Easter morning

Our readings for Easter Sunday morning are:

1. Acts 10:34a, 37-43
2. Psalms 118: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23
3. Colossians 3: 1-4 (I don't know if we're going with this epistle or 1 Corinthians 5: 6b-8)
4. John 20: 1-9

1. My heart to yours
• Why do you think that Jesus insists on using us to spread the Good News about Him?
• Why do you think that He ascended?
• Why do you think that He only appeared to a select few?
2. His mercy endures forever
• If God is mercy, then why not just enjoy life?  After all, like the Prodigal Father, He will always take us back.
• What would your definition of true joy be?
• What contributes most to that joy?
3. Love people, use things, not the other way around
• Does indifference to the things of this world mean that I don't have to paint the house, try hard at work, take my car in for maintenance?
• The message to simplify our lives comes more and more strongly as we age.  What does a simple life look like?
• How do you get there?
• What's the point?
4. Seeing is understanding
• The resurrection narratives are filled with accounts of the disciples discovering the risen Christ even though Jesus had told them how this was all going to play out.
• Do you think that this sort of process of 
• Intellectual hearing but not understanding
• A radical experience that reveals to the heart what Jesus meant all along
• Sharing of that revelation within the community
• Spreading out beyond the bounds of the community - is a theme in Chrstianity?
• If so, how can we be more intentional about this process so that it might occur more readily, the revelations run deeper, the final resurrection joy more profound?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. When was the last time that I thought that anything about my life in Jesus had anything to offer to anyone else?
2. Have I shown mercy to others?
3. What was the first thing that came to my mind this morning when I woke up?
4. Does my life bring resurrection joy and life to others?

Race you to the tomb

I'm going to say that the lonliest person
Is not the one who's just endured the loss of a spouse,
Or someone caught far from home at the holidays,
But the one with Jesus in his heart and no one to share that with.

Revelation best comes to us as us.
Not so much because we need to check each other
Or cheerlead each other
But to share the ongoing revelation of Christ incarnate among us.

And where is that safe haven?
Where is that place where what has been inner can become outer,
That we may better and more thoroughly take what is outer
And bring that in to where we truly live, and be changed for the better?

Jesus promised "where two or three are gathered in my name,
There I am, in the midst of them."
What does that look like?
Do those gatherings have to be on a calendar?

What sort of covenant should such communities share?
How many can/should you be involved in at once?
Are they intrinsically self-sustaining,
Or do such need help from the outside?

Who has the time?

Shalom!

Passion Sunday

Our readings for Palm Sunday are:

1. Isaiah 50: 4-7
2. Psalm 28: 8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
3. Philippians 2: 6-11
4. Mark 14: 1-15:47 (long version) or Mark 15: 1-39 (short version)

1. Lending a hand
• Oftentimes, we come from "different worlds" than those that we help.  We might have a better childhood, more time, more money, more maturity, ... than they do.  How are we to be relevant to them?
• What does it take to have truly authentic ministry?
• What are we getting in return from those whom we serve?
2. All alone
• What difference does it make that God is for us?
• Does that insulate us from the worst that life has to offer?
• If not, why would anyone be attracted to this life?
3. The cost of obedience
• Do you think that Jesus knew for a fact that everything was going to "turn out OK" in the end?
• How do you think that the human Jesus found the humility that he needed to suffer the way that he did?
• What does it really mean for us to "take up our cross and follow Jesus" in our daily lives?
• How can we find the humility needed for that sort of life?
• Is it worth it?
4. Lending a hand
• The passion story has a lot of bit players appear.  Some try to help Jesus, others join in the punishment, but in the end He's getting crucified.
• Do you ever wonder what was going through the mind of Simon of Cyrene?  Did he feel as though he was making a difference by easing Jesus' suffering?
• Is there any way that we can ease Jesus' suffering in our lives today?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Is my ministry making life better for others?
2. What is it exactly that I expect in return for my service to God?
3. Where is Jesus suffering today?  Can I give Him any comfort?
4. Am I willing to speak up for justice, regardless of what I think the outcome might be?

Wood of the Cross

The tell me that this cross piece that I bear has had some noted insurrectionists nailed to it.
A regular piece of history no doubt.  If only wood could talk.
If only the blood that it's absorbed could cry once more.

Jesus shambles along in front of me.
Clearly exhausted, slowly oozing life from a thousand cuts
Feeling the world around him, magnified by bruises beyond counting.

