23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 35: 4-7a
2. Psalms 146: 6-7, 8-9, 9-10
3. James 2: 1-5
4. Mark Mark 7: 31-37

1. God arriving yet already here
• What do you need saving from in your life today?
• What sort of answers to your prayers has God given you?
• Has your prayer brought you any greater peace?
• Has your attitude regarding your circumstances changed?
• Has your heart quickened with new possibilities about how to respond?
• What sort of answers are you looking for?
• Is God cooperating?
2. Keeping faith
• What sort of a track record has God gotten in your life?
• Would you say that He's pretty dependable?  If so, what can you depend on Him for?
• How has that changed your attitude toward God over the years?
3. Having a heart for the down and out
• We instinctively feel drawn to the successful, healthy, self assured, but somehow Jesus always find Himself in the midst of the needy.
• Do you think it's because Jesus had more resources to give to others than we do?
• Or is it maybe that Jesus was intrinsically generous by nature?
• How can we become more generous?
• What are some of the dangers of that sort of generosity?
4. Bringing folks to Jesus
• When was the last time that you invited anyone to a Church gathering with you?
• Is it maybe because there isn't much there that would speak directly to felt needs of that person?
• Or maybe you're not sure of what sort of reception they would receive?
• Or maybe it's just hard to see yourself sharing that part of your life with them?
• What would have to change before you were more likely to bring others to Jesus?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I doing to encourage the weak of heart in my circle of friends?
2. Is there anyone in my life that I could/should be comforting?
3. Am I willing to embrace those parts of myself that are not stunningly successful, rich in the ways of this world, or just unhealthy?
4. Am I willing to reach out to the voiceless?

I'm Sorry, We're Just Not That Group

I think that God scandalizes us for the entertainment value.

Years ago, when I was a youth,
We had a weekly prayer meeting.

Part of the program was testimony.
A chance for folks to share.

Once, two young men came
With smiles as big as all of outdoors

They prayed and sang with the best of them
And when testimony time came

Well, they both lit up
And told the greatness of God.

Drugs had a grip on them
Both of them feared for their lives.

But God had rescued them
Brought them back, healed their relationships

And now they were spreading the word
And looking for anyone who needed encouragement.

We all looked at each other
Wondering what to make of these folks.

Our typical concerns were of a different nature:
Which college am I going to go to,

Should I take that position in another state,
Or stay here where the potential seems less?

Life and death struggles seemed so distant to us,
Hitting bottom was only something we heard about.

Or maybe we had more in common
Than any of us really knew.

All I know is that we thanked them kindly,
And hoped that we would not be so disturbed again.

As to how that impacted our little group?
I think after that we screened new people better.

Shalom!

22nd week in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Deuteronomy 4: 1-2, 6-8
2. Psalms 15: 2-3, 3-4, 4-5
3. James 1: 17-18, 21b-22, 27
4. Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

1. What makes greatness?
• For those of you who don't know me, I'm late (emphasize that late) baby boomer generation.  My cultural heritage from my parents is that the U.S. is a great nation because it's the land of opportunity.  Moses was calling the Israelites to greatness of another sort.  How would you describe that greatness?
• Is a community able to achieve greatness if all of its members are merely "so so"?
• What would it take to make our parish community truly great, really unleash all of our potential, achieve true freedom and use that freedom well?
2. Fruits of justice
• How would you define corruption?
• Do you see any corruption around you?
• If we don't speak up about such things, most often because we're pretty sure that merely speaking up will get us nowhere, is that justice?
• Should we leave that "watch dog" role to the professionals, say the media or other groups who hold others accountable as part of their job description?
3. Being accountable
• No one likes a hypocrite.  In fact, it seems pretty evident that Jesus wasn't too fond of such folks either.  How do we avoid being hypocritical?
• Is there anyone in your life that you can think of who would have the courage to tell you that your actions don't match your words?
• Do you have the courage to do that for yourself?
• If you did have that sort of conversation with yourself, when in your day, week, month might there be time for that?
4. Immanent vs. transcendent
• How do you tell whether some belief or practice is truly of God, or just something that we, as a community have "fallen into"?
• Whose job is it to police that sort of thing anyway?
• Do you think that reform movements should occur in periodic spurts, or do you think that reformation needs to be an ongoing practice within a community?
• How would we foster that sort of mindset?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Would my definition of success in life match up with Jesus'?
2. When I encounter someone who's "down and out", is my first impulse to find a way to help them, or ask where are the people who should be helping them?
3. When was the last time that I took inventory of my actions versus my values?
4. Do my actions spring from fear of missing something or an emerging freedom in Christ?

