1st Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 1st Sunday of Lent are:

1. Genesis 2: 7-9, 3: 1-7
2. Psalms 51: 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17
3. Romans 5: 12-19
4. Matthew 4: 1-11

• Do these fig leaves make me look fat?
• Self denial is never easy.  We work hard, put in long hours, and we feel that we have some compensation, at least appreciation, coming our way, and ... nothing.
• Have you ever felt robbed by life?  You didn't get what you wanted, maybe even needed, because of some circumstance that you didn't know about at the time, or was out of your control?
• What were you tempted to do in the face of that denial?
• What did you do instead?
• Why was that so hard?

• Finding a clean heart
• A clean heart is not one that is never tempted, but one that never entertains temptations.
• What are some temptations that you often face?
• What is your technique for getting past those?
• How does it make you feel when the same temptations come back again, and again, and again?
• Do you feel as though you're getting anywhere in your faith?

• I'll know it when I see it -
• What really is sin?  Is it a list of things that we must not do, must not think.  Is it attitudes that we must not hold, or rather things that we must do?
• Is it always the case that something that is a sin for you is also sin for me?
• How do you find the sin in your life?
• What do you do about it when you find it?

• Counting on God
• In the normal course of life, God gives us lots of things: shelter, food, clothing, people around us who love us, safety, security, rightful recognition for what we have accomplished, a sense of purpose, ...
• When is any of those things bad?
• How do you tell when you have enough?
• Why are there so many of us who do not have enough of these good things?
• How do we discern a call to help those who are less fortunate

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What in my life is trying to crowd out God?
2. What are my temptations teaching me?
3. When do I find time to seek a better relationship with God?
4. Do I really trust God to give me what I need?

Confession

Father forgive me, for I have sinned.  It's been several months since my last confession.

And what are your sins my son?

I passed a guy with a cardboard sign that said "will work for food" without a second glance.

And how do you know that is sin?

At that moment, I had a mystical experience.  Suddenly I saw him as the man left for dead near Jericho

And you were called to be the Good Samaritan?

Yes.  It was so real.  I could almost smell the camel dung, taste the dust in the air, hear cries for help.

And yet you did nothing.

What color were his eyes?

I don't know, I was in a hurry.

I was afraid.

Of what?

That he would need time, that it would ruin my day, that if I picked him up, he'd stain my upholstery.

So you kept on driving, you ran away.

I'll never find him again.  I've lost my chance to really be holy for once, to follow in Jesus' footsteps.

What do you regret the most?

That it was so easy to just keep going.  I barely felt a twinge, and yet it was so real.

Oh, I'm sure that it was real alright.  For a second, you were connected.

Now what?  I can never go back, never make it up to him, never make it right.

For your penance, I want for you to make a cardboard sign just like that,

And spend a day at that same street corner.

But people will know me.  What if they stop and want to talk to me?

Then tell them why you are there, and that you want to connect.

What if they don't understand?  They'll think that I'm crazy.  What if someone offers me money?

Take it, thank them from the bottom of your heart, and give it to the local homeless shelter, in person.

What's that supposed to accomplish?

It will soften your heart, give you empathy, help you see those in need as human beings.

Come back in a week, after you've done your penance, and let's talk some more.

Shalom!

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Leviticus 19: 1-2, 17-18
2. Psalms 103: 1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
3. 1 Corinthians 3: 16-23
4. Matthew 5: 38-48

• Bear no grudge?
• In some ways, frustration is perhaps the toughest emotion to deal with.  It is a measure of the distance between what we would dearly love to do, and what we are capable of because of our better nature, civil laws, or other limitations.
• The last time that someone did a wrong to you, how did that impact you?
• How is your relationship to that other person today?
• If you are separated from that other person, do you miss them, or do you just miss the relationship that you had with them before they wronged you?
• If you could go back to the way things were with them, would you?
• Why?

