2nd Sunday in Advent

Our readings for 2nd Sunday of Advent are:

1. Isaiah 11: 1-10
2. Psalm 72: 1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17
3. Romans 15: 4-9
4. Matthew 3: 1-12

• Strength through competition? 
• Competition is highly prized in our culture.  We see it as a way of weeding out the weak, the lazy, the unworthy.
• Do you think that competing with one another for honor, achievement, success, fame, might have a downside to it?
• Do you think that Jesus ever felt as though He was competing with anyone?
• When/where is competition a good thing and when might it be bad?

• A well endowed ruler
• Regardless of your party affiliation, I think that we all hope for those in power to be guided by wisdom.
• What can we do to help that to happen?
• What other values are we competing with?  What other qualities are often deemed more important in a leader?
• Do you think God wants us to pray for them, and if so, how?

• Running the race
• Life is not like a marathon.  In a marathon, you have finishers and, folks who just paid the entrance fees.  We have no choice, we have to finish this life at some point.
• What makes for a good finish in this life?
• How can we prepare for that, given that we don't know how or when it will come to us?
• How is a good death a gift to the survivors?

• Chicken and egg syndrome
• We have all heard of folks who want to change, but just feel trapped by their circumstances, often of their own making.
• Think of something that you really want to change about yourself.
• How can you make a commitment to make that change?
• Who would you make that commitment to?
• Would such a commitment be at all sacramental? 

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What have I done to shelter or aid the weak?
2. What do I hope for from our leadership?  Do I have the courage to aim higher?
3. What am I doing to increase my spiritual endurance?
4. What are some Liturgical New Year's resolutions that I need to make and start right now?

Keep me honest

Is something I often ask of my students.
It's meant as an invitation to tell me when I stray
From the published curriculum when I lecture off the cuff.
I would much rather use prepared material, believe me.

Who are the John the Baptists in your life?
Or the Nathans for that matter?
Ones so close to you,
That you would rather they call you out in your sin and weakness.

Such friends are a miracle
That require careful cultivation and care
For they risk much when speaking to you
Both in the relationship and personally.

Yet without such friends,
We have such a hard time staying true to our course.
Confusion over direction and duration can set in,
Unless an outside observer is ready with a reminder -

Of just who we really are
Someone to recall us to the rest of our life
Show us that all that has gone on before is source for what's next
And what's next is the spring for tomorrow's new horizons.

Shalom!

First Sunday of Advent

Our readings for 1st Sunday of Advent are:

1. Isaiah 2: 1-5
2. Psalm 122:1-2,3-4,4-5,6-7,8-9
3. Romans 13: 11-14
4. Matthew 24: 37-44

• I'd like to give you a piece of my peace of mind
• How do you see God bringing about peace in the world today?
• How can we as a Church, a parish, a family help bring that sort of peace about?
• How much peace can we really hold ourselves responsible for in this life?

• Praying for those who don't deserve it
• Have you ever felt that you were wasting your time praying about something or someone?
• Maybe you thought that your prayers for the impossible to happen would be better spent elsewhere.  Maybe you thought it silly to raise your hopes for the inconceivable, maybe you weren't even sure that was what God wanted.  But what if you're wrong on all of those counts?
• Where do we find hope?
• Where do we find the courage to hope?

• Making it Simple
• Many of us want to simplify our lives, shed that which is not doing us any good.  Perhaps cleaning out the garage is traumatic, but ridding ourselves of petty vices that seem almost endearing is sort of like cleaning the hull of a ship, one barnacle at a time.
• How can we become more sensitive to the impact that we have on others who are close to us?
• How can we become more honest with each other about things that hurt us?
• How can we become more authentic with each other?

• Making peace in odd places
• Where do you think that we most need peace in this world?
• What do you think it is to be a peace maker?
• What sort of credentials does such a person need?
• How can you be a peace maker, even if in small ways?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I doing to become a better peace maker?  Not just a peace keeper, but a peace maker?
2. Do I have the courage to ask for courage?
3. Is there anything in my life that I'm am not willing to give up in the face of God's call?
4. What can I do this week to bring peace to a specific situation around me?

Where to find Peace

Peace starts with trust.
Trust is build on humility.
For only humility is able to see clearly what I don't see,
Squarely face the limits of my understanding, my vision, my hope, and know there is much more.

