All Saints Day

Our readings for the solemnity of All Saints Day are:

1. Revelation 7: 2-4, 9-14
2. Psalms 24: 1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
3. 1 John 3: 1-3
4. Matthew 5: 1-12a

1. It won't be the end of the world ...
• Oftentimes, when something unwanted comes our way, we, or others try to set context and say "well, it's not like it's the end of the world..."
• Ultimately, what does it really mean to "survive" a stressful phase in our lives?  Is it just about "staying vertical", or is there more to it than that?
• What sort of comfort can there be in knowing how this is all going to end?
• When a loved one is going through a hard time, feels isolated because their hardship sets them apart from others, what consolation can we offer them that is genuine and helpful?
2. Open my eyes Lord
• We learn a great deal about another person, much of it subliminal, by watching their face as they face life.  If you were able to see God's face, what sort of emotions would play across that divine visage?
• Those who are lucky enough to have truly close friends, friends that they can be totally honest with, they have that other to ground them, to help them be true to themselves, and to help them be honest with themselves and others.  Do you feel that you have that relationship with anyone?
• Do you feel that you have that sort of relationship with God?
• How might you be better at revealing yourself to God?
• Is it worth the trouble, the risk?
3. Try to understand me
• It's not uncommon to feel a sense of isolation, even loss as one matures in faith and realizes how very different Jesus' values are from the world around us.  At that point, it often occurs to us to seek the company of others like us to relieve that isolation.
• How do we, as Christians, stay engaged with the world around us, minister to those in need, burn with compassion for those on the fringes of society, and yet not become distracted by all of the secondary things around us?
• How do we, as Christians, keep from developing a "fortress mentality" of we/they in which we erect barriers between us and those we are called to serve?
4. Some folks just can't be helped don't you know
• Fr. Greg Boyle has built Homeboy Industries for ministering to gang members in LA.  I was wearing one of their hats and a fellow parishioner saw that, asked me what it was about, and then remarked "Some of those people just can't be helped."
• Are all of us called to be peacemakers?
• In emergency medical conditions, the grim job of triage separates patients into those for whom no amount of the available care will help, those who urgently need care and can be helped, and those whose needs are less urgent and who will have to wait.  Is there a need for someone to conduct spiritual triage?
• How did you find your calling in this spiritual hospital?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I willing to show the compassion of Jesus to others?
2. When God looks at me, what expression is He wearing?
3. Am I willing to be misunderstood for being a disciple of Christ?
4. Do I have the courage to show mercy today?

Connected in a whole new way

Traveling between Jerusalem and Jericho can be a treacherous journey.
The bandits know this stretch of the highway well, how the walls of the valley close in,
Giving you little room to flee should they ambush you here.

One defense is to get through that narrow neck of the road quickly,
So that you are not a target any longer than you need to be.
And that's when I saw him, there beside he road, bleeding.

I knew that I had to act quickly if I was going to be of any use at all.
Field training took over as I assessed his wounds and bound the worst quickly.
Others gradually got my attention as I staunched the most serious stabbings.

Mercifully, the poor man was unconscious.  I could only imagine the pain.
He seemed so light, so depleted when I hoisted him to the back of my mule
And we made our slow way into town to see what help I could get him.

The inn keeper took my money without comment.
I went on my way.
Upon returning, I was told that the man had recovered and went on his way.

I never heard his name, never had the chance to follow up with him.
But family and friends often tell me how foolish I was to help,
To put myself in danger for a stranger.

But for me, I'm changed.
I know that all of us are the same once you get past the surface.
All of us are loved and cherished.  Some of us are lucky enough to be the bearers of that love.

And I know that this new connection in my life
Is worth far more to me than the feeble community that I had before
And I am glad for the change in me, even when it feels a little lonely.

Shalom!

