23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Ezekiel 33: 7-9
2. Psalms 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9
3. Romans 13: 8-10
4. Matthew 18: 15-20

• Tell it like it is ...
• We often think of epic figures like John the Baptist as rugged loners, standing out in isolation.  But prophets are rarely alone.  Rather they form community where they can support and, if necessary, correct each other.
• Who are some people in your life whom you look to to help you stay true to your self?  That might be some close relative(s), friend, your confessor, ...
• When was the last time you looked to any of those folks for for help in deciding how to respond to something in your life that bothered you?
• Why don't you go to them with that sort of thing more often?
• Can you think of anyone who comes to you for that sort of help regularly.

• Hearing His voice
• Oftentimes, if something really means a lot to us, listening for the Holy Spirit's guidance in the matter can be tough.  Ignatius teaches that we need to cultivate an attitude that says "whatever leads me closer to You, Jesus, is my deepest desire.
• How do you think that we can come to such an attitude?
• How do you see trust in God playing into such an attitude?
• How do you see humility playing into such an attitude?

• Love is ...
• We all know that we need to love and be loved, so we try to define love so that we recognize it when we see it, and supposedly we will know how to pursue it.  Popular literature and the media tell us that love is some sort of chemical reaction that cannot be predicted.  When Mary & I went to Engaged Encounter, we were told that love is ... a decision.
• Do you think that all love is "tough love"?
• How would you describe "tough love" to a 10 year old?
• Since each of us has limited wisdom, and tough love depend on doing what's best for the other person, even if they don't see that right away, how is it possible for us to love?

• Let me help you with that ...
• I cannot remember the last time that I tried to correct someone, or someone else tried to provide me some correction.  How about you?
• If someone does a wrong to you, what makes you reluctant to bring that to their attention?
• What sort of relationship do you need to have with that other person in order to correct them with authenticity?
• Is there anyone in your life that fits that description?
• What does that say about you?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. Where have I chosen to take the easy way out and not say something uncomfortable to someone else.?
2. Where is God trying to get me to release something in my life?
3. What new ways could I show love to those that God has put into my life?
4. Who are the prophets in my life?  What am I doing to encourage them?

Shalom!

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Jeremiah 20: 7-9
2. Psalms 63: 2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
3. Romans 12: 1-2
4. Matthew 16: 21-27

• We need to talk ...
• It's easy to see the prophetic as something epic, grand, larger than life that dedicated professionals give their lives to.  The problem is that perspective leaves the rest of us "off the hook" as it were, for speaking up when things are wrong, for being a voice when God needs one.
• We've all seen examples of folks who are full of themselves, who think that they have all of the answers, and are, in actuality, inauthentic.  How is such a windbag different from a true prophet?
• Are there situations in your family, church, community that need to be spoken about, called into question?
• How do you know that you are not the one to begin those conversations?
• How would you like for God to let you know that you have a responsibility to be prophetic in some situation?

• I'm happy as a seed
• Seeds are pretty hardy.  Depending on the plant species, a seed can tolerate conditions that would kill a plant in no time.  But a seed, by itself, is not developing, growing, bearing fruit, giving of itself.  It needs moisture, soil, and sunshine before it can move into that next stage of its existence and development.
• How has God been kind to you?
• How has that kindness changed you?
• Has your trust for God deepened because of God's kindness?
• What has that trust in God enabled you to do that you could not do otherwise?

• The search for meaning
• We all fear many things: loss of a cherished job, the collapse of the nation's economy, someone close to us coming down with COVID-19, the list goes on.  But one of the most profound fears that I have is that of lack of meaning.
• What do you think makes for a meaningful life?  Is it measured in the number of great grandchildren you leave behind, the financial legacy that you leave behind, the memories that others have of you, the number of patents that you have, ...?
• Do you think that we should necessarily know how meaningful our life has been before we die?
• What would you say is the relationship between meaningfulness and holiness?

