Corpus Christi

Our readings for Corpus Christi Sunday are:

1. Exodus 24: 3-8
2. Psalms 116: 12-13, 15-16, 17-18
3. Hebrews 9: 11-15
4. Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26

• Blood bretheren
• How would you define sacrament, sign, sacramental?
• If we go with the Baltimore catechism and start with a sacrament is "an outward sign, instituted by Christ, to give grace", is that institution process over with, or is it ongoing?
• Are we, as faithful and faith-filled followers of Christ merely passive participants of the sacraments, or is there more that we are called to be?
• Is it possible for non-believers to receive the graces afforded by our celebration of the sacraments?

• Gift exchange
• Eucharist can be described as an exchange of gifts.
• What is it that we offer God?
• What/who is it that God offers us?
• When does that exchange really end?
• When does/did it begin?

• Imago Dei
• The Jewish temple, in all of its glory, was just a pointer to, a signpost to, the greater glory and mystery of Christ making His tabernacle with us in our midst.
• Jesus Himself told His disciples that he points to the Father.
• What of our worship, service, vocations, lives together are just pointers to even greater things?
• How effective are those pointers?
• How do we know when they have outlived their usefulness?

• Source and Summit
• In the RCIA rite book, it mentions that each rite within RCIA should be viewed as both a source and a summit for the candidates and catechumens.
• In any typical week, what does the Sunday liturgy bring together and put on the altar?
• How do we draw nourishment through the week from our liturgy together?
• How can our celebration of Liturgy bring us into a greater and broader unity?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How am I a blessing to those around me?
2. What lessons in God's grace would anyone learn by observing my life?
3. Where is my life obscuring the image of God?
4. What can I do today to be better prepared for my next sacramental celebration?

Shalom!

Trinity Sunday

Our readings for Trinity Sunday are:

1. Deuteronomy 4: 32-34, 39-40
2. Psalms 33: 4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22
3. Romans 8: 14-17
4. Matthew 28: 16-20

• Prosperity for our posterity
• What do you want most for your children?
• Would you say that your children would thrive if all of those things came to them?
• What does God ask of us, to pave the way for those blessings for our children?

• Creation: event or process?
• How would you define creation?
• Is all creative activity in any way linked together?
• Are all of us called to be generative/creative?
• How can we be more open to the font of all creation/creativity/generosity?

• What are you suffering?
• We often hear of an injured party suing for compensation for pain and suffering resulting from another's negligence or malicious intent.  But suffering can have a much broader meaning.
• What are you suffering lately?
• Do you think that your suffering is, in any way, more acute because you are a Christian?
• Would you say that your suffering is, in some measure, for Christ?

• Doubting as self-defense
• Devout Christians often fear doubts about their faith, feeling that they are symptoms of a weakness in their relationship with Jesus.
• What do you think the disciples were doubting in this Gospel account?  Could they have been doubting their own abilities to continue Jesus' ministry, could they have doubted that God was going to preserve them from all harm in their ministry, ...?
• What sort of doubts to you have?
• Do you think that any of those doubts could be healthy?
• Do you feel that doubts have to be confessed?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What legacy am I leaving my children today?
2. How might I create more deeply in my life?
3. Where is Jesus calling me to suffer with Him?
4. Where can my doubts draw me closer to God?

May I have this dance?

Some have described the Trinity as an eternal dance
Each of them stepping, swaying, twirling to the others
Each of them joining in and adding to the beauty.

No country line dance is this eternal dance.
Each member of the Trinity has their own steps
Each their own expression of eternal love.

They are one in ways that we can scarce imagine
Yet distinct in that each offers themselves to the rest.
Perfect communion, yet dynamic, give and take.

A great mystery that we cannot fully understand.
And a greater mystery still is that we are each invited
Into that dance all of our lives long -

Each time we know that we are far from alone
Each time that we see ourselves in all of creation
And see all of creation in each of us

Each time that we suffer with another
Not because we see that we all are one,
But because we know that we all are one.

Each is an invitation into eternity,
Even if just for a moment, a flicker of awareness.
Even that is enough to transform us.

Shalom!