• Is mercy for losers?
• Have you ever done or said anything, or missed an opportunity to be a generous person?  Do you have a sense of the depth of God's mercy towards you?
• A merciless God could just start over.  After all, He has all of eternity.  Maybe the next batch of sentient creations will treat Him better.  Why do you think He puts up with us?
• What can we learn from such boundless mercy?
• What sort of world would we live in if just one person in it had boundless mercy?
• Could that person be you?

• Humility is the beginning of wisdom
• True wisdom is more than mere knowledge, it is the ability to make sense of the realities of our time, and frame a response to them that helps all of us become more holy.
• How do you stay in touch with the world around you?  Daily newspaper, listing to the BBC, listening to podcasts?
• How do you bring all of that the prayer?
• Why are you convinced that God is interested in all of that?
• What do you think He wants us to do about all of the disturbing things going on around us?

• What's in it for me?
• I have this fantasy that one day I'll come across one of my students with a cardboard sign reading "will work for makeup points on my last CECS 323 exam".  They seem willing to do anything as long as the bottom line is that it will improve their grade.
• What practical use can it be for us to make ourselves vulnerable to others?
• Is there any limit?  When do we have God's permission to defend ourselves?
• The Church deeply reveres martyrs.  Why do you think that is?
• What does it take to avoid just having a martyr complex?
• Is martyrdom an event, or a process?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What anger am I holding onto that I need to let go of?
2. Where can I show God's mercy to someone else?
3. Where is God leading me to greater wisdom?
4. Where is God trying to give me a more realistic view of His world?

Shalom!

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Sirach 15:15-20
2. Psalms 119: 1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
3. 1 Corinthians 2: 6-10
4. Matthew 5: 17-37

• Salvation from what?
• We speak of salvation often, but in general terms.  Is that being fair to this gift of God?
• What in your life do you need saving from?
• Think of someone that you care about deeply.  How would a deeper living in the salvation of Jesus make their lives better?
• What really makes for a better life in the first place?
• Does salvation happen in this life, or the next?

• Discernment is hard work
• Every once in a while, we are faced with a clear choice to make.  Good and evil are easily seen ranged in ranks upon the battlefield of our soul, and the decision lies clear and open before us.
• That's pretty rare though.  Often our choices are between apparently good and maybe better.  The challenge is to evaluate the alternatives with a heart sensitive to God's leading.
• When faced with a tough decision, what is your practice?
• What do you do to make yourself more sensitive to God's leading?

• Virtue is its own reward
• We hear that virtue is its own reward as an incentive to better motivation in our lives, to be holy for the sake of holiness, and not look for some sort of reward.
• How has your virtuous living benefited you, your family, your community?
• What are some life lessons that you would like to pass along to those you love?
• What virtue would you most like to acquire before you die?

• Learning humility
• What are some experiences in your life that have helped you achieve humility?
• How did you grow in humility out of those?
• How did those experiences prepare you for later experiences?
• Do you think that it's our place to see humility out, or do you think that it just happens along the way to those who are open to it?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where do I need saving?
2. How do I pray through the decisions of my life?
3. Where is God challenging my virtue?
4. Where is God trying to give me a more realistic view of His world?

I Need a Moment

Lots of things make me angry.

I'd like to say that injustice, oppression of the poor, indifference to the lowly made me angry.

Sadly, what makes me angry most often are the little things.

Getting a late start to work, and getting stuck in traffic.

Spilling my breakfast into my lap because I was careless.

Sometimes, its realizing that I spoke harshly for no reason, and I need to make amends.

There's no good cure for anger, management just channels that energy.

But I think that Mary has a word for us regarding anger: ponder.

So many strange, frightening things happened in her young life.

And her response was often to ponder them in her heart.

We never hear how long those ponderings lasted for her.

But I like to think that sometimes, in the cool of the day, with Joseph seated next to her,

Mary could start a conversation "You know, I've been thinking, praying, meditating,

And I think that I need to let it go."

Or maybe "I think that Rachel bothers me so much because she reminds me of me at that age."

Or even "I honestly don't know what will come of it, but I'm going to talk to our neighbors."