You can never be too careful

God, in His great mercy, has given us many things.
The patriarchs who inspire, our land to feed and clothe us,
Our great history to show us just who He is.
But most gracious of all, He has loved us through the Law.

Without the Law, we would be forever wondering what to do,
How to go about our lives, how to make sense of things.
To dishonor the Law, and hence God himself
By being inattentive in our obedience is a sacrilege against life itself.

But who can keep all of these instructions in front of them
Day in, day out, always remembering, always following.
So, rabbis through the years have built a fence around the Law,
To protect us from venturing too close to disobedience.

You start with something simple: Honor the Sabbath.
That means no work should occur on that holy day.
"What is work?" you ask.  Plowing a field is work,
But you have to be careful to not accidentally plow.

So, in deference to the greatness of God, and the Sabbath,
We are careful on the Sabbath not to push a stick before us,
Lest we leave behind a furrow that could be planted,
And thus we work on a holy day, and miss our rest.

You may say to me, but if there was no intention of work
Is it still a sin?  And I ask you, who can tell a man's heart?
Are we often not so devious that we delude even ourselves?
So, you tell me your intentions were pure.  Maybe yes, maybe no.

Better to not take chances with intangibles like intentions,
And stick instead to what we can see, hear, taste, touch and smell
And make sure that none of those actions strays toward disobedience
Lest we skirt ever closer to outright lawlessness.

This Jesus of yours claims to give you freedom
Tell me then, freedom from what, and freedom to what?
How has your freedom given you comfort when death draws near?
How has your freedom given you the resolve to do heroic things?

Tell me the answer to those questions
And I will tell you how we are different from one another.

Shalom!

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Joshua 24: 1-2a, 15-17, 18b
2. Psalms 34: 2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21
3. Ephesians 5: 21-32
4. John 6: 60-69

1. Quo vadis?
• Why is it that you're following God?  Is it because you just don't know where else to go, or maybe you don't want to disappoint some saintly relative, force of habit, ...?
• Has that motivation for following God changed through the years?
• If you really think about it, are you following a person, or a set of guidelines, dogmas, prescriptions?
• Does it matter?
2. Taste and see (again)
• What is so good about God?  Is He sort of like the Wizard of Oz, characterized by the wonderful things he does, or is there something deeper?
• When was the last time that you started a conversation with "God has been so wonderful to me ..." or even "I'm so thankful to God for ...".
• Does that say more about the sort of people that you spend your time talking to, or your attitude towards God?
3. A new model of authority
• We are all pretty familiar with the notion of being in and under authority.  That model permeates just about every aspect of our lives.  Normally it's a hierarchy, or at worst (and believe me, matrix management can get rough) a network of sorts.  But what does it mean to be subordinate to each other?
• What if the other person is just completely wrong in their opinion of how things ought to be done?
• How does that square with the manifestly hierarchical nature of the leadership that we see in the Church today?
4. Jesus, you're killing me
• I'm willing to bet that Jesus had to pull on all of his Toastmaster's training to deliver this "bread of life" discourse that we've been reading the past few weeks in John.  No one knows whether it was really all one long speech, or whether John pulled it together from various teachings of Jesus, but regardless, Jesus had to have had butterflies in his stomach as He delivered these messages.
• Why do you think that Jesus had to tell the crowds this?  He could have just had a private chat with his disciples and let them try to help everyone else with the concept after He was gone.  Probably a good thing God never asked me to be the savior of the world, now that I think on it.
• Jesus comes across as harsh and demanding in this chapter.  My experience has always been that God is very gentle in His leading, always drawing me to that next step just outside my comfort zone.  How about you?
• What does that say to you about God and the way He leads us?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. When was the last time that I made a decision one way or the other because I'm a follower of Jesus?
2. When I think about my life in God, is there joy there?
3. Do I trust God to really work through the others in my life?
4. What am I looking for in my relationship to God?