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Jeremiah 31: 7-9
2. Psalms 126: 1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
3. Hebrews 5: 1-6
4. Mark 10: 46-52

1. God, I wish that I could trust you
• Do you ever have trouble trusting God for good things?
• Is it that you're not sure whether God will deliver?
• Or is it that you're not sure that God's idea of "good" is going to match your own?
• What are the stories in your life that give you trust, or make it hard for you to trust God?
• Have you ever shared those with anyone?
2. God is good, all the time
• At Youth Day every year, some squad of youth will start a chant "God is good", and another bank of youth will sing out in reply "all the time!"
• The Jews had a strong sense of a connection to their ancestors in God's salvation history.  Who are your ancestors in salvation history?
• Do their stories inspire you today?
• Do you tell those stories aloud anymore?
• Why or why not?
3. Humility, so necessary, so difficult
• Why do you think that humility is so essential to service?
• Eric reminded us this morning that our first objective as ministers is hospitality.  How does humility make us more hospitable?
• When have you felt welcomed, treasured?
• What can we do to be more welcoming?
4. The big reveal
• We use this reading during the Scrutinies in Lent for the RCIA folks.  But there it's much longer, and covers the gradual conversion of Bartemaeus and the hardening of the hearts of the Pharisees who would not believe that Jesus had performed this healing on a Sabbath.
• Do you identify most with Bartemaeus, the crowd trying to shush him, Jesus Himself?
• Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem for the last time.  Why do you think He would stop to help a simple blind man when He know the importance of what He was about to do?
• Can others in need ever be a distraction for us?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Have I talked to God about what I'll trust Him for and what I cannot?
2. Do I have the courage to hope for God's help?
3. What situations am I in that call for patience?
4. How sensitive to God's promptings about my plans am I?

That Cloak Has to be Here Somewhere

I wonder whatever happened to Bartimaeus' cloak.
I don't suppose that he went back to where he had been begging,
Looking around for it.  I can just see him at the Jericho lost and found:

"What does it look like sir?"
"I don't know.  I've never seen my cloak".
"I see, so you have no idea how we'll identify it."

Maybe someone picked it up as a keepsake.
Someone with vision, who realized how important this event was.
Someone planning to open a gift shop somewhere down the road.

Bartimaeus reminds me of Peter when Jesus walked on the water to them.
Both Bartimaeus and Peter were so impetuous,
They left the safety, the comfort, to be with Jesus.

I can identify with Peter, he lost focus on Jesus
And quickly got reminded of his circumstances.
Bartimaeus never lost sight of Jesus, never faltered.

Some would see Bartimaeus as a distraction for Jesus.
Jesus was on his way to His Passion.
He probably had His course all mapped out.

But He never lost track that He was here to heal to broken,
Bring peace to those estranged and far off.
Bartimeaus wasn't a distraction, he was Jesus' mission.

I pray for distractions like Jesus'
Focus like Bartemaeus'
Courage, even for a moment, like Peter's.

Shalom!

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 53: 10-11
2. Psalms 33: 4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
3. Hebrews 4: 14-16
4. Mark 10: 35-45

1. Jesus, I'd like a raise
• If God were your employer, would you think Him generous, fair, capricious?
• If you were at prayer some day, and you got the distinct sense that God was calling you into something really new, something that was really going to test your generosity, would you think that fair of Him, after all that you've given already?
• What would be fair of God to ask of you?
• How likely is that?
2. Hoping for hope
• One theme in Ignatian spirituality is that God, contrary to popular belief, gave us our passions, our longings, and that they are often His way of directing us, and that it is a worthy prayer to ask God for the desire for His blessings, even the desire for the desire if need be.
• Would it be worthwhile to hope for hope, to achieve a place of trust in God?
• What difference would it be in your life if you had a deep trust in God?
• What would God have to do to earn such a trust?
• How is He doing?
3. A little sympathy would go a long way
• We hear that Jesus seeks to help us bear our burdens, that He is able to sympathize with us because of his stint here on earth, but do you think that Jesus sympathizes the way a good friend would, say over a long cup of coffee (or bottle of wine)?
• Have you ever tried to have one of those long intimate conversations with Jesus?
• What did He have to say in response?
4. The big reveal
• The disciples were in on a big secret.  This humble carpenter from Galilee was much more than he appeared, Israel was much more than just some Roman backwater, and they were eager for the rest of the world to know that.  James and John had dedicated their lives to this Messiah, and they thought that folks should appreciate the fact that they (and oh by the way, the rest of the disciples) had discerned the true nature of Jesus before anyone else had.
• Do you ever feel unappreciated, even invisible?
• Is it much comfort to think that you'll be rewarded in heaven?
• How important do you think humility is to the quality of our service?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I holding back from God in my life?
2. Where do I look when I think of improving my life?
3. What sort of an example do I see in Jesus, great women and men of God, close friends who inspire me?
4. Do I feel that I have rights as a servant of God?