Wisdom never seems to come in a rush, a blind charge forward.

But rather from time, patience, fearlessness, trust.

Anger, on the other hand, likes instant gratification, instant resolution, instant recognition.

I will try to remember that the next time that I get angry because I lost my car keys.

Shalom!

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 58: 7-10
2. Psalms 112: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5
4. Matthew 5: 13-16

• Who is my neighbor?
• "There goes the neighborhood" was a phrase heard often in my parent's generation.  A young couple scrapes together their savings, bets everything that they have on a home, do without so that they can make those relentless mortgage payments month in, month out.  Why do they do that?  Better school district, safer streets, nicer neighbors all contribute to that sacrifice.
• And then some undesirables move into the neighborhood, and everyone is on alert.  Will they be just the first of many, will my resale value go down, will the neighborhood change forever now?
• Can you imagine a way that you could greet those sorts of changes without fear?
• What would have to change about your attitude, the way that you live?
• What would be the first step?
• What would Mother Theresa do?

• Prosperity Gospel
• In the early days of the Church, the collection consisted of families coming to the front of the church to give food, blankets, clothing to help the local poor.  Most of those goods were made at home, often with their own hands.
• In a way, each parishioner was personally sharing their goods with others.  When they ate at home, they know that others in their neighborhood, less fortunate than they were, were likely eating food that their parish had shared with them.  For those mystically inclined, each meal bound them all together, made all of them partakers in the same blessings from God.
• How do you share what God has given you with others?
• Do you think that they are better off for that sharing?
• Are you better off for that sharing?

• Humility personified
• The humble person is the one who recognizes that we are all one in God, whether we find that comforting or not.
• Think of someone in your life is truly humble, who inspires you to be more humble.
• What fears do you think that person has in their life?
• What brings them peace in mind and heart?
• Do you think they are humble because they are fearless, or fearless because they are humble?

• Reality can be harsh at times
• If some big producer offered you a million dollars to come into your home with a camera crew and watch and listen to everything that you said and did for a week, would you do it?
• What are you afraid of?
• What message do you think that slice of your life would convey?
• How would that relentless camera eye change your behavior?
• Would you be inspirational? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How can I be more welcoming in my life?
2. Where can I be more generous in my life?
3. How are my actions bearing witness to God?
4. What does my life teach others?

Shalom!

Presentation of the Lord Sunday

Our readings for the Presentation of the Lord Sunday are:

1. Malachi 3: 1-4
2. Psalms 24: 7, 8, 9, 10
3. Hebrews 2: 14-18
4. Matthew 2: 22-40

• Refiner's fire
• Purity of heart seems like an unlikely goal to reach.  All of us have choices to make, and we often long for the issues, and the relative importance of those issues affecting our decisions to be clear.
• Do you feel that someone pure of heart has no fear, no selfishness, no vice?
• How do you think that a person pure of heart gets to be that way?
• Do you think that life is harder or easier to someone truly pure of heart?
• What would it take for you to achieve that purity?

• Being sensitive to the meaning
• I once knew a man in his 80s who still had his original baptismal candle.  This candle was carefully preserved, beautifully carved, clearly a work of devotion.  Every year on the anniversary of his baptism, he would carefully take that candle out, light it, and repeat his baptismal vows in prayer and rededicate himself to God's service.
• What are some meaningful commemorations in your life, your family's life, your community's life?
• How do those observances make your life more meaningful?
• How did they get started?
• Are they sacramental at all for you?

• Testing as a way of life
• Every world class athlete, musician, writer, teacher, ... strives to become better at what they do.  Not because what they do is not good enough, but because testing themselves, pushing their limits, going beyond what they thought possible transcends merely what they do, and makes them better at being who they are.
• Do you think that Jesus understands you when you try and fail?
• When was the last time that you disappointed yourself in some way.  Was God disappointed in you to?  If so, was it for the same reasons?
• Does the image of God as coach make any sense for you?
• Do you think that you could ever get cut from the team?