Street Corner Preacher

You don't see them too often anymore,
But I remember as a child growing up,
The occasional street corner preacher,
Cradling their Bible in one hand,
While they tried to rouse passers by.

The message was pretty much the same.
Death, judgement, Hell to you all,
Unless you pay attention to God's love.
Repent now, while there's still time,
Trust in God to take care of you.

True words all, but spoken in a way
That misshapes the message,
Paints an angry, judgmental picture,
Of a God who ultimately wants
Wants a loving relationship with us.

Of course, trying to get people's attention
While preaching that message is a tough sell.
"Turn aside from the grasping, acquiring
That consumes you.  Let me tell you
About what really satisfies!"

Or maybe, our mythical preacher would say:
"I know you think that you know
Know the meaning of life.  But there's more.
Infinitely more.  Become indifferent to all this,
Then you can come and find what you've missed."

"All of this, all of it, was designed
To point beyond this world, this life, this universe
Show us the glory of the star maker,
Bedazzle us with the painter of butterflys.
But we've been led astray, come home."

Maybe I'll try that message from the local street corner.
And see how many stop to ask for a pamphlet.
But then, where would they go?
Where is the community to foster these seekers?
Where indeed.

Shalom!

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 20th Sunday in ordinary time are:

1. Proverbs 9: 1-6
2. Psalms 34: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7
3. Ephesians 5: 15-20
4. John 6: 51-58

1. Calling the simple
• Do you feel that wisdom is really something that God wants for each one of us?
• Do you feel that you're smart enough to be wise?
• How important is true wisdom in your life?
• If the local Junior College offered Wisdom 101, would you take it?
2. Taste and see
• How much of what we share as Catholics can really be expressed in words?
• How do you go about sharing the rest with someone that you care about?
• Do you think that we're going to get all the best of Catholic tradition (small "t" by the way) in one place, or do you think that we have to go afield a bit to experience the fullness of our faith?
• If you could take a close friend to just one event, one Liturgy, one talk, one concert ..., to try to convince them of the reality of Jesus Christ, what/where would that be?
• What does that say about our parish?
3. Living wisely
• How can we diminish our ignorance and increase in wisdom?
• Is that something best done alone, or in a small faith community, a parish, a Church?
• What would have to happen before such an opportunity was attractive to you?
4. Having true life
• Jesus' words regarding true life coming solely from Him implies that we're born into this world without that life.
• The tangible life that we are born into, breathing, thinking, feeling serves as a way to attain a deeper life, an eternal one.  What do you think the relationship is between that tangible, visible life, and the invisible one?  How does one sustain/support the other?
• What makes for a good death?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I doing on a regular basis to grow in wisdom?
2. What is my community doing to be more welcoming, more appealing, even alluring to those in need?
3. What am I doing to find God's will for me?
4. Is the life of Jesus in me more radiant today than it was yesterday, a year ago, five years ago?

Seeker

Weather beaten like an old piece of siding on an abandoned building in Mojave,

Yet supple like a worn piece of leather,

The would be disciple walked slowly towards the humble house of the master.

Knowing that soon, he would finally meet the one who would show him wisdom,

He knew that he would never be the same,

And wanted to savor the last few moments of the only life he had ever known.