But, I get weekends off

Success is a hard thing to quantify anymore.
My dad used to dream of a brick house in the suburbs, a Buick, a wife, two kids, and a dog
(not necessarily in that order),
As a true mark of success.

Now, success is often measured in terms of a balance to life,
A well ordered relationship to every aspect of life,
So that no one thing takes complete control, or dominates the rest,
And there is a sort of creative tension between life's energies.

I once worked for a customer on a project for Boeing.
We were both very passionate about the success of this venture.
Each of us for different, but very complementary reasons.
At the end of one conversation he signed off with "you're doing God's work."

I remember being jolted by that statement,
As though anything at my day job could be described that way,
Particularly as I thought of the political jockeying that went on,
The way that we were trying to coopt competing groups.

But since then I've asked myself what it would be like,
To really be able to say "well dear, I had a great day."
"I did God's work."
"And now that I'm returned home, I'm primed to do more of God's work."

What might the benefits package be in that reality?
Would that work include time for recreation, enjoyment?
Would it have a retirement pension?
Would I get weekends off?

Shalom!

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Wisdom 7:7-11
2. Psalms 90: 12-13, 14-15, 16-17
3. Hebrews 4: 12-13
4. Mark 10: 17-30

1. Wisdom isn't very splashy
• One mark of a truly great athlete is that they make it look easy, seamless, flowing.  Is there anything in your life that works that way?
• How did you get to that point?
• Was it easy?
• How might that process of achieving that flowing execution be adapted to your prayer life?
2. My days are numbered, I just don't know what that number is!
• Have you ever been working towards a deadline and had no real idea of how you were going to get there at first?
• There's entire libraries of books on project management out there.  If you look at your eventual departure from this planet as the ultimate "deadline", what do you hope to have achieved by then?
• Is achievement what we are about as God's children?
• If not achievement, what then?
3. Good news
• Do you have friends who would be better off with Jesus in their lives?
• How do you think it might be possible to convey that message?
• What sort of a "community within the community" would you bring them to so that they could get that Presence of Jesus without being overwhelmed by sheer numbers?
• Do we need something like small faith communities for those of us who have been here awhile, and those just entering?
4. Freedom is never cheap
• No one wants to be shackled by things in our life, we all intrinsically want to be free to follow God's promptings.  But that can be hard at times.
• How do you keep from letting stuff, success, a job, home, possessions, associations, ... from dominating your life and choking your relationship with Jesus?
• Do you ever "take inventory" to see how that's going?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. When confronted by a decision in my life, is prayer the first thing that I think to do?
2. Am I willing to count on God to make something significant/meaningful of my life and not worry about what others think?
3. What am I doing in life to make sure that God's word is active within me?
4. Am I truly free to live life simply, or are there things that I cling to, no matter what?

Breaking down the altars

Back in the old days, worship was easy to identify.
You went to a shrine or temple to do it.
There were well identified times for it.
The practices were well known.

Now, it's so much more woven into things.
Worship of your job might be happening,
When you realize that you're not able to focus
On Little League because your reviewing a sales pitch in your mind.

Or you find that you're telling someone
About that new boat you bought
For the third time at the same party
And you wonder how you ever lived without it.

Maybe the esteem of your colleagues
Has a choke hold on you
Preventing you from speaking up
When justice demands.

