pray for him there.

And we heard His still new man voice among the learned teachers.

At first, I was horrified that He dared to disturb their sacred deliberations.

But we stopped, and listened to what was going on, and were amazed.

Each time that He spoke, there was silence, a pondering of what He said.

Not dismissal.

And I knew then that my boy had somehow, without asking permission, become a man of God.

And I knew that things between us would never be the same.

And I knew what I did not know: His future and mine.

The joy of finding Him mixed with the fear of losing Him.

My words were sharp and angry.

And I wondered that day why I had responded that way.

He was never really ours from the beginning.

His a life consecrated from the beginning.

So like my life, Joseph's and yours.

Welcome to our family.

Shalom!

3rd Sunday of Advent

Our readings for the Third Sunday of Advent are:

1. Zephaniah 3: 14-18a
   
2. Psalms 12: 2-3, 4, 5-6
3. Philippians 1: 4-5, 8-11
   
4. Luke 3: 10-18
   

• Receiving God's love
  
• Unconditional love is oftentimes hard to accept.  We are so conditioned to receive the deserved promotion, the recognition that we have coming to us, the favored position at the table that we worked so hard for.  But we can never deserve the very best things in life, they come to us free from the hand of God.
• If you were to describe God's face as He looks at you, what expression do you think He is wearing?
• How does that make you feel?
• Why do you think that God feels that way about you?
• How does that make you feel about Him?
  

• Finding courage
  
• Courage is a virtue that all of us admire, but few of us feel that we have.
• When is a time that you needed courage to do/say the right thing?
• What were you afraid of would happen if things did not work out properly?
• How/where did you find the courage?
• Did you feel lonely, or did you feel supported?
• Where was God in all of that?
  

• Prayer seasons
  
• Prayer is a tough thing for many of us to find time for.  It is hard to quantify, the benefits are nearly impossible to measure, and it's oftentimes hard to do.  What's not to love about time in prayer?
• Where does the majority of your prayer time go?
• Do you have a list of things that you ask for?
• Or maybe events/outcomes that you long to see?
• Do you pray for God to change everyone else?
• Or do you pray for changes in/to your heart?
• Does God always answer your prayer that way that you were hoping for?
• Why is that?
  

• How then shall we live?
• John the Baptist was doubtless a rather obscure, fringe element to most of the established religious authorities of his day.  No seminary training, no lofty family background, no established credentials to convince anyone that he had any great insights.  Yet he was God's instrument to bring God's children to repentance.
• How do you come to the knowledge that you need to repent of something?
• Why do you think that God speaks to you/us in that way?
• If you had a choice, how would you rather that God spoke to you?
• Would you listen any better?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How might I become more in the image of God?
  
• Where might God be calling me to take courage in the face of a difficulty?
  
• How is God calling me to deeper prayer?
  
• Where is God calling me to examine my actions and motives?
  

The Jordan is Muddy

My friends had told me that John the Baptist was changing lives in the desert.
And mine certainly needed changing.

Cynical, angry, bitter, and just plain tired.
I hadn't shown kindness to anyone in ages.

Everyone around me had long ago lapsed into silence.
It was easier that way.

Otherwise, I was likely to give them a baleful stare.
Or a cutting remark about how little they knew.

My friends told me that I'd find peace with John.
But when I asked them to come with me, they said this as a journey alone.

Sand got into my shoes, my shirt, scoured my feet.
Soon I was looking for shade from the burning sun.

As I got closer to the head of the throng, I could hear him.
Giving each a word to get them started on the right path.

And I wondered what mine would be.
And then I heard him say to me:

"Walk along the riverbank, alone, uncharted.
Until you learn to treasure this moment, and then the one after that, and the one after that.

Forget about tomorrow, it will come when it comes."
"Should I forget the sand in my shoes?" I asked mockingly.

"Rejoice in the sand, exult in the heat, accept it all as gift.
Then come back again for the gift of baptism.

For then you will have learned how to be grateful for what you have -
And who you are.

Shalom!

2nd Sunday of Advent

Our readings for the Second Sunday of Advent are:

1. Baruch 5: 1-9
   
2. Psalms 126: 1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
3. Philippians 1: 4-5, 8-11
   
4. Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36
   

• Looking forward
  
• This time of year is all about arrivals, blessings that God has been preparing for us for a long time, and which are now about to come to fruition.  God asks His people to accept His blessings in faith before we can see them.
• What are some unexpected blessings that have come in your life from God's hand?
• When did you understand that God was going to give those blessings to you?
• How did God prepare you to receive them?

• Finding joy, even when you don't expect it
• You could define the joy of the lord as "the gladness of heart that comes of knowing God, abiding in Christ, and being filled with the Holy Spirit."
• Can you think of a time when you have felt that sort of joy?
• What was the occasion that made you feel that way?
• What has to be present in your life in order to find such joy?
• Do you feel that such joy is in God's plan for all of us?
  

