4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for this 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Deuteronomy 18: 15-20
2. Psalms 95: 1-2, 6-7, 7-9
3. 1 Corinthians 7: 32-35
4. Mark 1: 21-28

1. Hear oh Israel
• The prayers of the faithful can be prophetic in that they can point us to God's attitude towards current events, current challenges that the Church is facing.
• What other parts of the Liturgy can be prophetic?
• How can we, as ministers, heighten or sharpen those prophetic moments?
• How would you like to change the selection and training of those ministers?
2. If today you hear His voice
• What are some things that make it difficult for you to hear God's voice in your life?
• Lack of trust?
• Lack of energy?
• Lack of desire?
• ...?
• Are these things that make it difficult for you to hear God's voice in your life intrinsically evil?
• What can you do to lessen their influence in your life?
3. Blessed indifference
• One of the Ignatian principles that comes up over and over again is the doctrine of "indifference" which basically takes the position that God's will in a given situation trumps any inclination that I might have.
• How do you see such an attitude providing you freedom in your life?
• How would such an attitude help discerning where God wants for you to go as you make decisions?
• How does one go about achieving such indifference?
4. Confronting evil
• How did Jesus learn to be so decisive?
• Do you think that all of us are called to confront the evils in our world head on?
• What are some evils that you wish would be confronted head on?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What have I done this week to make myself more sensitive to God's voice in my life?
2. How far will I trust God?
3. Am I honest with God when my desires clash with His?
4. When I speak, do others hear authority?

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for this 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Jonah 3:1-5, 10
2. Psalms 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. 1 Corinthians 7: 29-31
4. Mark 1: 14-20

1. Speaking out
• How would you define prophecy in general?
• Would you go to a prophet for stock tips?
• How many prophets does a people need at any one time?
• Can you see where prophets could get a bit annoying?
2. Guiding the humble
• How would you define humility?
• As virtues go, does this one seem at all useful?
• What can we learn from Jesus in this regard?
3. On standby
• Do you think that these times that we are in are more urgent from God's perspective than any other age?
• How do we keep that sense of urgency, that "edge" day in and day out, month after month, year after year?
• How do you keep from getting too attached to things of this world?
• How do you tell if you are too attached?
4. A net change
• How do you think that God calls us today?
• Do you think that God had anything to do with your choice of job, spouse, where you live?
• Do you think that it's possible to miss the opportunity to follow God for individual calls that He makes in our lives?
• How do we get better at listening to Him?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How serious would an injustice have to be before I would speak up?  Whom would it have to affect?
2. Have I thanked God for what He has done in my life?
3. What in my life would I be unable to give up for Jesus, were He to ask me?
4. How is God calling me today?

Freedom

Jesus left His peace with us.

If I could just find where He left it, I'd feel a lot better.

Each week brings fresh demands

Getting to sleep at night is all about setting things aside until later.

That elusive quality of life

Comes only to those who are focused and aligned.

Focus on what matters,

Let the rest recede in attention for awhile.

And when you discover that center,

Don't let it out of your sight, but rather savor that pivot,

And there you will find peace,

That passes all understanding.

Shalom all!

Questions for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for this Second Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. 1 Samuel 3: 3b-10, 19
2. Psalms 40: 2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
3. 1 Corinthians 13c-15a, 17-20
4. John 1: 35-42

1. Here I am
• How is God revealing Herself to you of late?
• Do you feel that God's self-revelation to you has changed at all over the years?
• How are you revealing yourself to God?
2. I come to do your will
• Do you feel that God's will is framed as a series of do's and don'ts that apply universally, or does God have something specific in mind for you?
• If you had to characterize the relationship that God has with you, would you say God's like:
• coach
• mentor
• teacher/rabbi
• counselor
• ...
• Why is it that you try to obey God's will in your life?
• Does that motivation depend on what you feel God is asking of you?
3. Tabernacling
• If God is all powerful, omnipresent throughout time and space, why does He crave to manifest His Presence through us?
• Why do you think that our bodies have to be involved in all of that?
• What do you think that implies about how we treat our bodies, ourselves?
• Would that include getting a pedicure for Jesus?
4. What are you looking for?
• When you approach God in prayer, what are you trying to accomplish long term?
• Have you ever shared that with God?
• How is that working out for you?
• Do you think that there's any way to improve your prayer life?
• What's stopping you?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What has God been calling me to lately?  Am I acting on that call?
2. Do I feel that I can talk about the really important, urgent things with God?
3. Have I been treating this body as though it's borrowed from God?
4. What am I willing to leave behind to follow Jesus?

