31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Malachi 1: 14b-2:2b
2. Psalms 131: 1, 2, 3
3. 1 Thessalonians 2: 7b-9, 13
4. Matthew 23:1-12

• Solidarity
• We are called to be mindful of our essential oneness as God's creation, the essential fact that before God, all of us are His creatures, all of us draw breath because He wills it.  But sometimes, that's hard to remember.
• What are our responsibilities to those living life on the margins, the less advantaged?
• Does it matter how they got there, how much of their circumstances are their own decision?
• How can there be true justice in our dealings with others?

• Finding peace
• You have a big deadline at work, the hot water heater is broken at home, your management is making noises about another layoff and your spouse tells you that their back hurts.  You know that you need to find some peace.
• Where do you go looking?  Is peace found in a place, a set of practices, burning candles?
• Once you get to that "peace zone", what difference does it make to coping with the stresses of day to day life?
• Where does God fit into your peace picture?

• Sharing is caring
• Which is better, to do volunteer work at some charity, or to give them money to support their operations?
• If you get paid for your work, but you are horribly underpaid, can that still be working for God?
• What does money have to do with it anyway?
• The early preachers often received money for their preaching.  Paul however, broke with tradition and earned a living so that those he preached to did not have to pay him.  Some would say that he watered down his preaching by doing so, others would say that he was an inspiration.  Yet others would say that he was killing himself by working too hard.  Which is it?

• Victim of your own image
• We all have an image that others have of us.  Most of us are blissfully unaware of what the image is, unless someone shares something like "you know, you've always been a real shining example to me of the strength that comes with steadily following God over many years."  Suddenly, we become self conscious, wonder how true that really is, and wonder how true we are to what others think of us.
• How do we remain authentic to the rest of the community about who we really are?
• How does the sacrament of Confession fit into that transparency picture?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where are there opportunities for me to be justice for others?
2. Where does my hope lay?
3. How does my work support my prayer?
4. How honest am I willing to be?

Shalom!

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Exodus 22: 20-26
2. Psalms 18: 2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
3. 1 Thessalonians 1: 5c-10
4. Matthew 22: 34-40

• Finding your roots
• What sort of people in what sort of circumstances do you find yourself most compassionate towards?
• Is that because you share the same story with them?
• Or because you know them personally?
• Do you think that you have about as much compassion as you can carry at this point?
• What would a more compassionate you be doing with your time?

• Being a rock
• Someone you know well walks up to, and tells you "you are have been such a rock for me!"  You feel good about that, but why?
• How is God a rock in your life?
• How is God not like a rock?
• How have you become more aware of that steady Presence of God in your life?

• You are an inspiration
• If someone somehow didn't know your church, your religion, but they followed you around for a week, without speaking to you once during that time, what would they conclude about the various communities that you are a member in?
• What would they conclude about the God that you worship?
• What would they conclude about you?
• Would they be right?

• Imago Dei
• What activities in your weekly schedule reflect the very best of who you are?
• What are those qualities that shine forth from you during those episodes?
• Why don't you spend more of your time doing that very thing?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How conscious am I of how much I need God's mercy?
2. Who should I helping to weather storms in their life right now?
3. How am I making God's compassion present around me?
4. Where am I the best version of myself?

Shalom!

29th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 45: 1, 4-6
2. Psalms 96: 1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10
3. 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-5b
4. Matthew 22: 15-21

• I feel so used
• When we say that we used a tool to accomplish some goal, no one objects.  But when we say that we used a person to accomplish some goal, that person takes offense.
• In what sense can we say that each of us is used by God in one way or another?
• In what sense is it not accurate to say that we are used?
• In what way is it proper for us to view ourselves as collaborators with God in the unfolding of creation?

• Bringing God closer
• Sometimes, God gets lost in the details for us.  We lose perspective, and are unable to see the bigger picture of how God has been there all through our lives because we're so fixated on the day to day.
• How can we renew our appreciation of that bigger picture?
• How can we help each other?