Part of me wants to elbow past him, get this cursed journey over with.
Get to that foresaken hillside that Rome has desecrated with all their executions,
Drop off my burden be on my way, and try to forget.

But even without looking at me, Jesus becons me to abide with Him,
Somehow share this moment, lean into the pain that He bears,
Keep company with Him for just a little while.

I cannot see any real benefit to my strength at this sorry affair.
This story is going to end pretty much the same no matter what I do.
But I match my steps to his, stop thinking about tomorrow, and settle into the moment.

Together, we keep company without words.
Slogging along through familiar streets and lanes.
That have become strange to me in the context of this misery.

There is an odd solitude on this road.
The passers by, the mocking crowds, the soldiers, all become larger than life
And become a sign for all who this Jesus has come to serve.

And as this journey progresses, Jesus looms larger in my view.
The loose limbed gait, the uneven trail of blood, the tattered clothing,
All take on a shattered sweetness in my view.

I know that I will never be the same for sharing this road with Him.
And I wonder where this journey will take me in the days to come.
But wherever it goes, I know that Jesus will be with me because I have been with Jesus.

Shalom!

4th Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 4th Sunday of  Lent are:

1. 2nd Chronicles 36: 14-16, 19-23
2. Psalms 137: 1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
3. Ephesians 2: 4-10
4. John 3: 14-21

1. Sabbath journey
• Last week we heard proclaimed Exodus 20:1-17 in which God gave His people the Law.
• If God made all of creation in six days, and rested on the seventh, what does it say about the other six days that god desires that we enter into His Sabbath rest?
• This land, that we are borrowing from our descendents, what are our responsibilities towards it?
• Does the land, the earth, somehow participate in the Sabbath?
2. Faith of our fathers
• Do you have family members, deceased or otherwise, who have been shining examples to you in your faith, have inspiried you?
• How does that family relate to the faith of your wider parish, the Catholic Church, now and through all time?
• Our history is very much a mixed bag.  What does it really mean to say "I am Catholic"?  What responsibility do we carry for past sins of this, our extended family?
• How can those be atoned for?
3. Works prepared for you
• Do you think that God has work/works prepared for you in particular?
• What do you think happens to those works if you don't "show up for duty" by not hearing God's voice in your life at some decision point?
• How would you define true happiness in life?
• What are you doing to get there?
4. Emerging from the darkness
• I'm told that one of the precepts from the AA "big book" is that "we're as sick our secrets."
• How and to whom can we bring those secrets in the light?
• Do such confessions have to occur to a priest?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. When have I been God's messenger?
2. Am I an example of strong faith to anyone?
3. What is God's purpose for my life?
4. Who can I confide in?

Shalom!

3rd Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (cycle B) are:

1. Exodus 20: 1-17
2. Psalm 19: 8, 9, 10, 11
3. 1 Corinthians 1: 22-25
4. John 2: 13-25

1. Rules to live by
• Do you think that there is a common thread running through all of the 10 commandments?
• Why do you think that they are so hard to live by?
• Do you think that God was doing us any favors by giving us those commandments?
• Day to day, how is it that faith in Christ helps us live by those?
2. The Law of the Lord is clear
• Have you ever struggled for clarity from God, really wondered what it was that He had in mind for you?
• What made it hard to achieve that clarity?
• How did you finally find the peace that you were seeking?
3. Humility just doesn't make sense
• Can you think of anyone that you've known who was truly humble?
• How did their life impact those around them?
• Do you think that humility is something that we can work on ourselves, is it pure gift, or some sort of combination of the above?
• Why is humility so hard?
4. That wasn't quite the intent ...
• The temple had become corrupted in practice.  The people had lost their focus on true worship, and became focused on things that supported that worship.
• Have you ever seen that sort of corruption elsewhere?
• Who is responsible for calling that sort of corruption out, holding us accountable for the real reason for what we do, who we are?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. When was the last time that I prayed to God for a clear picture of where I have missed my chance to draw closer to Him?
2. What am I doing to build my trust, the strength of my faith, in God?
3. Am I willing to be seen as impractical, even foolish because I'm following Jesus?
4. If someone is looking for the presence of God in their lives, are they likely to think of me?

One God

When you got right down to it, a world with lots of gods can be comforting.
In their own chaotic way, they are more immanent, easier to touch.

If your village economy is based on the grain harvest, a wheat god makes sense.
Someone to look out for you, defend you against all the uncertainty of rain and sun.

