Christ the King Sunday

Our readings for Christ the King Sunday:

1. II Samuel 2: 1-3
2. Psalms 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5
3. Colossians 12: 1-20
4. Luke 23: 35-43

• Servant leadership
• We often seek God to lead us.  If God is a leader, how does God's leadership stack up against other great leaders?
• Have you ever had a leader that you would say is "Godly"?
• In what way?
• Have you ever been in a position of leadership?  Perhaps as a teacher, manager, parent, council member?
• What Godly qualities did that position call for?
• Were you able to the that Godly leader? 

• Can you go with me?
• Living virtuously can be a lonely way of life.  Not only are we in a culture that has little use for anything that does not contribute to the "bottom line", but to some extent each of us must find our own path to holiness in Jesus.  No two of us have exactly the same path to travel.
• Where do you go when you feel the need for an understanding listener?
• Do you look to them for advice, or as a "sounding board", a place and time where you can better listen to the voice of God as someone else listens to you?
• Do you see yourself being that spiritual companion to anyone else? 

• I can only imagine
• Jesus is the image and likeness of God.  Amazingly enough, we were created, are created, are being recreated in the image and likeness of God.  I look at my sagging visage, feel the steady march of aches and pains in my body, and I'm pretty sure that however long I have left to live, when the end comes for me, it ain't going to be pretty.  Will I be a better image and likeness of God by then?
• Who are some folks that you would say are an image of God for you, someone who shows you by their life who God is?
• What is it about them that makes you say that?
• Are they getting better at being God's image as they age?
• How is that possible? 

• Listening through it all
• It's easy to let personal issues like having half inch spikes driven through your wrists and feet distract you from listening to someone else.  Especially if you've just paid good money for a manicure.  But Jesus was able to be true to His identity in spite of all that.
• To be truly generous to others, do we have to deny ourselves?
• What does that denial of self actually amount to?
• How do you tell when your self denial has become toxic, to you and others (a martyr complex)?
• Is it possible to be generous by being truer to your essential identity? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me to servant leadership?
• Who around me needs a good listener?
• How am I imaging God today? 
• Where might God be calling me to greater mercy? 

Awed by Mercy

There was a dry, dusty breeze that day.

The sun beat down on us mercilessly.

Sweat gathered and ran down my body.

The heat of today's hammering burning me.

 

I glanced at my knotted arms.

Rippling muscles testament to many days

Spent impaling prisoners to crude wood.

And hoisting them high for all to see.

 

My commander is proud of me, my work.

Tells me that we help keep the rabble orderly.

"Nothing like good crucifixion" he'd say

"To help put things into proper perspective."

 

At first, "proper perspective" was simple:

"I'm glad that I'm not that poor sod" I'd say.

Then I changed and began to realize

Sometimes they stole to feed their babies.

 

And I'd realize that I was lucky to have steady work.

Gruesome though it may be.

I began to wonder if this sort of punishment

Was the only way to keep Rome great.

 

Out of curiosity, at first anyway,

I started to ask the prisoners what they were in for.

Some for heinous acts, some for petty thievery,

Others for unfortunate adultery with the proud and prominent.

 

All, all of them sent here to dangle and die.

No risk of pardon, no second chance, no dignity.

The sorry likes of me & my cohort here

The last human faces that any of them would see.

 

None of them thinking of anyone but themselves.

Not that I could blame them.

And once they were hoisted between heaven and earth -

The searing pain and fatigue soon took over.

 

But this man, Jesus.  He listened to another doomed man.

Jesus had been stripped, beaten, spat upon.

Everything taken away from him.

Except for His mercy.

 

And He gave that freely to a complete stranger.

And I'll never be the same again.

My longtime buddies won't understand.

My family will think that I've "gone native".

 

But somehow, I need to find a life -

Where I can start showing mercy rather than efficiency

Give honor to this miracle of mercy that I've witnessed here

And maybe find this Jesus still walking our streets today.

 

Shalom!