Humility whispers to me that the cosmos is other centered,
And Humility clasps my hand and whispers that it's OK that I'm not the center.
A sprig of trust breaks through the snow and ice of my fear.
Gently spreads its leaves looking for the sunshine of indifference.

Indifference to whether my will be done,
Indifference that stills the screams of my apprehensions  and distress
Realizes that God's will not only is best,
But that it's best for me, no matter how much of a surprise that is.

And in the eye of the hurricane of my life,
With change swirling all around loudly and fiercely,
That indifference gives me space to hear the still small voice of God,
And I'm able to move in that eye of the storm, and find peace knowing I'm where I belong.

The trick is to ever be willing to leave a place
In favor of the next horizon that God is dwelling in
Following the Tabernacle wherever it might lead
Across uncharted deserts of newness and life amidst the burning sands of doubt and fear.

Shalom!

Christ the King

Our readings for Christ the King Sunday are:

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

• Servant king
• What do you look for most in a leader?  Is it maybe someone who is successful in getting resources and defending your turf, someone who is sympathetic to their people's issues, what then?
• What has to be in place before someone has the right to lead others?
• How is God's leadership of His people different from the types of leadership that we encounter in day to day life?
• Is it true that the "good guys finish last?"

• Remember
• The Jews looked upon the Temple as their tangible link to what we would call salvation history.  They went there to remember who they were, who their God is.
• At the same time, it's easy to cling to things.  Maybe that first Ford Mustang that you had as a kid, or you're reluctant to sell your house and move when a job opportunity offers itself, ...  How can we be ready and willing to change when it's needed?
• How do we tell what/who to hold on to versus what we can leave behind?

• Moving the deck chairs on the Titanic
• When all is said and done, the only things that we have today that will endure is God our immortal souls, and the relationships that we've built with God and each other.
• Do you ever wonder if Jesus had a favorite pair of sandals, or maybe a special tunic that His mother had made for him when He left home.  Maybe a favorite family that He stayed with whenever He was in town?
• If so, how did He manage to not get too attached to those things, not get side tracked from His core mission?

• Outreach is never easy
• Pain, suffering, despair, all of these can easily make us feel isolated, as though the rest of humanity must be somehow indifferent to what we are going through, and that we are all alone.
• The last time that you had a really hard chapter in your life, did you feel abandoned, as though no one cared?
• At some point or another, did someone convince you that someone, anyone, really did care?
• How did that change your outlook?
• How can we be that same change in someone else's outlook?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I doing to equip myself to lead God's people better, more faithfully?
2. Is there anything in my life that I'm am not willing to give up in the face of God's call?
3. Am I obsessed with success, the way that others regard me, comforts in my life ...?
4. Am I able to reach beyond pain and uncertainty to those in need, even when I am in need?  How can I begin to practice such reaching today?

Hangin' with the Homies

I've seen it before.
Usually when the crucifixion victims get here, they are pretty wrung out.
But this one, he was pretty much gone before we even got his cross in the ground.

His head hung down, exhaustion written large in his half-closed eyes.
His every word hoarse and gravely.
And yet he was so present, so there.

Most folks want to deaden the pain,
Die with as little awareness as possible.
It's so much easier that way.

And then, in the midst of the taunts and jeers from the curiosity seekers,
The reviling from my fellow guards,
He spoke to another criminal.

And his voice shed compassion, and mercy
Even in the midst of his suffering,
Right on the ragged edge of his life.

And I wondered what sort of man this was who could reach out
Even from the midst of that terrible sentence of death.
And not just to that other criminal, but, in some strange way, to all of us.

I try to tell that story to others.
As I try to explain why I left the Roman army.
I never quite do that scene justice.

But I think back to it often,
And try to savor that mercy again and again.
As I try to tell others who this man really was, and is.

Shalom!

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

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

• Apocalypse now, or at least soon please
• Scripture is awash in promises of justice, where those who have lived off of others will finally face justice.
• And deep down, at least some of us look forward to that prospect with a certain malice towards those who we feel have unjustly benefited from various calamities.
• What do you think God feels towards those people?
• How do you think God feels toward us for thinking the way that we all to readily do, of vengeance and recompense?

• Living the life
• I dare say that most of us have never been oppressed for long, been shut out of opportunities that we deserved, or shunted aside as people for very long.
• How then are we to identify with, and really touch the lives of those who are marginalized, pushed to the perimeter, and who have been that way for generations?
• I remember Fr. Al used to have friends that had recently been released from prison, and he would work with them to reintroduce them back into society.  You could always tell who they were, they just didn't fit in with the Cyprian crowd.  Maybe it was their taste in tattoos.
• How can we overcome the cultural divide between us and the needy?