Come and See

Growing up, I would run into evangelists.

They would start in on me, thinking that I looked receptive.

I'd tell them that I was Christian, and then they would ask:

"Brother, how many have you saved today?"

That question bespoke an urgency

A drive to get everyone into the fold

Before it was too late.

I never knew what to say to that question.

Hospitality begins with each of us.

Revealing us, our community,

As a place where others can meet the God who has already called them

Providing them a home.

No one of us can be community

But together we offer a place

Where the weary find rest, and purpose.

Which leaves me with the question -

If someone asks me about this Jesus I follow,

Where do I take them?  The front office,

Bring them along with me to Choir?

Invite them to a Confirmation class?

At the same time, there's something impersonal

About just handing someone off to a committee.

They just made a tentative contact,

And now they are in the hands of specialists.

Lord, teach me how best to be inviting

That I might shine to those who hunger for you

That I might be the Andrew

To the next Peter.

Shalom!

Baptism of the Lord

Our readings for Baptism of the Lord Sunday:

1. Isaiah 55: 1-11
2. Isaiah 12: 2-3, 4bcd, 5-6
3. 1 John 5: 1-9
4. Mark 1: 7-11

1. Come to the water
• Do you ever take inventory of your deepest desires?
• Why not?  Do you think that it's too late to fulfill your deepest desires?
• Where do you think those desires come from?
• Do you think that God might at all be interested in fulfilling those desires?
2. Drawing water joyfully
• What do you think brings about the joy of the Lord?
• Can you think of the last time that you felt such joy?
• Do you think that the joy of the Lord is compatible with difficulties, danger, even persecution?
3. Loving obedience
• What do you think the commands of God are in our lives?
• If you had to summarize them to someone quickly, what would you say?
• If it's that simple, why are there so many disagreements among Christians?
4. Baptism into the community
• What happens at baptism, or stated another way, what is the matter of baptism?
• What do you think happened at Jesus' baptism?
• Why do you think that He needed to be baptized?
• Why do you think that He needed to be presented at the temple as an infant?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Have I been completely honest with God in my prayer?
2. What decision(s) is/are facing me that I would need strength and courage for?  Have I taken those to God?
3. Do I believe that God is there to help me conquer evil in my life, even if this isn't the first time?
4. What am I doing so that I might be more faithful to my baptismal call?

The Family Business

Back in the old days, it was pretty clear what you would grow up to be.

From your youngest days, Dad would show you around the shop,

Show you the tools of the trade, how to use them on the materials.

Gradually, you got a sense of purpose, of continuity.

These tools, this trade, these customers would all one day be yours,

Just like your father, and his father, and so on.

It's hard to absorb that same sense of purpose these days,

From folks who lived so long ago, or in different circumstances.

Unquestionably, these were great people, left quite a mark in their day.

But you always wonder whether the saints of old would know what to do

In the culture, the times, the people, the places that you live in,

It's hard to sift out what changes with time from the eternal values.

Sometimes, it takes learning of someone else's devotion to a saint,

Hear of the relationship forged between them by difficult times,

To learn how these ancestors of faith continue to speak to us today.

This great cloud of witnesses, cheering us on,

Will take us to places that we've only dreamed of,

If only we let them show the way.

The joy of the Lord be with you all!

Questions for the readings for Epiphany Sunday

Our readings for Epiphany Sunday are:

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

1. Rise up in splendor
• Is there anything in your life that has not been brought "into the light?"
• What do you think would happen if you shared that with someone that you trusted?
• How do you think bringing those dark parts of your past, your nature, into the light brings healing?
• How do you think that bringing those aspects of you to the light make you stronger?
2. Grant wisdom to the king
• How much should we expect of our elected officials?
• Do you think that God wants justice for all people in this world?
• What can we do to help bring that about?
3. Privileged generation
• Oftentimes, as we grow older, we reminisce, and often pine for one aspect or another of our youth.  Do you think that this "generation" is privileged in terms of the things that God is accomplishing in our world today?
• How do you see yourself participating in that ongoing unfolding of God's creation?
• What do you think the next step might be?  Dream big.
• What are you doing to make that dream a reality?
4. King of the Jews
• Has there ever been a time in your life when something that God was doing threatened something that was important to you, or at least you thought was important?
• How did you handle it?
• How might you have handled it better?
• How can you prepare better for the next such occurrence?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Is my life bringing others to God?
2. What am I doing to increase my own wisdom, that I might help others?
3. Am I comfortable sharing the goodness of God with others?
4. How am I preparing the way for God's arrival?