• Insight
• Poor Peter.  He was doing so well in last week's Gospel, and now Jesus has to rebuke him.
• How have you "lost" your life in God's service?  Maybe turning down a promotion so that you could stay close to family, giving up on a cherished degree program to raise your children ...?
• Did you make that sacrifice willingly?
• Do you think it's important if you sacrifice gracefully?
• Is it possible to start out in a resentful sacrifice, and gradually "step up to the plate" to the point that you embrace and find joy in that sacrifice over time?
• How do we avoid a martyr complex?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. Where is God calling me to be His voice?
2. Where is God calling me to greater trust, greater risk?
3. What meaning has God implanted in me?
4. Where is God calling me to greater growth by giving something up?

It Isn't Easy Being a Martyr

No wonder the surest way to get canonized is to be a martyr.

For starters, you have to find some calamity that's big enough.

Maybe your parents, or worse, your spouse, become chronically ill.

Or your kids need braces right after you lose your job.

Your cross has to be something folks can relate to.

Then there's the whole advertisement campaign.

Making sure that everyone knows what you're suffering.

How it's changed your life, made a better person out of you,

Not to mention how your sacrifice helped others around you.

Otherwise, no one's going to appreciate the depth of your martyrdom.

Sadly, there is no such thing as "martyr's anonymous" 

Where you can go and get hints on how to be a good martyr.

Those wanna-be martyrs are insufferable anyway.

Always whining about their problems, how no one knows -

The depth of their sacrifice the way that they do.

And honestly, that joy that I keep hearing about in sacrifice

Just is not coming my way.

Selling my classic '76 Pinto to pay for my daughter's college -

Sounded like a good idea at the time.

But she's failing chemistry, and I miss the upholstery on that car.

Maybe I'm doing this wrong.

Maybe I just need to tell the right kind of people,

People who appreciate vintage automobiles,

People with ungrateful children,

People who really know how to suffer loud and long.

Shalom!

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 22: 19-23
2. Psalms 138: 1-2, 2-3, 6, 8
3. Romans 11: 33-36
4. Matthew 16: 13-20

• Accountability
• It's an election year, and you can be sure that there will be a gaggle of initiatives that get onto the ballot for the voters to decide on as well.  So many of those measures either openly or covertly ask one simple question: "who are the watchdogs over this money to make sure that it doesn't get misappropriated?"
• Think of some time when you found yourself in a position of authority.  How did you get there?  Was it superlative qualifications, your winning personality, no one else would take the job?
• Who were you accountable to in the context of that function?
• Who were they accountable to, and so on up the chain?
• Who were you ultimately accountable to?
• How did you work within that accountability?

• The God of kindness
• How has God been kind to you lately?
• Did His action seem like a kindness at the time?
• How did you eventually see the kindness of God through that event?
• Do you think that was easy for God?

• Oh!
• I'm going to go out on a limb here and venture that the apostle Paul was something of an intellectual.  He probably spent a good deal of time, particularly in his later years, looking over all of the events of his life and seeing the "bigger picture" of it all.
• What is the bigger picture in your life?  Based on how God has led you through the years, what can you tell me about God's character, His motivations, His MO?
• Do you think of those types of questions very often?
• Why or why not?

• Insight
• You have to wonder what thought process Peter went through to come to his faith about the identity of Jesus, what sort of meditation he went through to get there.  Knowing what we do about Peter, I'm sure there was an element of impetuosity in this declaration of his faith in Jesus, a degree of risk-taking, of tentative boldness, and fearful courage.
• How has your faith changed through the years.  What do you believe today that you did not 10 years ago.  In other words, how are you growing?
• How did you get there?  What changed your mind/heart?
• How has that belief changed you?
• How can all of us be more open to such leading by the Holy Spirit?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. Where does my authority come from?
2. Where can I be more kind to more people?
3. Where has God been taking me?
4. How is God calling me to get closer to Him today?

Shalom!