• If you knew when the 2nd coming was going to be ...
• In what sense are you barely surviving, making it from one week to the next, never quite sure how you're going to make it through the next?
• If you knew that it was all going to end in 10 years, 5 years, 1 year, one month, how would that change the way that you lived?
• Since we have to live the the long haul, how can we also live with an eye towards Jesus' second coming?
• Is it a case that the daily life has to be set aside from time to time to make room for eternity to rudely shoulder its way into our lives on occasion, or can the here and the now illuminate Eternity, and vice versa?

• Letting go is the hardest ...
• To the 1st century Jews, the temple was their tangible manifestation of God among them, not only then, but through their long history.
• What are some things in your life that you cannot think of going without?  Your home, your job, your good name, ...?
• How much do you think that any of that matters in the long run?
• What then in your life really does matter in the long run?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What am I doing to bring about more justice in the world around me?
2. What am I doing to bring about God's rule in my family, my parish community?
3. How can I transform the ordinary every day into an on ramp to Eternity?
4. Am I willing to find out what really matters?

Hello Goodbye

The problem with being a pilgrim is the other pilgrims.
You exchange the secret handshake to be sure who they are
You exchange small talk of home and what you miss about it.

And slowly, without hardly noticing it happening
You realize that you're not alone on this journey.
That this miraculous other, is there alongside you.

And then, just as suddenly and unaccountably,
They are gone.  Left you to pursue other trails, other horizons.
And there you are, alone again.

Wondering how to proceed without them, how to honor their parting
And making room for the world to come in and fill the void,
While you wonder softly why you bothered to open your heart at all.

Wallowing in the sense of abandonment and just beginning to wonder
How Jesus managed, when His friends all left him, and His beloved,
Peter walking out on Him for the sake of a fire to warm his hands.

And somehow, you are able to join Jesus in that lonely garden,
Link your arm in His, and tell Him you're not going anywhere,
Reaching across time and space, you touch that loneliness,

And you know, you know that He's touched your loneliness with His,
And you know that your heart is more open that it ever has been,
And you know that you can and will open your heart again, and again.

Shalom!

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14
2. Psalms 17: 1, 5-6, 8, 15
3. 2 Thessalonians 2: 16-3: 5
4. Luke 20: 27-38

• Towards a more perfect union
• How is your relationship with Jesus better today than it was a year ago, five years ago?
• What is drawing you closer to Jesus week in, week out?
• What do you think Jesus sees in you today that maybe wasn't there before?
• Where do you think that Jesus is taking you?

• The apple of God's eye
• Has there ever been someone in your life who absolutely doted on you?
• How did that make you feel?
• How did you act, knowing that you were so important to that other person?
• How important do you think that you are to God?
• How are you acting in response to that doting?

• Marathons are always fun the first few miles.
• Do you ever wonder about how your own death will play out?
• Have you ever told God how you wanted your death to play out?
• How are you preparing today for that eventual final leg in life's journey?
• What do you think you have to do to be ready?

• Eternity is like nothing you've ever experienced before
• You become what your hope is.
• What are you hoping for in life?
• What do you think that your odds of getting that might be?
• How do you know that your hopes are God's hopes?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I growing in endurance in this life?
2. Am I spending any time in contemplation?
3. What new good habits am I taking up?
4. Am I willing to find out what really matters?

Will there be Clocks in Heaven?

The hard part about eternity is that all of time is equally accessible, all of the time.
The laughter, the tears, the joys, the disappointments are all always fresh and vibrant.

And I think that is going to be hard, especially for us who let time slip away
Never really savoring the now in favor of the "to come", never realizing

Never realizing the fools' ransom that we pay for that which is just over the horizon
In exchange for what is right there in our midst.

Moments are lost, not they are boring or mundane or meaningless
They are lost for lack of attention, lack of being savored and dwelt upon.

To live life without regrets, learn to savor every moment
Marinate in the now, and let it unfold naturally in your hand.

And maybe you'll take a meander through a rare pilgrimage.

Shalom!