Lead Us to Your Light

Sometimes, the hardest thing to do

Is to tell someone who cares about you

That all is not right,

That your heart has weaknesses

That you have fed because you were afraid,

That if that part of you died,

There would not be anything much else left.

It's not that that other person

Necessarily has insights, wisdom, a solution.

As they have a caring heart,

An attentive ear,

The time to hear you out

Enough love to not judge,

And commitment to stick with you through it all.

I pray that you find that someone

That fellow-journeyer

That can help you find the strength

Within

To be who you were meant to be

And not settle

For anything less.

Shalom

Feast of the Holy Family

Our readings for the Feast of the Holy Family are:

1. Genesis 15: 1-6, 21:1-3
2. Psalms 105: 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9
3. Hebrews 11: 8, 11-12, 17-19
4. Luke 2: 22-40

1. God promises a son
• What are you believing God for these days?
• How certain are you of that?
• Does that certainty say more about your beliefs or God's faithfulness?
2. Great is His name
• What are you grateful for these days?
• Where was God in each of those events?
• What do those things tell you about God?
3. Power of faith
• Do you have any stories to tell of events or happenings that came about because of faith, yours or others?
• What do those tell you about God?
• How have those changed your life?
4. Looking forward
• What are you hoping for in the future?
• Within your life?
• Within your family?
• Within this parish?
• What are you doing to bring that piece of God's Kingdom to earth?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I have the courage to "let go and let God" in my life?
2. Have I told God how grateful I am lately?
3. Have I shared my fears with God?
4. Do I see myself as someone with a unique purpose in life, that no one else can fulfill?

But I was just learning how to relate to him

When God called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac,

You have to wonder what thoughts were going through his mind.

I know that I would have thought it mean spirited of God,

To first give me this miracle son, so late in life,

And then snatch him away with no warning.

This same God who called me from my kinsmen

To a lonely and strange place.

All so that I might receive a promise of a horde of descendants,

Apparently just to see whether I'll do anything for Him.

I thought my God was bigger than that.

The gods that others worship, they are capricious and cruel.

They get away with it because they can.

But this one seemed so different.  At once larger, transcendent.

And at the same time more intimate, as close as my very breath.

Mount Moriah looms in the distance.

This God of mine has given me purpose, adventure even.

Through Him I met Sarah, and continued this journey with her.

Through Him I became a child of promise, 

With more purpose than merely greater flocks and wealth.

Somehow, I must journey on, just to see what's next if nothing else.

Peace to all of you this Christmas season!

Christmas day

Our readings for Christmas Day are:

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

1. Announcing the good news
• What about your life tells others of "Good news"?
• Do you see any opportunities to bring Christ back into Christmas?
• If you wanted to tell someone to "come and see" Christ in action, where would you take them?
• Why?
2. The joy of the Lord
• What gives you joy?
• What things do you think give God joy?
• If you had a godly joy, would that be taken away by misfortune, setbacks, other people lying about you, ...?
• Why is this godly joy so impervious to disaster?
3. Revelation
• Do you think that Jesus' entire life and ministry can be captured entirely in words?
• If not, how are we to teach others those parts of His ministry/life that go beyond mere words?
• Who do you see doing that teaching toda?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Under what circumstances might I be willing to admit that I'm Catholic?
2. What do I have to rejoice in this week?  Have I told anyone?
3. What have I done this week to get closer to Jesus?
4. What parts of me are still not under Christ's dominion?

Canticle of King David

From across the gulf of expectant centuries I greet you

Fulfillment of the promise of my line.

Where I was but a faint shadow of your greatness

My reign could only point to your kingdom.

My God, our father be praised through all time

For the courage it is now taking

To trust the fate of all humanity, past, present and future

On humanity's ability to see you.

In my glory, there was no mistaking my entrance.

My armies were my advance team.

But you, you come among the poor and forgotten

With barely a whisper in the desert to hail you.

I dwelt in a magnificent house of cedar.

And your first home is a stable.

You and you alone have seen what true kingship is.

And I pray that my life find fulfillment in yours.

Merry Christmas to all of you!