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 56: 1, 6-7
2. Psalms 67: 2-3, 5, 6, 8
3. Romans 11: 13-15, 29-32
4. Matthew 15: 21-28

• The challenge of the Sabbath
• Dedicating an entire day each week to rest seems all but delusional these days.  Many of us barely make it to the weekend and Sunday becomes a grab bag day of catching up on things that we thought for sure would have gotten done a long time ago.
• How would you define work, just in general?
• Define "rest" in your life.
• Clearly all rest loses its appeal soon because time ceases to have any real meaning, there's no sense of accomplishment, no real investment of self if all that we do is take rest.
• Could the same be true if we never take rest?
• Is prayer work, or rest?
• Can we have moments in life that are both work and rest?

• The God of empathy
• It is often very difficult to be both empathetic and just at the same time.
• Think of a time when you had to administer some "tough love" to someone else.  Maybe it was one of your children, or a coworker who didn't know how much they hurt someone else, or someone else who you deeply cared about who needed to see another perspective on their actions and words.
• How did you approach that person?
• What made you speak up at all?
• Did that experience draw you closer to God?

• To whom much is given ...
• How would you define mercy?
• How has God shown you mercy?
• How much mercy do you think that you deserved in that instance?
• How did that mercy change you?

• Getting put into your place
• Humility is simply seeing, understanding, and embracing our place in the universe, and then fulfilling that destiny already laid out for us.
• With that understanding of humility, what have been some humbling experiences in your life?
• Do you think that we can ever get too much genuine humbling?
• How can we become more open to opportunities in humility?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. Where can I bring more justice?
2. Where can/should I be more prophetic?
3. Have I been as merciful as God would have me be this week?
4. How have I grown in humility?

Shalom!

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. 1 Kings 19: 9a, 11-13a
2. Psalms 85: 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14
3. Romans 9: 1-5
4. Matthew 14: 22-33

• I'll know God when I see Him
• By the time Elijah gets to this point in the narrative, he's proven that the Baals are all a hoax, that the King of Israel has totally forsaken the ways of the one true God, and that the king's wife Jezebel is a categorically evil influence.  Not a bad line up of accomplishments.  Only problem is, no one is grateful for all of these revelations.  Elijah feels abandoned.
• Have you ever done or said anything that required real courage?
• How did you ever find the courage that you needed?
• How did your action/words change things?
• How did they change you?

• Being that kindness
• The Red Cross now has an app that you can install that helps you manage your appointments, and then you get a blow by blow account of what happens to your blood after you donate.  Makes it personal for you.
• Which do you think is more effective: writing a big donation check to some cause, or going out there yourself and helping out in person?
• What if you're really not all that good in person?
• Why do you think that matters?

• To whom much is given ...
• A great deal of talk lately centers on privilege.
• Do you feel privileged in any sense?
• What have you done with that privilege?
• What would you like to do with that privilege?

• Taking a walk on the wild side
• Once Jesus rescues Peter from drowning, how do you think that Peter made it back to the boat?  I'm betting that he walked back.
• Think of a time when it was really hard to trust God to do the right thing for you.
• How did you pray your way through that?
• Where in that process did you learn trust?
• How did the experience change you?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. Where can I show just a little courage?
2. How is God calling me to touch someone?
3. What am I building with God's blessings?
4. Where can I grown in Trust?

Eye on the Prize

We all thought that He had told us to get to the other side of the lake.

But here we were, clinging onto life with every shred of strength

Wondering how we had gotten so far off course to get into this mess.

Then I heard a yell, louder than the thunder above.

There He was, Jesus, I was certain, coming toward us,

Apparently without a care in the world, walking on the water.

I so wanted it to be Jesus, our friend and master.

I could not just wait for Him to make it to our boat.

I wanted to touch His hand, see His face, feels His warmth.

He bade me come, come to Him, without word of the storm.

I leapt from the boat for joy. sprinted over the waves towards Him.

Only to notice the crashing of the waves, the roar of the wind.

Suddenly, Jesus seemed so far away, and I so tiny in that storm.

But I felt His touch, His beloved sinews on my fingers.

And I knew that I was saved.  Not from being brash, but from being distracted.

Shalom!