Pentecost Sunday

Our readings for Pentecost Sunday are:

1. Acts 2:1-11
2. Psalms 104: 1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
3. 1 Corinthians 12: 3b-7, 12-13
4. John 20: 19-23

• Expect the unexpected
• The disciples did not know what was coming their way on that Pentecost day.  They had gathered for prayer as was their custom.  There was no way that they could have forced God's hand and call the Spirit down.
• What do you think made that group open to the movement of the Spirit?
• We don't hear of anyone leaving their company because of the outpouring of the Spirit, do you think that everyone there was ready for this sort of outpouring?
• How can we as individuals, families, communities be more open to the Spirit's movement?

• Looking for renewal
• Is renewal just dialing things back to the way they were when we, those around us, our communities were younger, or is renewal different/more than that?
• What needs renewal in your life?
• What needs renewal in our Church?
• Where do we and the Spirit start?

• Playing to your strengths
• We all have God-given gifts, some of them latent, some obvious.
• How have you found those gifts in your life?
• Do you think that there are other, as yet undiscovered talents awaiting expression, a breath of fresh air, an opening?
• How would you go about discovering those?

• Peace give I to these -
• Peace may not be the absence of conflict, an absence of separation, but more a permeating experience with the oneness that is Christ.
• We put conditions on that unity, fearful of slipping into error, concerned about losing our integrity, worried that we'll somehow lose ourselves in the bargain.
• Do you think that God lies at the center of true unity?
• How can we achieve that in the world that we live in today?
• If Jesus gave His disciples this peace, how can we make ourselves more open to that inheritance today?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where am I trying to force God in my life?
2. What has died in my life and lies ready for renewal?
3. How am I offering my talents up to God in new ways?
4. Where does peace find me these days?  How has that peace changed me?

Peace Give I to Thee

Really, who is He kidding?  I'm going nuts here with deadlines,

The kids need new shoes, braces are going to eat me out of house and home.

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord

I need help that deals with the world that I live in, 

That my family lives in.

Not as the world gives, give I to thee

Peace indeed.  Fine if you have no responsibilities, none relying on you.

But for me, I have demands made on me all the time, 24X7.

Lord God Almighty

Sure, God rules the universe, but in this little pocket where I live,

He's strangely silent, if not absent, what of that?

As the Father has sent me, so I send you

I'm empty handed, beaten, discouraged, drowning.

What do I have to offer anyone else?

Just two things: My Spirit and your brokenness

Well then, brokenness I have in plenty.

You'll hold up your side of the bargain?

My grace is sufficient, rest in that sufficiency

Shalom!

7th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 7th Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 1: 15-17, 20a, 20c-26
2. Psalms 103: 1-2, 11-12, 19-20
3. 1 John 4: 11-16
4. John 17: 11b-19

• Continuity
• Losing Judas must have been a blow to the disciples.  Replacing him was doubtless a part of their grieving process.
• How do you tell when it's best to just let something die?  Maybe it's a job that you've cherished for years, a relationship that has run it's course, a favorite activity that you're just too old for ...
• How do you tell when something that was really good needs to be held on to, regardless of the cost?

• Finding things to be grateful for
• What do you thank God for these days?
• What makes you thankful for those?
• How often do you get the chance to express that gratitude out loud?

• Beloved ...
• If someone were to come to you and tell you that they have a hard time loving others, that their relationships inevitably go sour, they have no friends, and you're their last confidant.  What would you tell them?
• It's so easy, particularly as a Western male, for me to make a project out of everything.  Deadlines, milestones metrics, all come to mind when I set out to do anything.  Yet, how does one become more loving, more caring, more generous?
• And how to do it authentically, rather than just acting a part?

• We meant the Jesuits:
• Many of you remember Andy Anderson.  He was raised in the Franciscan tradition, and he once confessed that when the Franciscans talked about ecumenism, they meant relating to the Jesuits.  Somehow, that is less funny than it used to be.
• What do you think should be the foundation, the source for unity between as Christians?
• Between us as members of humanity?
• Between us as God's creatures?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What are the attachments that I struggle with in my life?
2. When was the last time that I thanked God for anything?
3. How am I growing in love today?
4. Where is the Holy Spirit trying to break through with oneness in my life?

Shalom!

6th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 6th Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48
2. Psalms 98: 1, 2-3, 3-4
3. 1 John 4: 7-10
4. John 15: 9-17

• Catching up to the Holy Spirit
• It seems as though even the early apostles sometimes let their past history limit what they thought God could/would do.
• How can we be more open to the movements of the Spirit?
• Do you think that sacraments evolve over time to meet new needs, or are they transcendent, or both?
• Who participates in that ongoing creative activity?