• You are an inspiration
• I remember years ago hearing someone exclaim "this is what I was born to do" when describing their vocation.
• Do you feel as though your time is presently spent doing what you were born to do, or are you just filling in time before your next "big gig"?
• What is it that you think you were born for?
• If you are not doing that yet, how will you know when the right opportunity comes along?

• Imago Dei
• When/how are you most the image and likeness of God in your life?
• Does it matter to you whether anyone notices you when you are most the image and likeness of God?
• How often do those moments come to you?
• What would you do to live a life where you were constantly a shining image of God?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How is God using me in my life today?
2. Where do I notice God most in my life?
3. Am I spending my time on things worthy of me as a child of God?
4. Where am I showing God to others?

Shalom!

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 25: 6-10a
2. Psalms 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
3. Philippians 4: 12-14
4. Matthew 22: 1-14

• Needs unmet
• Heaven is often described in terms of a feast, of great abundance, that never ends.  What do you conclude about heaven, about God, about us, from those descriptions?
• Why do we not all dwell in abundance now?
• Who's fault is that?

• Fearing evil
• What fears rattle you most frequently?
• Where do those come from?
• Do you bring them up to God in prayer?
• Do you fear no evil because you don't think it will ever happen in your life, or because you think that you'll be able to handle it, or because you know that you can count on God to be there with you, or ...?

• Whatever
• Ignatian indifference is an attitude of putting ourselves at God's disposal by intentionally seeking a perspective that seeks to fulfill God's will, and nothing else.
• When you have really wanted something, how have you "stilled your heart" to listen to God?
• Is it possible to pray effectively even if you have raging wants and needs in a given situation?
• How does God meet us in such circumstances?

• By invitation only
• What has Jesus been inviting you to lately in your life?
• Do you feel that invitation as a fairly focused, well defined direction, a gentle nudge, or just a vague sense that there must be more for you in life?
• How do you vett those invitations?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How am I being the abundance of God to those around me?
2. Am I willing to give up my fears?
3. What are the people, institutions, things that I trust in?
4. What am I doing with Jesus' invitations?

Trading My Sorrows

Sometimes, sorrow, neglect, anger, are all that we have left in life,

Clutching those bundles of rags to our breast like gold we shuffle

From injury to injury, scarcely seeing the world around us anymore.

Freedom is calling, sometimes faintly, but that abundance, that light

Is so unfamiliar that I scarce recognize it for what it truly is ...

Home.

Lord open my heart to healing.

That I might learn to lean on you more each day

Finding strength in wholeness rather than outrage and injury, however justified.

Shalom!

27th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 5: 1-7
2. Psalms 80: 9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
3. Philippians 4: 6-9
4. Matthew 21: 33-43

• We are a cultivated people
• What do you think are God's expectations of you?
• Looking at your life, what gifts has God given you in terms of passion, skill, opportunities?
• How are you doing with all of that?
• How do you know how you are doing?

• The "why" of it all
• Have you ever felt as though God got distracted, and forgot about you?
• Why do you think that happened?
• Does God ever let anything go to waste in our lives?
• Where might God be leading you through that time of trouble?

• Mental hygiene
• When does a legitimate concern of ours become an obsession?
• Once you pray about something, how/when does peace come to you?
• Don't you just hate it when you are really concerned about something, and someone else says to you "just let it go"?
• Do you think that "let go and let God" is a useful motto, or just another form of hakuna matata?

• The fruit of God's laborr
• What would you say have been the results of your life up until now.
• Would you say that God is pleased with all of that, or do you sometimes wonder?
• Do you think that we ever get any sort of a progress report on our lives before judgment day?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What are the graces that God has given me in my life?  How am I using them for His kingdom?
2. Do I know what it is that God is looking for from my life?
3. How am I fortifying my heart from the evil that I am exposed to?
4. Where is my life taking me?