Gently he knocked at the old woman's door.

There was a pregnant pause, and when it was done she said "enter if you've the courage."

The seeker thought about that a moment, and decided that ignorance might masquerade as courage

In its blindness, ignorance knows not what it faces,

And so is able to plunge ahead, heedless of the dangers.

Knowing what he didn't know, the seeker realized all he could lose was his ignorance, and turned the handle.

Natural light drew pictures on the walls,

The master was sipping tea at her table and motioned him to sit before a second cup.

"Come, tell me what you have learned thus far." she said.

The seeker gratefully took a sip, felt the roundness of the cup between his cupped hands,

Noticed how the circle of the brim celebrated completeness completely,

And thought that moments like this one are almost painful in their ripeness, if only we notice it.

He turned to her and said, I have learned that I cannot see beyond the edge of my ignorance,

That my touch in the lives of others can only heal when I am at my most vulnerable.

That all of this, glorious as it is, is not infinite, not eternal, not God.

She could tell that her tea was cooling, so she took another sip to celebrate its warmth as it faded.

She turned so that she could take in his face, and the slowly changing patterns of sunlight.

And with a gaze focused on eternity she said: 

Then you have come a long way to arrive here.  One thing more you need.

God reveals divinity in everything that is given us.

The rock shouts of it in its ineffable rockness.  The kingfisher celebrates life in being a kingfisher.

All of these share the Presence of God precisely in being precisely who and what they were created to be.

Each has a message to share, a song to sing of God.

Learn to find God in all things, find all things in God, then you will learn how best to be who you were created to be.

Then you can join the rocks, the trees, the stars, the kingfisher and take your proper place in creation.

Shalom!

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. 1 Kings 19: 4-8
2. Psalms 34: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. Ephesians 4:30-5:2
4. John 6: 41-51

1. If this is how you treat your friends ...
• It would be nice if, when bad things befall us, we could point to some stand that we took, some tough decision that we made that put us on a course that led to a tough outcome.
• In that circumstance, we could blame God for getting us into this position.
• We would be bummed by the circumstances (like Elijah getting threatened by the Jezebel and the priests of Baal), but at least feel virtuous.
• But I think sometimes, we follow God, don't do anything manifestly heroic, and still end up getting layed off, having a loved one die, taking a hit in the stock market.
• Does that sort of suffering have to mean anything?
• How can we share that suffering with others, without inflicting it on them?
2. Trust in God
• Have you ever had a time in life when you had to trust in God to get you through?
• How did that work out for you?  Did everything turn out well?
• Sometimes, we only see God's hand when looking back at something from a distance of time.  How long does that take?  Do we see God's providence all at once?
• Is there any guarantee that we'll always see God's hand in our lives ever?
3. Putting away my God-given right to be upset with you ...
• In a perfect world, everyone would be as reasonable as I am and see things my way.  What do we do in the meantime?
• Somehow, when I tell someone else that I forgive them for being wrong about something, the conversation never ends well.  Why is that?
• Disagreements within the Body of Christ are bound to come up, sometimes they can last a long time.  How do we deal with that in a healthy way?
4. Buddy, can you spare some Jesus?
• This is is the climax of the "bread of life" discourse in John.  Jesus started by feeding the 5000, and has steadily (relentlessly?) shifted their focus from the food that He just gave them to the bread of life.  So, what was the purpose of feeding them in the first place?
• If we believe that everything that we receive is from God, what then is the meaning of our contribution, our work (some would say toil) towards providing for ourselves and our loved ones?
• Is everything that we receive from God like the loaves and fishes, that is, is it the purpose of that provision to turn our hearts towards God, or is His provision for us more practical?
• When we feed the homeless, do they need to be preached to, or do our actions nourish them better than our words might?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Have I "backed off" a difficult position or stance because I was afraid of what others would think or do?
2. When was the last time I spoke of my gratitude to God for something in my life?
3. Is my prayer life healthy enough that I can tell when I've grieved the Holy Spirit?
4. When I've been confused or doubtful, have I talked that out with anyone, or just murmured?