If the rain god is particularly displeased with you and a drought smites the land,
You can take comfort that there is a struggle between the gods over you.

If there's only one god, and bad things happen, you're forced to ask serious questions.
Does this one, all supreme being not care about what is befalling His people?

Or do these capricious storms, earthquakes, fires and floods come to test us?
Are all the calamities in life the fallout of original sin in the world?

Is there some higher purpose to Alzheimers and other calamities in life?
Is it presumtuous of us to even ask what the higher purpose, the ultimate reason is?

And if there is a purpose to it all, what should be our part in the those events?
What sort of partnership are we called to as creation continues to unfold?

Shalom!

Why I sing

Why I Sing

The Eucharist can be viewed through many lenses.  Each lets us see different facets of this bottomless mystery.  One such lense sees the Eucharist as an exchange of gifts.  We present the bread and wine and receive back Christ's precioius body and blood.  But there is another dynamic transpiring as well.  Just before the Eucharistic prayer is offered, the collection is taken and put before the altar.  That collection represents our effort, our energies, our creativity, our very selves.  All of it, the bread, the wine, our offerings, are transformed, transubstantiated, and by extension, we are on that altar,we are transformed, and missioned to go out in to the world.

By nature, I am not well suited to art.  I took a bachelor's degree in Physics, not because I had vocational goals to meet, but because I thought that it would be fun.  It was, though it was also a ton of work.  Shortly after completing my BS, I started in graduate work.  I knew I didn't have what it took to get an MS in Physics, so I gave myself a break and got a MS in Electrical Engineering.  Whe my wife & I got married, the photographer told her that I danced like a scientest.  I figure a creative person like a professional photographer must know a dancing scientest when he sees one.  I've born that stigma ever since.

I like to express myself fully, leaving nothing of my thoughts, and lately emotions, to the imagination.  My thought process is somewhat chaotic, rather slow, and uninspired.  And when I come to a conclusion or sort something out in my heart and mind, I like to get it out thoroughly.  Assuming that I have an audience, a community to share that with.

To perform, celebrate, proclaim a piece of muic puts you into a community that may never meet, never see.  The composer often is inspired by a community that they belong to.  The composer expresses themselves within that context.  That community is ineffably woven into every note, every line of the lyrics.  And it comes out when the music is celebrated.  Liturgical music, like the Mass, finds its fullest expression in the context of full, active and conscious participation of a community.  And it is this context that gives a musical celebration its greatest fulfillment.

And yet there is a third community present in any celebration: the Trinity and us.  We are daily invited into that divine fellowship, that holy community.  From our acceptance of that generous invitation springs the heart of our liturgical music celebration.  It is that conversation that we have within the Trinity that fires in us a response, a prayer.

I am not an accomplished vocalist.  My choir director looks at me through the eyes of an old and dear friend, not those of a performer.  But still I strive to push more air, watch my dynamics, mind the way that my voice blends with the rest of my choir community's for one simple reason: in so doing, I get out of the way.

Nothing is served by attention drawn to me.  This is a ministry of humility if ever there was one.  When my harmony is in perfect blend, when we are able to make the music accessible and familiar to the assembly that we serve, when we are able to midwife within them their own urgent prayer, help them stoke the fires of their celebration of the Trinity, we are truly bringing the Kingdom here to earth, and offering all that all of us are to God in union with His offering of His Son to us in one cosmic exchange of gifts that transcends time and space, race and religion, gender and nationality.

Singing at its very best helps me to find myself in a larger purpose, to see the world through the eyes of a poet, and to fulfill my calling as a member of the priesthood of believers.

In short, I sing because my life makes little sense without prayer.

2nd Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 2nd Sunday of Lent are:

1. Genesis 22: 1-2, 9a, 10-13,15-18
2. Psalm 116: 10, 15, 16-17, 18-19
3. Romans 8: 31b-34
4. Mark 9: 2-10

1. Sacrifice
• Do you think that God deliberately tests our faith?
• At the moment that Abraham raised the knife over Isaac, do you think that was a moment of freedom, or bondage?
• If you think that was a moment of freedom, why would anyone want it?
2. Oh freedom
• What are some of the things that we can become bound to?
• Are all of those things wrong/evil in and of themselves?
• What does true and complete freedom look like, how would you tell someone who's truly free?
• What do we have to do in our lives to achieve that sort of freedom?
3. Trust
• Would you draw a distinction between trust and faith?
• Is there a mutuality between them (each depends upon, fosters the other) or does one preceed the other?
• Are you more trusting today than you were a year ago?
• Why or why not?
4. Living in the moment
• Have you ever had a transfiguring moment, some point in time when suddenly, even though nothing has changed, everything looks different?
• Do you ever revisit such moments?
• How have they changed you?
5. Or, another way of looking at this Gospel:
• Do you have trouble exploring the moment that you're in?  Always thinking ahead to what's coming at you, or brooding over the past?
• How is that working for you?
• How might you live regret-free?
• Do you think that Jesus is interested in hearing about your fears for the future?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Are there things in my life that I consider mine and mine alone?
2. What am I thankful for today?
3. What am I doing to increase my trust in God?
4. Do I regularly leave myself open to God's touch in my life?  Would I notice if He touched me?

Really?

My father tied the wood for the sacrifice to my back with strong, practiced hands.
He was always resourceful, always knew what to do in every situation.
I always hoped that I would someday learn that sort of resiliance in a crisis.

He seemed so sombre, exhausted of soul that day.  I asked what was weighing him,
All that I got for an answer was a long sigh, coming from deep within him,
And the ghost of a smile as he said "nothing that you can do anything about."

I looked at the fire and the knife, recalled the wood that dragged at my young frame
And I asked where the sacrifice was.  Again, that deep sigh, and the assurance
That God, who had provided everything else in our lives, would provide once again.

Finally, the alter built, the wood carefully arranged so that it would burn hot and steady
Father gently picked me up, laid me across that wood that I had carried all of that way
And my first thought was that I might have walked a little slower if I had but known.

Tears streaming down his weathered cheeks, he raised the jagged flint knife high
Muscles taut with tension, frame wracked with grief, a split second melted into eternity.
I felt a deep peace come over me.  Not because I knew how this would all end.

Rather, because I knew that it was no longer in my hands.
God had brought us here, God had set the stage,
And no matter whether one or two of us went down that mountain,

God would still be with the both of us.
The sunlight was never so bright, the fragrant sage never sweeter,
Life never more precious than that moment, suspended in time.

In my heart I visit that mountain from time to time.
To regain perspective.
To regain my freedom.

Shalom!

1st Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the first Sunday of Lent are:

1. Genesis 9: 8-15
2. Psalms 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. 1 Peter 3: 18-22
4. Mark 1: 12-15

1. Sons and daughters of Noah
• God made His covenant with every living creature.  How can there be a covenant with animals?
• What does that tell us about how God relates to creation as a whole?
• What does that tell us about our place in creation?
2. Remember Your love
• Who are some of those who have taught you God's ways in your life?
• Why were they important to you?
• Isn't there some library where all of this is written down?  Why then do we need to teach each other?
3. Sprinkled free from sin
• Are there any particular places, events, people in your life where you feel particularly close to God?
• Were those things always evocative for you?
• Do you think that there could be a way that things in your life could become sacramental through time?
4. Offering you less than who you are
• Thinking of all of the things that temp you, are there any themes, any similarities among them?
• How would you characterize those temptations?
• Do you think that Jesus knew that he was going to face temptation in the desert?
• If so, why did he go there?
• How does that relate to the principle of avoiding the "occasion for sin"?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How have I expressed my gratitude to God for creation?
2. What have I done today to draw closer to God?
3. How has freedom from sin made me a freer person?
4. When faced with temptation, am I decisive, or do I try to keep my options open?

Vision Quest

Here in the West, we're far from deliberate about entering adulthood.
Some think it's that first kiss, or getting your drives's license,
Maybe that first paycheck, getting married, or that first child.

We need customs, traditions, community celebrations
To usher our young into adulthood,
To remind us and them that this is a momentous occasion.

A generous entry onto that stage of life
Where we transition from the protection and care of our parents,
Into the wider world of ministry and self donation should never be done lightly.

Time alone to find out who we truly are,
How we are going to make our way in the world,
Is essential to an authentic offering of ourselves.

Learning to learn from the silence is a life-long vocation
Coming into sharp focus at the time of self-declaration
Proclaiming to the community how you will serve.

How did you decide upon the course of your life?
What were the temptations to something less,
Less you, less authentic, less holy?

Is there only one vision per life span?
Or are our days a succession of horizons,
Each beckoning us from the silence and solitude?

Shalom!