31st Week in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Wisdom 11: 22-12:2
2. Psalms 145: 1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13, 14
3. 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2
4. Luke 19: 1-10

• Slow and steady wins the race ...
• Can you think of a time when God led you somewhere gently?
• Did it feel gentle and merciful at the time?
• How would you define mercy?
• To what extent does mercy define you?

• We're all in this together
• What did the Budhist monk say to the hotdog vendor?  "Make me one with everything."
• Apparently, in some capacity that is beyond us, every element of creation is capable of praising God.  Also apparently, we are the only ones who have the sublime ability to get in the way of our own praise to God.
• To what extent can we enter into that song that echoes through the treetops and rumbles out of the roots of the mountains, sighs in the breezes through the meadows and whispers in the waves at the seashore?
• Should churches have walls?

• The Day of the Lord
• How can we best balance between preparing for the eventual coming of our Savior, and getting along in live through the day to day?
• Are those two goals at odds with each other?
• How can we make those two directions in our lives help each other?

• If you haven't offended anyone lately, you're not doing it right
• Jesus seems to rub just about everyone the wrong way.
• The setting of this story suggests that Jesus and His entire entourage apparently did a drive by through Jericho and didn't even have the grace to stop for a midday snack.  Then He decides to consort with a wealthy (meaning extremely successful) tax collector.
• How do you think that Jesus sets His priorities?
• Do you think that there is a formula there that we can/should use for setting priorities in our own lives?
• How might that change us?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I let God's mercy inspire mercy in me?
2. When was the last time that I raised up someone lowly?
3. Am I any more prepared for the end of time today than I was a year ago?
4. How can I be more flexible toward the promptings of God's spirit?

Standing Tall

The hard part about true repentance is that it leads into uncharted territory.
Suddenly, new vistas open wide before you, inviting you in, and yet
Such panoramas lack a certain concrete quality about them, almost as if,
The future that they hold is still firming up ever so slightly, even as we watch.

Repentance sets foot into rough terrain where we are vulnerable, and unsure.
No one knows how well, or even whether, there will be anyone there for us -
There for us when we arrive at the other end of where this repentance is beckoning.
This strange country in which nothing has changed, yet everything is new and dewy.

No half measures about true repentance.  It's all or nothing all the time.
The only thing that varies from one heart to the next is the face
The face of the events that shape our lives, the imago Dei in all things.
All that you can be sure of is that something has to change, and it has to be me.

I pray that my faith is strong enough to leg go of my own brokenness
For the offer of healing and wholeness there in front of me.

Shalom!

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

1. Sirach 35: 12-14, 16-18
2. Psalms 34: 2-3, 17-18, 19, 23
3. 2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 16-18
4. Luke 18 9-14

• I'm proud of my work, too bad about yours ...
• We often hear of growing concern over an "entitlement mentality" in which a person feels that they are entitled to a living, no matter what they do or don't do about their present condition.
• What sorts of things do you feel entitled to?
• Does everyone have the same entitlements?
• If not, how do you differ from the "teeming masses of humanity"?

• I'm proud, but only in the best way possible
• What are some things that you are proud of?
• Does that pride draw you closer to God, make you more devoted, or push God away from you?
• How can you tell excessive pride, or sinful pride, versus a justifiable pride?

• Be proud of what you are proud of
• It's always good to take stock of our lives and ask ourselves what we think will go on our tombstone, versus what we would like to go on our tombstone.
• Given where you are in life, what do you thin is likely to go on your tombstone?
• Does that inspire or excite you?
• What could you do to make your tombstone more exciting?

• Mercy me
• Do you ever feel the need for God's mercy in your life?
• How does that make you feel about yourself, God, you fellow people?
• Where do you find that mercy?
• How has it changed you?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I count on God for what I need, or what I want?
2. What am I doing to keep my pride under control?
3. What do I want to accomplish before I die?
4. How am I growing in appreciation for God's mercy?

In My Humble Opinion

Humility is all about being clear
About who and what we are,
And whose we are.

It's easy to lose track of our place
When we're told that the greatest sin
Is not getting what we got coming.

Dear God,
Thank you that my back is strong and straight
Teach me to use that strength in your service.

Thank you that I have learned to see
A few things clearly here and there
Teach me to share that lovingly with others.

Thank you that I'm pretty sure
Where my next meal is coming from
Teach me to be generous to those who don't.

Teach me most of all to have a humble heart,
That I see how lavishly I've been blessed
And find new ways daily to give thanks.

Shalom!