Waste of a Good Lunch

Jesus is so unpredictable.
One minute he's encouraging us (particularly the poor)
Then we get fed out of nowhere,
Then suddenly, bam, He starts in with this bread of life spiel.

Frankly, now that I think on it,
If I had stayed home I could have gotten wheat bread
Not as course,
Nothing sticking between my teeth.

And, I would not have had,
To try and figure out what all this talk
Is about Jesus being the bread of life.
There's a lesson here -

There's no free lunch.

Shalom!

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Exodus 16: 2-4, 12-15
2. Psalms 78: 3-4, 23-24, 25, 54
3. Ephesians 4: 17, 20-24
4. John 6: 24-35

1. What is it?
• In the Exodus passage 16: 5-11 we read that the Israelites were not to store up any manna from one day to the next, that the manna was literally to be "their daily bread".  Do you think that God gave that to them daily because no one had invented 401K plans yet?
• These days, we have so many ways to hedge ourselves financially with various sorts of insurance.  Some would argue that insurance is intrinsically just gambling dressed up.  What do you think?
• Is there any limit to the trust that we are to put in God?
• How is that trust expressed?
2. Why is it?
• Did God send the Israelites manna in the desert because He was afraid for his servant Moses?
• Maybe it was to teach the Israelites to trust (too bad that everyone who ate the manna in the desert died out there)?
• He didn't want them distracted from the lessons that He wanted to teach them by their want.
• God's just naturally generous.
• What do you think?
3. Renewal
• A renewal is a re founding, a returning to something lost.  Often, that return is not to the same state that had been left behind, but a case of finding new expression for something old and forgotten.  What would you like to renew about your faith personally?
• Do you feel that your family could use some renewal?
• How about our parish?
• Where do we start?
4. The work of God
• One definition of work is "generative activity that builds, constructs, creates new things by combining existing ingredients in new ways for a stated purpose."  What are you working on these days?
• I'm sure I've used this story before, but here goes: "A visitor to Rome once noticed a building under construction.  Being new to the city, he walked up to one of the workers and asked them what they were doing.  The worker proudly said that he was chiseling fine granite blocks that would fit together perfectly to form the walls.  Informed, but unsatisfied, the visitor saw another worker, with drawings spread out in front of him.  This person was directing workers and was obviously in a position of authority.  The visitor put the same question to him.  The worker said that he was a foreman, directing the construction of an building that would stand for centuries, and be a silent witness to the genius of the architect, and the hard work of the builders.  More informed, and more frustrated, the visitor was just about to leave when he saw an old woman sweeping up the scraps of stone left over from the chiseling, and clearing away the dust from the construction.  He asked her what she was doing, and she slowly straightened up from her labors, got a far off look in her haggard face, and said 'I am building a cathedral.'"  Which of them knew best what they were working on?
• Some occupations are easy to see the hand of God in - certainly priests and religious, social workers, teachers, what about your profession?
• How did you get into the work that you're doing today?
• Is that a good enough reason to stay?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I grumbling about today?
2. How has God provided for me in the past?
3. How do I keep my desires into their proper place, prevent them from becoming disordered?
4. Am I willing to receive abundance from God on God's terms, or mine?

This is no Picnic for me Either

Lord, me again.
Pretty much everything is done for the day.
The flocks have been brought in, camp is pitched, everyone is in their tent.
I thought it would be good for you and me to have a talk.

When I said that I wanted to help your children,
I don't remember getting any say in how that was going to pan out.
If you had bothered to ask, I might have told you that I'm a really good accountant.
There in Pharaoh's court they taught me how to keep track of resources, coming and going.

Instead, you asked me to get out of my comfort zone,
Get out in front of the mighty Pharaoh
And then, lead this cranky group of whiners through the desert,
To what?  My GPS is shot out here, I have no idea where we're going.