• Partners in the Gospel
  
• None of us ministers alone.  Often we find partners in unexpected places and times, performing services that we never knew were needed.
• Who are some of the partners in your ministries through the years?
• How have they transformed you in your work together?
• Do you think that you have been transformative to anyone else?
• Why?
  

• How is Jesus coming today?
  
• God moves without a great deal of fanfare.  By contrast, sports figures, entertainers, politicians each make quite a stir when they arrive at a scene.  Anything that they do is newsworthy.  Everyone wants to know everything about these famous ones.  And yet, beneath the surface, where only the humble have the eyes to see, God is at work.
• In these times of turmoil, where do you see God moving?  Maybe its a relationship that is finding healing, or someone who was on the margins gradually being recognized and being invited into the community.  Maybe God moving shows Himself in a deepening prayer life, or a growing sense of joy.
• Where would you like to see God moving?  Where is healing needed in your life or the life of your family, our parish?
• What must we do to prepare for that advent?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where do I need to be more open to God's movement in my life?
  
• Is God offering me joy that I'm unaware of?
  
• How is God asking me to partner with others in ministry?
  
• Where is God moving in my life today?
  

God's Midwife

I never thought much about the life of a midwife.

Ushering new life into this world, yet having nothing to do with its beginning.

Ready to press a cold compress to a worried brow.

Ready to hold the hand of a mother in anguish.

Ready to give the brooding father something to do so that he feels useful.

 

My God is looking for another sort of birth:

A birth of hope in the breast of His children.

Hope that, despite their captivity, they can be free.

Despite their despair they can step into their true destiny.

Despite their cold, cynical heart, they can deeply experience God's infinite love.

 

God of my fathers

Kindle in me the fires of your passion -

For all of your beloved that you bring into my life.

Help me to accept them as you do.

And set aside my fear of those who are different from me.

That I might find your joy of heart in their celebration of your Advent.

Shalom!

1st Sunday of Advent

Our readings for the first Sunday of Advent are:

1. Jeremiah 33: 14-16
   
2. Psalms 25: 4-5, 8-9, 10, 14
3. 1 Thessalonians 3: 12-4: 2
   
4. Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36
   

• Prophets among us
  
• It's easy to count on the coming of Jesus the second time to right all wrongs, root out all corruption, finally prove that God is in control.  But what about between now and then?
• Where do you see true justice going on in our world?
• How do you think that work got started?
• What do you think is needed for the people who do such things?
• Do you think that might include you?
  

• What are you waiting for?
  
• For most of us, there is nothing worse than waiting in line.  When we hear the phrase "waiting on God" we cringe.  But waiting on God is consists of trusting in God, having hopeful anticipation, and submitting to God's will.
• What are you waiting for this Advent?  What blessings are you yearning for from God?
• How are you praying for those?
• Have you shared that prayer with anyone else?
• Is God calling on you to help Him make that happen in your life?
  

• Abounding in love
  
• One aspect of mutual love is showing each other loving honesty.  Sharing what needs to be shared in a loving way, at the proper time and place, never weaponizing the truth, but sharing it in faith that God wants to benefit the other, hope that the truth will set the other free, and loving them enough to have the necessary courage to speak up.
• Have you ever felt that you really needed to share something with someone, but you were afraid of how they would take it?
• How did you decide whether or not to take that chance?
• How did it turn out?
• What does it mean to say that sharing the truth in love with someone else turns out "badly"?  How would you know that is ultimately a "bad" conclusion?
  

• Making a difference through indifference
  
• Ignatian indifference teaches us to always remember that everything in this physical universe is set here to bring us closer to God.  To the extent that it does so in our lives, that person, place, thing, memory, ... is holy.  Otherwise, it is slowing us down at the very least.  If we are still able to see God even in the absence of everything that's not God, we are truly at peace.
• What are some things in your life that disturbs your peace?
• Why is it that they affect you so?
• When looking at one thing that threatens your peace, what is the worst that can happen if that worry comes to pass?
• Do you believe that God will still be there by your side if that worst-case scenario comes about?
• So what do you really have to worry about?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling you to bring about some justice, even just a little?
  
• Do I have what it takes to trust in God even where my fears are greatest?
  
• Am I willing to risk rejection by telling the truth?
  
• If I believe that God is with me always, what does that really mean?
  

Incarnation Prayer

Everyday God

Help me to bask in your loving gaze.
 

Help me to hold nothing back from your sight.

Remind me that healing lies in offering my wounds, not hiding them.

 

Give me the courage to let my own failings teach me how to show mercy.

Help me to let my weaknesses teach me humility.