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Malachi 3: 19-20a
2. Psalms 98: 5-6, 7-8, 9
3. 2 Thessalonians 3: 7-12
4. Luke 21: 5-19

• You're going to get yours!
• It's easy to regard the second coming as a great restoration, a giant "reset" in the world and a point in history when suddenly all wrongs will be righted, those who have steadfastly persevered in their faith will be rewarded, and the rotten folks who made the faithful's lives miserable will finally get what's coming to them.
• Has there been anyone who deliberately set out to make life difficult for you?
• How did you pray for them?
• How did you pray for yourself?
• How did God respond?
• If you were as merciful as God is, how might you have handled the situation? 

• Justice on the installment plan
• What are some injustices in the world around you today?
• What do you think is God's will in those circumstances?
• When do you think that God wants for His will to be accomplished?
• What do you see as your place in making that part of God's kingdom to come to earth?
• What do you think is our place as your community? 

• Inspiring one another
• We should all aspire to inspire.  When we grow in holiness, those who have helped us along the way sometimes are privileged to be able to see that, and they rejoice in our happiness.
• Who are some of the folks that you have mentored, catechized,  raised, ... who gladden your heart when you look at them today?
• Do you ever tell them that?
• What about the others, the ones that you are maybe not so proud of.  Do you still pray for them?
• What is that prayer? 

• Lord grant me wisdom and courage
•  It seems as though the need for both wisdom and courage becomes more acute each day.  Not just the ability to tell fact from fiction, right from wrong, but the ability to know when its time to stand up for what you believe in, regardless of the consequences.
• What form do you think persecution might take in your life?  Might it be getting passed over for that coveted promotion, maybe your kids cannot get into the prestigious schools because of your faith, or your kids get picked on at school because your family is "weird."
• What would you pray for in any of those circumstances?
• Where would you go for help with those very real consequences of your beliefs?
• How do you think that God will help in those times? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be calling me to greater mercy?
• Where might God be calling me to right a wrong, remedy an injustice?
• What of my life could/should be inspiring that is not?
• Where might God be calling me to stand up and be counted? 

 

Shalom!

Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

Our readings the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica:

1. Ezekiel 47: 1-2, 8-9, 12
2. Psalms 46: 2-3, 5-6, 9-9
3. 1 Corinthians 3: 9c-11, 16-17
4. John 2: 13-22

• Temple worship
• If God dwells in the temple, and He dwells in each of us, that would make us out to be temples.
• If someone were to come to you and say "I realize that I find myself more centered when I am near you.  Things seem clearer to me after we have talked.  I feel the Presence of God in you." what would you say to that?
• Would that make you likely to act/be any different around that other person?
• Perhaps there are some folks, perhaps several, who feel that way about you, but have never said anything.  What then? 

• Fear not
• Rationally, there is plenty to rightfully be afraid of if "the mountains plunge into the sea".  Here in earthquake country, that's more likely than it would be in most other cases.  In our minds we may believe that "God is our refuge and our strength", but in our hearts, that is another frontier to cross.
• When have you been afraid in times past?
• Was that fear reasonable?
• Did you pray at that time?
• How did you pray?
• Did it help?
• Do you think it really matters how we pray? 

• Take me to your leader
• Finding God in our lives is, perhaps, our highest calling.  There seems to be no end of places where He can be found.  Yet we still can feel abandoned, isolated, alone, forsaken.  Why is that?
• If God is among us, that suggests that we all have a part to play in fostering, strengthening that presence.  How do we find out what that part is?
• Can any one of us truly be the Presence of God without the rest of us?
• How far does that community extend?  Is it just whomever is in the room with you, your local parish, the faithful within your city, or is that community even confined to those who are consciously religious?
• What must we do to make that community stronger?
• How do we start? 

• The art of the possible
• A time, place, person, event, ... can be dedicated/consecrated to a specific purpose.  It's hard to dedicate anything to just one use, one purpose.  The favorite chair that you use for prayer might also be where you like to play with the grandchildren.  Does that say more about your prayer time, or the time you spend with your grandchildren?
• What are some things in your life that you know belong to God?
• How do you treat those differently from the "profane" part(s) of your life?
•  Is anything really "profane"?
• If that is the case, what difference does it make to the way that you live? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How might my life be a better witness for God?
• Where can I gain more trust in God?
• Where can I partner with God more closely?
• Where might there be parts of my life that I need to consciously give back to God?