Just once,
I'd like to walk into a situation and feel as though I'm bringing something to the table.
Some part of my past, my makeup that will actually be of use.
Instead, you keep putting me into situations where I feel lost and adrift.

If this is some sort of punishment, I have to say you're being really thorough.
How will I know when you're done?
On the other hand, if you're trying to form me into someone else,
Would you mind telling me what that new Moses will look like, so I recognize him?

Thanks for the breeze just now, that is refreshing.
The stars look so close I feel as though I could touch them.
And, every once in awhile, I see families helping each other
As we make our way through this wasteland.

Help me to be more grateful,
Give me greater trust,
Help me to see everything that you give us, large and small,
And help me find fulfillment in this crazy job that you've given me.

Goodnight God.  Tomorrow's going to be a busy day, I can feel it.

Shalom!

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. 2nd Kings 4: 42-44
2. Psalms 145: 10-11, 15-16, 17-18
3. Ephesians 4: 1-6
4. John 6: 1-15

1. God cares about the small stuff too
• In John 2: 1-11 Jesus turns the water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana.  You have to smile when you think about the Son of God worrying over something that homey.  Of course, he might have just needed a drop or two himself, and was in a generous mood ...
• What of our needs do you think God really cares about?
• How do you distinguish between a need and a mere want?
• How do you find your deepest needs?
2. God's hand in our midst
• During his long journey to eternity, my father got to a place where he didn't speak but rarely.  We never knew if it was that he just didn't think that much needed to be said, or if his mental process was not capable of forming words and sentences by that point, or what the change in his behavior really indicated.  But one day, as his care giver and my mother were tending to him, he smiled and observed "I'm well taken care of."
• Do you feel that God is providing for you well?
• Has that sense of being well provided for been a sure thing in your life, or have there been rocky patches in the past?
• What do those rocky patches tell you about:
• The times that seemed more abundant
• What your future might hold
• God Himself
3. The secret of living together
• Living in community is not for sissies.  Most of us look our best from a distance.  What are some communities that you have lived in?
• What are some of the dimensions of the unity that you shared?  Were you all about the same age, from similar circumstances, with common goals, common beliefs ...?
• What did you do to nurture that community, strengthen that unity?
• Do you think that such techniques would scale to the parish level, or even world wide?
• How would that transform our world?
4. Delegation
• Do you ever wonder if Jesus wasn't being a bit unfair with the disciples?
• At a recent catechetical formation session I was in, they told us not to be talked out of recruiting someone to catechetical ministry because that other person doesn't feel that they have the background or skills, that a calling will emerge as we give of ourselves, and if we make a mistake, it will become evident and we simply move on to another ministry.
• Do you think that the Church can afford to have ministers that are not truly called to what they are doing?
• How do you think that the average person can reliably discern their calling?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I trust God?
2. Am I able to see God's provision for me, even if that provision isn't what I expected?
3. Am I generous to those around me who are closest?  Do I give them the benefit of the doubt?  Am I willing to be vulnerable to them, again?
4. Am I willing to unlock miracles in my life?

You Raise Me Up

The danger of mere survival is that it's so seductive.
The threat of outright extinction galvanizes, even energizes the weary,
Knowing that their next move is all in, make or break, do or die.
The threat staring you in the face, fanning you with its hot breath.

But survival, that clever siren beckons with mere adequacy,
Promising more energy, more life tomorrow,
Or at the very least the next day.
Always just one day away from true living.

Hope trumpets a clear battle cry
Cutting through the fog and forest
Even if it is at great distance,
Calling us to rise, confront, conquer.

Hope reminds of our true nature,
Speaks to our true destiny,
Reminding us of where we hail from,
And how we got here.

Be still my heart, hearken to the still small voice,
Find your passion, unleash your potential,
Give generously, even if it's just a few barley loaves,
Because you never know how many will get fed today.

Shalom!