Shalom!

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 26rd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Ezekiel 18:25-28
2. Psalms 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-0
3. Philippians 2: 1-11
4. Matthew 21: 28-32

• My brother's keeper
• If death awaits the evil ones, and we see someone we know straying, how responsible are we to try and warn them?
• How do we do that without sounding sanctimonious, holier-than-thou, or worse, like some sort of weird cult?
• Would we appreciate it if someone close to us tried to steer us clear of wrong doing?
• Isn't there someone holier than I am who can do that sort of thing?

• Sure-fire successful prayer is easy
• Have you ever prayed for something really hard, and felt that God wasn't hearing you?
• Do you think that there are some prayers that God pays better attention to than others?
• What are the effects of prayer in our lives?
• Are all of those effects equally important?
• How does God decide which prayers to answer?

• Servant leadership
• Who are some great leaders that you have had in your life?
• What made them great?
• I daresay, your great leader did not do a lot to draw attention to themselves.  Why is that?
• Would the same qualities of leadership apply within the Church?

• Walk the talk
• Do you have any sort of a process for hearing God's voice in your life?
• Do you have anyone that you can go to with tough decisions?
• Have you ever changed your mind about an invitation that God gave hou?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Do I love my brother/sister in God enough to accept correction from them?
2. What do I know of God's character?  Do I let that shape my prayer?
3. How am I serving others?
4. What moves me to change my mind?  Is it God's prompting, or something else?

Shalom!

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 24rd Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Sirach 27: 30-28:7
2. Psalms 103: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
3. Romans 14: 7-9
4. Matthew 18: 21-35

• The essence of forgiveness
• "Forgive and forget" seems to be a catchy phrase.  Why do you think that those two go together like that?
• Is it possible to forgive someone, but still remember what they did to you?
• Is forgiveness something that you have to work at?
• Once you forgive someone for something, is that it?  Or do you end up forgiving them multiple times for the same thing sometimes?

• Preparing to forgive
• What does compassion have to do with forgiveness?
• What makes it easier for you to forgive someone?
• If you forgive someone for something, and they do it again, what do you conclude?
• Do you think that God views things that way?

• What I was born for ...
• What do you think is your purpose in life?
• What are you doing now to achieve that purpose?
• How does forgiving others help you be a better person?

• Learning from the master
• How has God's forgiveness of you changed your life?
• How might your forgiveness of others change their lives?
• What is the worst thing that can happen to you if you forgive someone?
• Is it possible for that same thing to happen if you do not forgive them?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I generous with my forgiveness?
2. What emotions do I feel entitled to, after the way that I'v been treated?
3. How am I giving myself away to others?
4. What moves me to compassion?

Last Will and Testament

We all knew that the reading of Frank's will was going to be different.
Frank had never had much in this life, just enough to get by.
But whatever he had, he was always busy giving it away.
So we gathered expectantly, looking forward to what his last wishes were.

To Larry, I give my forgiveness for all the tools that he borrowed and never returned.
To Janice, my loving wife, I forgive you all of the times that I asked what was wrong,
And you never answered me, really told me what was eating at you.
To my children, I forgive you for all of the times you kept me and you mother awake.

Larry, I always knew that you didn't have the money for tools of your own.  They are gifts.
Janice, I know that I can be pushy sometimes, and opening up to me is hard.
Kids, I hope you know that I waited up for you, not because I didn't trust you,
I could never trust the world around you to treat you with as much love as I had for you.

To my anxious coworkers, I forgive you the times that you took credit for my ideas.
You were starving for that word of thanks, the recognition, the job itself,
And making off with my ideas was the only way that you could fill that need.
I only wish that you had asked me first.  The answer might have surprised you.

To all of you, I give you my love.
And ask you to forgive me for not telling you sooner.
We never seem to get enough honesty between us of that sort.
And now, I can no longer remember what I was so afraid of.

Shalom!