• Your idea of salvation may not be mine
• It seems that it is nearly impossible for nations to simply leave each other alone in peace these days.  Anything that benefits one group, one tribe, one nation always seems to come at a cost to another.
• What do we mean when we talk about the Lord's salvation at a community, or national level?
• How do you think God can bring about peace to our world, at this time?
• What role do we have in making that peace?

• Taking it easy
• A wise Jesuit brother once shared with us that as he has prayed longer, he prays simpler.
• How can we let go of more in our prayer life and let God do more?
• When does that become simple laziness?

• You already have what you need:
• You have to wonder what went through the first disciple's minds when Jesus said "I have told you everything I have heard from my Father."  I'd be wondering whether I missed a lecture or two along the way, because I sure would not feel as though I had the complete "how to" of Christianity.
• Acting out of love implies that we know what is best for another.  How do we learn that?
• God's actions often seem hard for us to understand.  If we are god-like, will we be hard to understand?
• Do you ever think that Jesus felt lonely in his ministry?
• How can we minster to that loneliness today?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Is my heart open to God breaking through in the lives of others?
2. What am I doing to bring about peace in my time?
3. How are my desires coming closer to God's?
4. What am I doing to make better use of the graces that I already have?

Shalom!

5th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 5th Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 9: 26-31
2. Psalms 22: 26-27, 28, 30, 31-32
3. 1 John 3: 18-24
4. John 15: 1-8

• Seeing others in a new light
• The beauty of being a confirmed cynic is that you're never disappointed.
• Has there ever been someone in your life who really surprised you by some act of kindness, bravery, generosity?
• Why is it that you were so surprised?
• Do you think that God ever tires of expecting the best from, and in us?
• What would it take for you to have higher expectations of those in your life?

• Getting into the family business
• At some point, our children and grandchildren become adults, have to make their own decisions, live their own lives.  But that can be so hard.
• God gives us free will, do you think He ever regrets that?
• When God looks at us, the pain that we go through, the self-inflicted injuries that we give ourselves, our fears and doubts, how do you think that makes Him feel?
• All of us are parents in some way or another.  How can we join our parent hearts to God's parent heart in caring for our children, whoever, wherever they may be?

• That wasn't what I wanted
• When was the last time that you prayed for something and got exactly what you were looking for?
• Why do you think that is?
• How has your prayer life changed over the years?
• Why do you think that is?

• Stop your whining:
• An old Jesuit priest once remarked to a group of us that his life lately has been characterized by "making it simpler".  All of the things that he so eagerly sought after earlier in life were fine at the time, but he just didn't need them anymore.
• What is God trying to accomplish by such "pruning"?
• How do you know that you are done?
• How can we become more open to such pruning?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Is my heart open to God breaking through in the lives of others?
2. What am I doing to today to build the community that my children will raise children in?
3. How are my desires coming closer to God's?
4. Where is God calling me to leave something behind to pick up something better?

Shalom!

4th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 4th Sunday of Easter are:

1. Acts 4:8-12
2. Psalms 118: 1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29
3. 1 John 3: 1-2
4. John 10: 11-18

• Saved from what, to what?
• Peter and John had healed a man born lame (I feel pretty lame at times, I can relate) and the local authorities had rounded them up for questioning.
• In the translation, the word that Peter used for this act was save, rather than healed.
• What has Jesus saved you from in your life?
• What have you done with that life that He has given you?

• Enduring kindness
• Where/when has God been especially kind to you?
• How did you become aware of that kindness?
• How is it that God does not lose patience with us?
• How can we become more God like in that regard?

• I can only imagine
• We are told that in heaven we will be like God.  What does that mean to you?
• What about that transformation/resurrection do you look forward to the most?
• What can you and the rest of us do now to best prepare for that new existence that you will have?

• Doing God's work:
• Jesus distances Himself from those who are merely hirelings, whose only interest in the sheep comes from they pay that they receive.  Sounds a little harsh towards wage-earners.
• Is it possible to be doing "God's work", and yet get paid for it?
• How can each of us contribute towards making sure that those who do get paid for doing God's work get a just wage?
• Are volunteers in God's work holier, less talented, than the "professionals"?  Or did they just have better agents working for them?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where/how am I celebrating God's mission in my life today?
2. Where is God calling me to be His salvation in other's lives?
3. How can I prepare for eternity in my daily life?
4. Is my career a vocation?

Shalom!