Honoring God

I like gorgeous places of worship as much as the next person.

The architecture can be a powerful mute witness to the glory of God.

The care lavished on every detail bearing witness to the faith of the builders.

The commitment and perseverance shown by such a structure

Offers a stunning testimony to the faithfulness of the community.

 

But I hope that I have a heart that is even more moved by God's dynamic presence.

A community throbbing with life and generosity.

Giving of itself to those in need,

No matter who they are, nor what circumstances they find themselves in.

Where the voices of children, the elderly, the forgotten are the music heard.

 

Lord give me a heart of flesh, rather than one of marble.

 

Shalom!

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings the Feast of All Souls:

1. Wisdom 3: 1-9
2. Psalms 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
3. Romans 6: 3-9
4. Luke 6: 37-40

• Words fail me
• Finding the right words to comfort the bereaved is never easy.  No two grief journeys are the same.  It is never wise nor even true to tell a bereaved person "I know just how you feel."
• If you have been bereaved in your life, where did you eventually find comfort?  Was it just the presence of loved ones sharing time with you, the thoughtfulness  of friends and family who were willing to just listen, maybe some really great lasagna that miraculously showed up in your refrigerator?
• What were the thoughts that went through your mind as you processed your loss?
• And of those thoughts, which ones brought you closer to God?
• If you could go back to that time, what might you say to those who love you and sought to support you through that season in your life? 

• Walking in the Valley of Darkness
• What is a "valley of darkness" that you have had to walk through?  A place that filled you with dread, where there seemed no hope of anything better.  A time when you felt abandoned by God.
• How did you make it through that season in your life?
• How was God present during that time?
• Do you think that you are the better person for having gone through that? 

• Finding freedom
• Probably most all of us want to be free from those things that bind us: prejudice, fear, greed, disordered attachments, and many other things that can get in the way of our service to God.  Yet sometimes it's hard to let go.
• What is something that you've had to let go of in your devotion to God?
• How did you become aware that you needed to leave that behind?
• Was it hard?
• How did that letting go change you?
• Were you ever tempted to pick that up again? 

• Nothing is truly lost
• In a sense, father Abraham lost his son Isaac on Mount Moriah.  Whatever relationship Abraham had with Isaac, it was fundamentally transformed on that mountain when Abraham took that knife, ready to slaughter the child of promise.
• Has there been anything that you have lost that transformed you?  Maybe it was a friendship, a job, employment itself, a loved one, maybe you had to move to a new place without warning, each of these losses is a death in our lives.
• Why do you think that God allowed that to happen?
• Does He need a reason?
• Do you?
• How are you a better person in the wake of that loss? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How might I find God through my losses rather than in spite of them?
• Where can I gain more trust in God?
• Where is that better version of myself struggling to break free?
• Where can I partner with God more closely?

Shalom!

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Sirach 35: 12-14, 16-18
2. Psalms 34: 2-3, 17-18, 19, 23
3. II Timothy 4: 6-8, 16-18
4. Luke 18: 1-8

• The power of prayer
•  It's often instructive to try to put words to our God-image to see whether we really believe in the God that we think that we do.  
• A related question would be: "if you were going to paint a picture of you praying to God, what would that scene look like?
• What expression are you wearing on your face?
• What does God's face look like?  Is it turned toward you?
• If you could change that picture, how would you change that picture? 

• Taking refuge in God
• Do you see God as your defender?
• If so, what do you think God will defend you from?
• What don't you think that God will defend you from?
• Are those defenses at all conditional?  If you sin, are you on your own? 

• The message of your life
• Write your own eulogy.
• Then give that eulogy to someone else, ask them to read it, and ask them if they recognize that person that you described.
• Is your eulogy about the person that you wish you were, is about to emerge in your life, or some secret part of you that only you can know or acknowledge?
• Is that person that you described in your eulogy going to become more evident in the near future? 