 

That my touch might be tender, my heart be true

When I offer my hand to one of your own.

 

And thus put new flesh on you
And a new heart in me.

That I might be your gift to others
This season, and all seasons. 

Shalom!

Christ the King Sunday

Our readings for Christ the King Sunday are:

1. Daniel 7: 13-14
   
2. Psalms 93: 1, 1-2, 5
3. Revelations 1: 5-8
   
4. John 18: 33b-37
   

• How then shall we live?
  
• Knowing that justice will prevail, all wrongs will be made right, all corruption rooted out ... eventually should profoundly affect our world view in the here and now.  Even if we are certain that we will pass on before the second coming.  The question is what should that affect be?
• If you see someone suffering an injustice, what is your reaction?
• Comfort them with the sure knowledge that this injustice will pass (maybe not before they die).
• Organize efforts to address that injustice in the here and now for that one person.
• Organize efforts to address the source of that injustice.
• Quietly look the other way and mind your own business.
• Do you wish your answer was different?
• What is holding you back?
  

• Which is it?
  
• The majesty of God is not on conspicuous display the way that it is for earthly monarchs.  Jesus gave his disciples a "sneak peek" at that majesty on the mount of Transfiguration, but that was a very private revelation.  It's enough to make you wonder why God is so shy.
• When have you seen the majesty of God in your life?
• How did that experience move you?
• How did that experience change, and continues to change you?
• Does recounting that experience move you still?
  

• Citizenship
  
• We are encouraged to remember that we are foreigners in a foreign land.  When you are away from home, you are usually there for some purpose: vacation, business trip, working for habitat for humanity, ...  But when you are home, if someone asks you "why are you here?" your only response is "this is where I live, this is where I belong."
• So, if we are here on this earth on a journey, far from home, why are you here?
• Why you and no one else filling that role?
• Has that changed for you at all through the years?
• Do you think that we ever become useless in this life?
• How do you know when it's time to hang up your spurs on one ministry, one life purpose, and take up a new one?
  

• Listening skills
  
• Ignatian spirituality teaches that God is all in all, and that He is inviting us into the ongoing work of creation, helping God in the unfolding of creation that is actively transpiring this very moment.  To step into that vocation, we must attend to God's voice in our lives.  The challenge we face is not that God speaks rarely, but that God is speaking to us in all things.
• What is an experience that taught you to listen for God in new and unexpected ways?
• How do you think that God prepared you for that experience?
• Has God spoken to you in that way since then?
• Can you think of other places, circumstances, people that you would hope that God can speak to you?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Am I letting fear cloud my obedience to God?
  
• Where is God showing His majesty today?
  
• Am I truly fulfilling God's destiny for me?
  
• Am I listening with all my heart?
  

Selective Hearing

Labrador retrievers live to eat. 

So we knew that our beloved Lab Willow was deaf -
When we would pour food into her bowl, and she didn't notice.

 

I used to long for God's prophetic word
To be as clear to me as the sound of kibble in a metal bowl.
But God, in His infinite wisdom, has not answered that prayer.

Instead, He comes to me in the form of a student asking for help.
A family member looking for a baby-sitter.
A soul friend seeking help in his prayer life.

I try to remember to thank God for them.
I try to thank them for their connection, 

Their invitation into wholeness.

And remind myself that we are all pilgrims.

Here on journey to accomplish what we were sent here for.

And that none of us can do it alone.

 Harder still to know that I have claim on no one, and nothing.
All that I encounter on this journey is not mine to hold -

But only to give away.

 

Shalom!

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. Daniel 12: 1-3
   
2. Psalms 16: 5, 8, 9-10, 11
3. Hebrews 10: 11-14, 18
4. Mark 13: 24-32
   

• Leading others to justice
  
• Injustices are all around us.  Sometimes it might seem as though they are too numerous, too complex, too entrenched to ever make a difference.
• Where do you feel called to bring about at least a measure of justice?
• How did you become aware of that opportunity?
• Are you trying to do that alone?
• Where do you hope to be in five years with that cause.
• Where is God in all of that?
  

• You are my inheritance
  
• The joy of the Lord flows from a deep-seated sense and understanding of the simple fact that we are in God and He is in us.
• What does that mutual indwelling between you & God mean for you?
• If God knows us that well, why do we have to pray?
• If you were to try to describe God to someone, how would you go about that?
• What would you base your description of God on?
• Do you ever describe God to God?  Some call such prayer "praise".
  

• Forgiven and transformed
  
• In the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius invites his retreatants to spend time meditating on the love of God for them, and God's faithfulness.  He then leads them through meditations on their own sinfullness, and how they have treated God, in spite of His mercy.  This sets the stage for deep repentance and renewal.
• If you were convinced that you had sinned so badly that God could never forgive you, what difference would that make in your life?
• How has knowing that you are forgiven changed you?
• Do you ever get a chance to meditate on that forgiveness?
• Why do you think that God doesn't just start over, rather than redeeming us, redeeming you?
  