• Is there a prophet in the house?
• How would you define the word "prophet"?  Would you include Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, Mahatma Gandhi, Bishop Desmond Tutu?
• What do prophets have in common?
• Why do we still need them?
• Who are some prophets in your life?
• What are some small ways that someone can be prophetic in their home and community?
• Do you think that God would like for us all to be at least a little prophetic?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What have I done today to improve my purity of heart?
2. What am I doing to deepen my dedication to God's service?
3. How am I strengthening my faith?
4. What message has God for me to spread?

Called

St. Ignatius invites us to imagine someone that we truly admire
Who has done a great deal for the world to bring holiness and peace.

Imagine that this wonderful person comes to your town for a visit.

You go to the convention, thinking how lucky you are to be there.

The lecture over, the crowd begins to disperse, and you sit, lost in thought.

Then, still thronged by admirers, this prophet makes their way.

They head down the very aisle that you are seated in.

And stop next to your seat, and look you straight in the eye.

They tell you "I have heard much about you from your friends,

Relatives, and pastor.  And I want to talk with you in a few minutes.

They move on, and you are stunned.  You wonder what they might want.

They come back, this time all alone, and gently sit down beside you.

Looking you straight in the eye, they begin.

"I need someone like you at my side, day in, day out.

All the rest of these folks, they bask for awhile in my presence,

And then they move on, hardly any different for the encounter.

But you, in you I see someone who can make a real difference,

Someone with spirit, and fire, and desire to serve.

I want you to come with me.  Share my ministry with me, work side by side with me.

It won't be easy.  I cannot tell you just where this will take you.

Your friends and family will not understand at first.  But I promise you this,

If you enter this life with me without reservation, you will be happy beyond measure.

Are you willing to take this plunge, can you go where I go, suffer what I suffer,

Minister to those in crying need, and slowly, make this world a better place?"

Ignatius goes on in this exercise to say that this is the very offer that Jesus extends to us

Jesus will never push, or clamor for our attention, He won't try to manipulate us.

But He extends this offer to us, and waits for us to take His hand and see where He goes.

What do you say, today?

Shalom!

3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 8: 23-9: 3
2. Psalms 27: 1, 4, 13-14
3. 1 Corinthians 1: 10-13, 17
4. Matthew 4: 12-23

• Working with Jesus
• It's natural for your children to want to help.  One way that they can help, particularly if you are under the family car, trying to fix a broken starter, is to hand you tools.  You and your child get to do something together, they learn some vocabulary when your wrench slips, and they learn some confidence around mechanical things.
• In the book of Judges, God had Gideon "attack" the Mideanites with nothing more than torches, clay jars, and trumpets.  God asked Gideon to have a hand in that victory, to help God perform a miracle.  Of course, Gideon question God's judgement, but he obeyed anyway.
• Think of a time when you were moved to say or do something and it really touched someone.
• Where do you think God was in that encounter?
• Why do you think that God chose you to to be involved in that?
• What do you think that you contributed to God's action?

• Contemplating the Lord's temple
• I grew up in San Pedro, home to communities from Italy, Czechoslovakia, Serbia, Norway and other European nationalities.  In Holy Trinity parish, there was an undercurrent of competition between these various communities when it came to adorning the inside of the church, or contributing to the parish carnival.  To look around that church is to see a lot of history, a lot of generosity.
• How connected do you feel to the history of your church?
• Do you think that those past generations have anything to tell us today about our faith?
• How would you find out?

• Unity within the body
• I think that Mary was the world's first Jesuit.  Ignatius of Loyola recommends that we go back to previous prayer experiences and relive them in our hears, either alone or with a spiritual director, to get the most benefit from those.  I suspect that was what Mary was doing when we read that she "pondered" various events in her life.
• Does claiming Mary as a Jesuit exclude her from perhaps being a Franciscan, or a Carmelite?
• These many spiritualities that we have in the Catholic Church are diverse.  Is that good or bad?
• With that much diversity, what do we really mean by "unity" within the Church?