• Finding God in prayer
• As I get older, I'm more and more reminded that I am not God, and astonishingly, God is not me either.  God has His own plans and agenda, and He asks me to follow His lead.  Sometimes, its easy to pray to ourselves, and just use our prayer to reinforce our own biases.  If you don't get surprised by prayer from time to time, maybe it's time to change who you're praying to.
• How do you select what to pray for?
• Have you ever experienced a profound change in the way you pray and what you pray for as you are praying through the days and weeks?
• Why do you think that happens?
• How did your feelings toward what you were praying for change? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How might I find greater humility?
• Where can I gain more trust in God?
• Where is that better version of myself struggling to break free?
• Where can I partner with God more closely?

 God Have Mercy on Me a Sinner

God,

Forgive me if you can.

For all of the times that I have judged others.

 

The disorganized student of mine,

The homeless that I see on my way home,

Even the kid on his bicycle because he's not wearing a helmet.

 

Teach me your mercy.

That I might see how your mercy envelops me.

And learn myself to show some to those around me.

 

To see myself in your hands.

Rather than seeing myself as better than others.

 

Help me to see you in all of your children.

Not just the ones who are like me.

 

Give me the courage to open my heart to others 

In a smile freely given,

And a listening ear that is slow to judge.

 

Give me the perseverance to always look forward.

Always grateful for a new day.

Excited by the sunrise.

 

Help me be grateful for each sunset.

As I commend my spirit into your care once again 

And always. 

 

Shalom!

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Exodus 17: 8-13
2. Psalms 12: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
3. II Timothy 3: 14-4:2
4. Luke 18: 1-8

• It takes a village
• In a counter-intuitive way, God shows His might by working through each and all of us.  Many of us are hard to coordinate.  I'm sure it would be a lot easier for God to get things done Himself.  But he chooses over and over again to invite as many of us as possible in to ministry so that we truly become a priestly people.
• How have you gotten involved in the various ministries that you are in?  Was it bulletin announcements, someone recruiting you personally, a gentle nudge coming to you in prayer, ...?
• How do you know whether you are in the right place?
• Do you have to be good at a ministry to have a calling to that?
• How do you tell whether you are successful in your ministry?
• What is success? 

• Help is on the way
• It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the relentless day to day.  We can despair of ever getting a break in the demands on our thoughts, emotions, bodies, and wonder when there will ever be a pervasive sense of peace in our lives.
• What do you do when you feel as though life is just "too much", that there are more demands on you than you can possibly meet?
• Where do you find help in such times?
• What form does that help take?  Is it a different perspective on your part, maybe a change in priorities, a shift in your outlook, unexpected relief from one burden or another?
• The sentiment "there are multitudes of people who would be very grateful to have your problems" is not much help.  Why do you suppose that is? 

• Setting an example
• One rather frightening thought is that those that you have taught in years gone by are still looking to you for an example, looking to your life as proof that the Gospel really works long term.
• Who are some of the folks who have been an example to you?
• Do they still inspire you?
• Do you think that your life still inspires those that you have witnessed to over your life?
• What might you want to do differently to be a better encouragement to them? 

• Partners with God
• One tenet of Ignatian spirituality is that creation is ongoing.  God wishes to have each of us take our rightful and destined place in furthering that creation, helping the rest of creation to achieve its full glory.
• If you look at your work as God's disciple as a creation story, what are you creating?
• Is that the same thing that you were co-creating with God a year ago?
• Is it different from what you were bringing to life five years ago?
• Do you feel as though you are getting more creative as you mature?
   

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How might I find greater humility?
• Where can I find be more honest with God about the demands on my life?
• Where might God be inviting me to die to myself in a new/deeper way? 
• Where can I partner with God more closely?

 Helping Hands

Caring for the elderly and infirm is a humbling experience, 

A road full of the unexpected and surprising.

 

Just when you think that you have their needs attended to,

Something shifts, needs change, their perception transforms.

 

And there you are, scrambling to respond, trying to figure it all out,

And wondering why you didn't see that coming in the first place.