Freedom costs dearly.
It's absolute.  One shackle, one chain,
And you're no longer free.
The master's calls drowned out in the din of things.

Living simply isn't simple.
It's not a decision made once and then never revisited,
For freedom is a living thing, and needs constant tending.
But that's the price for being who we were born to be.

Shalom!

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Genesis 2: 18-24
2. Psalms 128: 1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
3. Hebrews 2: 9-11
4. Mark 10: 2-16

1. Boning up on marriage
• One day, in the Garden of Eden, Eve looked at Adam and asked "dear, do you still love me?"  To which Adam replied "who else?"
• Do you think that God cares who we marry?
• If He/She cares, how is it that God guides us to that perfect someone?
• What do you think we're supposed to learn from this story of how Eve came to be, distinct from all of the other creatures, even Adam?
2. Justice for all
• In your life, do you feel that you've been able to enjoy the fruits of your labor?
• Do you think that you've enjoyed all of the fruits of your labor, or have you been only able to enjoy some of those fruits?
• Do you think that justice and fairness are one in the same?
• Why or why not?
3. Cosmos, the sequel
• Do you think that creation is over and done with, or is it still unfolding?
• What do you think God's role is in that continued unfolding?
• What do you think our role is?
• Does that make us co-creators with God? 
4. Getting institutionalized
• Do you think that marriage is a sacrament, an institution, or both and?
• What would that "and" be?
• Do you think that people who are not married benefit at all from marriage?
• What sort of responsibilities does that lay on those of us who are married?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I grateful to God for all His gifts, even the ones that I've had for decades?
2. What am I doing to help others be fruitful in their lives?
3. Do I really trust that I am on God's mind all the time?
4. How am I supporting the health of the sacred relationships around me?

I Married Up

People ask me what I attribute 35 years of marriage to.
If I'm feeling flippant, I'll say: "marry early"
And, of course the corollary: "don't either of you die young."

In a more meditative mood, I might be heard to say:
"I married up and I know that."
Equally important is the fact that she hasn't figured that out yet.

Maybe it's because I've learned that she's always right,
And the only thing that differs from one time to the next,
Is how long it takes me to realize that she's right yet again.

Maybe it's just a matter of experience.
She knows that no matter how stressed I am by pressures on me,
I'll eventually find equilibrium, and my own humanity.

Maybe it's the sure knowledge that I'm my best around her,
And that she gives me courage to be my best
Even when it hurts.

Then again, maybe it's the grown realization
When we look deep into each other's eyes
We don't see the person that we married 35 years ago

But eternity emerging right before us.

Shalom!

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Numbers 11: 25-29
2. Psalms 19: 8, 10, 12-13, 14
3. James 5: 1-6
4. Mark 9: 38-43

1. Are you with us?
• Have you ever been on retreat, been to a particularly moving prayer service or some other "peak moment" and tried to share that with someone who had not been there?
• How can we include others who have not had the same experiences as we have?
• What place should shared lived events have in what makes us one?
2. Cleanse me
• Do you ever feel as though you'd like a full catalog of every sin, so that you could avoid all of them?
• No, or would you prefer that someone gave you a catalog of your every fault so that you knew what about needs to be worked on?
• Without those sorts of helps, how do you assess how your relationship with God is doing day by day?
3. What's important?
• One technique recommended by St. Ignatius for making a decision is to ask yourself how you would have wanted to make the pending decision when you look back on it from your deathbed.  The intent is to give you some objectivity, some distance from the immediate situation and review it from a broader context.
• The hard part is, once you step back into the day to day, you still have to face the immediate implications.
• So, how do you make decisions that will stand the test of time, and get you through today?
• Are you getting better at that process?
4. Being accountable
• Do you see yourself as a leader in any capacity?
• Can you think of anyone who looks to you as an example in one regard or another?
• What sort of responsibilities do you think that brings with it?
• What if you didn't ask for, and don't want those responsibilities of leadership?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I doing to bring up the next generation of ministers to replace me?
2. Am I truly present to God in my prayer life?
3. Do I really know what's important in my life?
4. Can I find freedom in being a servant of others?