• What is your calling?
• What do you think you are called to do in this life?
• How did you come to that realization?
• Do you think that our calling never changes, or changes constantly?
• How do you think that calling related to our fundamental personality type?
• How do you think that calling relates to what brings us joy?
• How do we tell what that calling is?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is Jesus asking me to help Him today?
2. Where does God want to fit me into the history of my community?
3. Where is God calling me to broaden my horizons?
4. How can I better live out who I really am in God?

Change of Scenery

Jesus' travels took us through my home town once.

I dreaded setting foot there, not knowing what sort of welcome I would receive.

I had left so abruptly when the Master called me.

Partly because I felt that a clean get away was going to be less painful

Than a prolonged good bye, with lots of explanations.

This village was good to me in so many ways.

Here it was that I first learned to fish, to clean the nets, to tend the boats.

Here it was that I learned how important a supportive family is,

And what a blessing it is to be there to pass our sacred traditions on

And watch the next generation grow into thousands of years of history.

I wondered where I would have been today if I had stayed.

Probably married to Miriam, with a passel of children rampaging through the house.

I heard after I left that she was inconsolable at my parting.

Funny, I never thought of her that way.

And I'd still be attending the same synagogue each Shabbat.

For now, these followers of His are my family.

There's no telling what will happen in my future.

Making plans is hard when you follow Jesus.

And I feel more alive in my faith, more attuned to God than ever before.

Maybe I'm closer to my roots than I ever knew.

Everything looks different now, I see old friends, familiar places

From a different perspective.  They are precious to me, familiar and comfortable.

But I realize now that their purpose was to bring me to God,

Make me ready for that sudden, unexpected call.

Following Jesus has led me home, just in ways that I hadn't realized,

Ways that I didn't think possible.

Shalom!

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 49: 3, 5-6
2. Psalms 40: 2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
3. 1 Corinthians 1: 1-3
4. John 1: 29-34

• Incarnation day by day
• The Harry Potter story arc appeals to all of us on a number of levels.  Two of them are identity and destiny.  Harry didn't know growing up that he was at all different from his aunt and uncle (except maybe in temperament) and unaware of any calling in his life.  As he gradually stepped into his identity, his destiny as a leader also emerged.
• Who would you say that you are if you were to tell someone about you in 30 seconds.
• Has that vision of your identity changed since you were young?
• What happened?
• Was that change in vision good, bad, or just "growing up"?
• How did you come to find that new vision for your life?
• Where is that vision going in the future?

• Stepping into your destiny
• Think of some people that you admire greatly.  How did they discern what God was calling them to in life?  Do you think that they stepped into that calling all at once, or was it a process?
• What steps have you taken in your life to fulfill the destiny that God set out for you?
• How is that going?  What advice would you give some young person who comes to you looking to find out what their true calling in life is?

• Unity within the body
• We used to flock T-shirts and sweatshirts for the confirmation candidates for their retreat.  We gave them out to them on Sunday morning to help build a sense of community on the retreat.
• What contributes to a sense of community for you?  Is it common customs, shared memories, a common tie clasp or some other accessory, ...  How exactly do those things work?
• At bottom, what do we, as Christians, have in common?  What makes us brothers and sisters?
• How does that influence how we relate to each other, pray for each other, work with each other?
• How can we remind each other of what binds us together?

• Spirit flying low
• Have you ever opened your mouth to say something, maybe you've prepared for this moment for weeks on end, and suddenly, something clicks for you, you see what you were about to say in a whole new light, and you hear yourself saying something that you never planned.
• At my age, that could just be a stroke.  But in your case, what do you think prompted that sudden change of paradigm?
• If you had known that was going to happen, would you have worked so hard to prepare?
• Do you think that such interventions might be the work of the Holy Spirit?
• How can we make ourselves more open to such visitations?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. How am I exploring who I am in God today?
2. Am I living the life of fulfillment that God has for me?
3. What am I doing to strengthen true unity among God's people?
4. How am I opening myself up to the influence of the Spirit?

Shalom!