 

Caring for the elderly makes you grateful for all the help.

Especially for the occasional specialist who looks to the whole person.

 

Especially for the occasional friend who reminds you of self care -

Reminds you that you're useless once you burn out.

 

Caring for others reminds you that all of us depend upon each other.

None of us is as independent as we might like to believe.

 

And caring for another reminds you of what is truly important -

In the midst of the ceaseless clamor of things demanding attention. 

 

You are important to me, and it is important that I remember that.

Finding myself in offering you some small help fulfills me.  

 

And through that vast web of care giving and receiving

Flows the love of God for, with, and through all of us. 

 

Shalom!

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. II Kings 5: 14-17
2. Psalms 98: 1, 2-3, 3-4
3. II Timothy 2: 8-1
4. Luke 17: 11-19

• Finding humility
• Naaman was in a position of authority in his own land.  And yet he ventured out of his comfort zone to seek Elisha out and ask for healing.  Naaman probably hoped for some quest that he would have to follow, or some test of his fortitude, instead, he was just asked to wash in the muddy Jordan.
• Have you ever found it difficult to accept a gift because you were not humble enough?
• How did you eventually come to understand that?
• Why is humility so hard? 

• Everyone's welcome
• Back in the day, each god was presumed confined to the land where they were worshiped.  When a people won a battle or war with another nation, it was because their god was badder than the other guy's god.  The notion of one God overall was slow in coming to the Israelites, and it can be hard for us as well.
• Have you ever found it difficult to relate to/minister to someone who was remarkably different from you?  Maybe it was the culture, their occupation, their spending habits, their taste in wine, ...
• How did you manage to get past that, to really see them for who they are, despite your differences?
• Did those differences go away, or just become less important or even be transformed into something that you enjoyed?
• Do you think that you're getting better at seeing past the differences? 

• Dying with Jesus
• It's good to know that Jesus died for our sins so that we don't have to.  I don't have a lot of experience in this regard, but I'm pretty sure that I'd be happy to hear that Jesus has done all of the dying that's needed.  Or has He?
• What do you think that it means to "die with Christ"?
• Can there ever be an "upside" to suffering?
• Have you ever grown/matured in the midst of, because of suffering in your life?
• Was Jesus at all present for/to you in that experience?
• How did you pray in that encounter? 

• Increase our faith
• Jesus did not appear to promise the ten lepers anything.  He just told them to show themselves to the priests.  I'm sure that those poor souls, who doubtless had endured countless rejections in their lives were not looking forward to the reception that they would get when they got to the priests.  But they went anyway, maybe without any clear indicator of what they would find.
• Have you ever thought to ask God "why"?  Maybe it was "why me" or "why now", or "what's in it for me" and many other questions.
• Do you think that God minded hearing that question from you?
• When do you think that asking God questions transitions over into questioning God?
• What might we do to make ourselves more open to God's grace, no matter how it comes to us? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How might I find greater humility?
• Where can I find more common ground with other of God's children?
• Where might God be inviting me to die to myself in a new/deeper way? 
• Where can I learn to obey just for the sake of obeying?

 I'm going anyway

regardless of whether the rest of you want to or not.

Sure, in our present condition, the priests will find us disgusting.

Our flesh slowly rotting even while we live in this forsaken shadow world.

Our kith and kin barely able to recognize us any longer.

 

But I refuse to let this disease define me.

I defy its slow, relentless march of destruction.

I have lost everything to its ravages.

But I refuse to lose hope.

 

Hope that our God still loves me.

Hope that He cares in ways that I can scarce imagine.

Hope that this suffering, rejection, and want -

That it all means something.

 

It's a beautiful day for a walk.

I have nothing more urgent to do.

Who knows what I'll encounter along the way.

Perhaps something to excite my sense of wonder.

 

 But I'd rather not take this journey alone.

Won't any of you come along with me?

You don't even have to share my hope.

Just share a walk with me.

 

A walk from despair into the light.

Where anything is possible if only we let it.

Where we no longer need be alone with our suffering.

But rejoin the ranks of God's people.

 

Shalom!