Mission Sunday

The missionary priest obviously loved the people whom he was serving back home.
His stories of them were earthy, intimate, warm and loving.

He didn't just want to share these stories with us, he wanted to share the people:
His friends, family, the fulfillment of his dreams, the reason that he is here.

And he wanted to share us with them as well.  Show that we cared, that we felt,
And that we could be generous even over thousands of miles of separation.

And I thought to myself how lucky we were to have someone like this
Out there showing the face of Christ to His flock.

And I wondered how he received his call, by what measured stages
He had made the trek to this tiny way station of humanity.

His influence is easy to pick out, the villagers who rely on him to speak truth to them
Easy to spot in a crowd, easy to reach out to and touch.

But for me, I wondered.
Who is looking at me for the face of Christ, who are they seeing?

Is the Christ that that I am showing kind and merciful,
Full of grace and generous with grace?

Or do they see a Christ of borders and boundaries,
A Christ of requirements and restrictions?

I hope to hear from them before Christ Himself lets me know.

Shalom!

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Wisdom 2: 12, 17-20
2. Psalms Psalms 54: 3-4, 5, 6-8
3. James 3: 15-4:3
4. Mark 9: 30-37

1. Taking care of things
• In Semitic cultures, shame is a prime motivator.  And it's not just fear of shame for one's own self, but the family, the entire village's name is at stake when one contemplates a shameful act, or a shameful outcome.
• I'm going to hazard a guess that perhaps the closest modern analog is success.  The more open minded of us are willing to define "success" in broader, more generous terms, but we still cling to a desire to succeed by some measure.
• My father grew up (during the depression) with the goal to own a brick house, be married, have two kids, a dog, and a Buick, not necessarily in that order.  What's your definition of success in life?
• What would you consider to be an abject failure in your life?
• If you no longer feared failure, how might you live differently?
• Would you be bolder, braver, holier?
2. God's name
• What are you happy about these days?
• How much of that would you credit to God's unfailing love for you?
• Do you think that God would appreciate some gratitude?
3. More than a passion fancy
• What are you passionate about?
• Do you think those strong feelings could be from God?
• To what extent are those passions evident in your life?
• If someone (like Matthew Kelly for instance) were to tell you that God delights in fulfilling your dreams because He gave you those dreams, what difference would that make? 
4. Receiving the marginalized
• John Flaherty used to try to comfort me by telling me that I'm a better liturgist and musician than he is an engineer.  I never had the heart to tell him that I'm an Information Technology guy, not really an engineer.  Sometimes differences like that just aren't the point.
• I think, in his own pithy way, John was trying to tell me to celebrate my own genius, my own talents, and not try to compare myself to others.
• And beyond that, move beyond the need for comparison with others to a place where one thing alone matters: drawing closer to God.
• Do you think that anything that really matters is not found in God?
• What do you think it takes before we really believe that in our hearts?
• How might we live differently if we really believed that?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I willing to trust God to tell me what makes for success?
2. Do I recognize God's help and support every time that God gives that support?
3. Have I thanked God for my passions lately?
4. Do I desire true humility?

Finding Myself

The problem with dreams is two fold: they may be too small, or they may be inauthentic.

Too small a dream, too small a departure from the day to day, and you find yourself settling

For something that seemed like the ultimate, the very best that you could be, could manage.

The inauthentic dream, the dream that someone else has given you, will rot you from within

Because it takes too much courage to admit that you sold everything for an empty field

With no pearl of great price in it after all.  It's not the investment that hurts, its the embarrassment.

But the greatest fear is that pursuing your dreams, and falling short leave you with the question:

If I'm not a poet, a teacher, a prophet among my own, a ... then what, who am I?  What now?

And so we don't risk exposing our dreams to the light.  Better to brood on them, and risk nothing.

A coward dies a thousand deaths

A brave man dies but once

Freedom from fear is freedom indeed.

Leaving fear of freedom itself

As the last great frontier between who I am today

And who I was born to be.

Shalom!