• It's not the end of the world, or is it?
  
• There is very little about the world that we live in that has any permanence.  This house that I'm sitting in right now will one day be nothing but a memory.  But how I have welcomed others into this place, whether this home was a place for healing and growth, those things will remain.  That sort of puts things into perspective next time I see some peeling paint or hear a faucet dripping.
• We say "you can't take it with you."  But that's only partially true.  What are some things in this life that you hope to be able to take with you into Eternity?
• Do you ever have to consciously decide between something in the oh so urgent here and now, versus an eternal value?
• How do you strike the right balance?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Is God trying to bring an injustice to my attention and I don't want to hear about it?
  
• Can I meditate on how close God is to me today?
  
• How can I let God's forgiveness work in me?
  
• What have I done today that is going to last?
  

Shalom!

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. 1 Kings 17: 10-16
   
2. Psalms 146: 7, 8-9, 9-10
3. Hebrews 9: 24-28
4. Mark 12: 38-44
   

• Taking you down with me
  
• None of us goes through life entirely alone.  There are always other people who count on us, rely on us in one way or another.  It might be something as direct as family members that we support, or as indirect as people that we don't even know who look to us as an example of godly living.  When we fail in our spiritual life, we don't just fail ourselves, we fail them too.
• Have you ever made a decision that, in some way, hurt someone else that you loved?
• In spite of that, do you think that might have been in God's plan anyway?
• When you try to discern God's will in your life, who are the other people that you are likely to talk to about that?
• How has that worked out for you?
  

• Freeing the captives
• Most all of us have a pretty distinct notion of what we mean by justice, how to achieve that, how to mete it out.  We all probably feel that justice is hard to achieve in real life, that there are complications, and that improvements to the justice system we find ourselves in are needed, but effective solutions are in short supply.
• What are some injustices that have happened in your life?
• How did that make you feel about yourself, the person or group that caused that injustice, about God?
• What would have been a better process?
• What would have been a better outcome?
• Do you personally feel any sort of a call to address any of the issues that you encountered in all of that?
  

• Sanctuaries made with human hands
  
• It is easy to loose track of what a symbol points to, and concentrate on the more accessible, and tangible symbol.  Those "disordered attachments" as Ignatius terms them, can be rather insidious.
• What is a devotion, habit, pattern, person, place, ... that you value and use in your spiritual life?
• How did you get started with that?
• Can you imagine God ever offering you something even better in exchange for that?
• How would you know that was happening?
• How can you be sure that you are free enough to appreciate such an "upgrade" in your life?
  

• Finding trust
  
• One thing about trusting God that we don't often talk about is trusting our understanding of God's will in our lives.  Trusting God to be there for us when we intend to follow His will is a different matter from trusting God when we are right where He wants us, when He wants us there.
• How do you go about deciding what to invest yourself into and what to say "no" to?
• Has that process changed through the years?
• Do you think that you are getting any better at it?
• What do you think are some of the obstacles to finding God's will in our lives?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Am I open to God's revelation, no matter how it comes to me?
  
• Do I truly worship a God of justice?
  
• How might God be calling me to greater freedom in my life?
  
• Where might God be calling me to obedience that will stretch me?

Bottom of the Jar

I don't mind the thought of death.

Starvation is not the worst way to go.

After a point, the hunger pangs grind to a steady ache.

Limbs gradually go slack for want of nourishment.

Eyes grow dim from hope bleeding out.

But my son, my son.

So many years still ahead of him.

If only I could find food for him.

I would gladly offer him my all.

If only I could spare him this famine.

Today a reputed holy man asked me for bread.

If God is so good, why doesn't He feed his prophet?

Why come begging at my door?

Why ask me to risk everything?

On a whim, I call my son to me.

I show him our jug of oil, the jar of flour.

The bottom of the jar visible through the scattering of flour.

A barely hidden pit of want.

Waiting to yawn open and consume us,

As soon as we empty out our last measure of wheat.

My son looks into that jar, and knows despair.

He looks at me and asks "what difference will one day make?

If we share with the man of God,

And our God is unfaithful, we run out of food today.

If we don't share what little we have, we run out of food tomorrow."

 

I think back over all of the days of our lives together.

The love between his father and me, and then us three.

I discover that God has been kind in all of those years.

Holding my hand through the good and the bad.

Speaking to me even now, in the voice of my son.

 

And I know that all of my days,

Good and bad,

Have been in the palm of God's hand.

And I know that I cannot deny Him today or tomorrow.

Come my son.  Let's bake the holy man a loaf of bread.

 

Shalom!