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Isaiah 55: 1-3
2. Psalms 145: 8-9, 15-16, 17-18
3. Romans 8: 35, 37-39
4. Matthew 14: 13-21

• What are your deepest needs?
• Last week, we read of Solomon's prayer to God for wisdom.  In deciding what to ask God for, Solomon first had to assess what God had called him to in life, and what it would take to step into that calling fully.
• What is it that God has called you into in life lately?
• What traits, abilities, resources would make it possible for you to succeed in that calling?
• Do you think that God wants those things for you?
• How are you praying for them?

• Needs versus wants
• Happiness relies to a great extent in discerning the difference between needs and wants, and putting each into its proper perspective.
• What are your deepest needs?  Don't stop with the first thing that comes to mind, try to find the need behind that need.  For instance, during COVID-19 I find that I need human contact.  I think that I need that contact to remind me that there's more to life than just my thoughts, issues, and concerns, that I'm part of something much bigger.  The wider my human contact, the more open I am to new possibilities, new connections, and ultimately to God Himself.
• Where did those needs come from?
• Have they changed through the years?
• Where do your wants come from?
• Have those changed through the years?

• The isolation of need
• Folks in real need can be hard to relate to.  It's easy for them and the rest of us to let that need in their life define them.  Once that happens, they become more and more distant from the rest of us who do not share that need.
• Think back to some point in your life that was a real challenge for you.  Perhaps a health crisis, loss of a loved one, loss of a job, ...  Did that passage in your life draw you closer to anyone else?
• How did that closeness happen?
• Did that challenge in your life draw you closer to God?
• Why or why not?

• Veronica's veil
• Catholic tradition has it that one of Jesus' followers, Veronica, stepped forward to wipe Jesus' face as He was making his way to the Cross.  I find that particular station of the cross compelling because it required a great deal of courage and faith on her part.  Jesus was a condemned man, the object of ridicule and shame.  To do anything but jeer and mock Him in that crowd was to risk falling victim to the same shame that He was bearing.  Veronica probably struggled, trying to think of something that she could do to help, and feeling so helpless.  Yet she did what she could despite all of that, turning her love and concern for Jesus into action.
• What are some needs in your community that you are aware of?
• What are some things that you could do to support, sustain, comfort folks with those needs?
• How could you be the bread of life in those situations?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. What needs am I really trusting to God?
2. Have I been faithful to God with my prayer for my needs?
3. Am I letting my need draw me closer to God?
4. What are some small ways that I can meet needs within my communities?

I can't figure Him out

I could tell that the news of His cousin John's death hurt Him.

Memories of growing up together, rough housing through the village,

Trips to Jerusalem together, family gatherings through the years,

All of that gone now, a horrible execution for no good reason.

Jesus needed time alone, to process, to grieve, maybe strategize

And see what the future might bring for him, with John now gone.

We took Him to an isolated place, far from any village,

To give Him time and space to be by Himself, without the crowds.

But they got there ahead of us by some means, shattering our plans.

Vast numbers of them from every corner of Palestine, 

All so needy, all looking for Jesus, frightening in their intensity.

If I had been Jesus, I would have gotten back in the boat and taken off.

But Jesus waded into that sea of humanity, touched their lives,

Spoke lovingly to them of His Father and theirs, healed their hurts,

Blessed them with hope, all the while bearing his own pain inside.

As if He found comfort of some sort in serving those who came to Him.

We could barely keep up, and we wondered when the tide of humanity,

Would ever ebb, give Jesus a rest, grant Him some peace at last.

Finally, a few of us decided to take matters into our own Hands.

Remind Him the hour, the place, even His own needs, for His own good.

When He told us to feed them, my first thought was that they might riot.

If there was not food enough to fill all of them, there would be anger.

But He merely took what we had to offer, no matter how poor and small,

And blessed it, and gave it to us to distribute, scared as we were.

I never know when Jesus is going to call on me to journey beyond my limits

Serve longer, harder, more than I know how to muster the energy.

I'm never sure when enough is enough, and it's time to quit giving.

But I know that at least sometimes, there's more to give than I realize.

Shalom!

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. 1 Kings 3: 5, 7-12
2. 119: 57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130
3. Romans 8: 28-30
4. Matthew 13: 44-52

• The wisdom of trust
• As we mature in prayer, we gradually learn that God is far more than a vending machine, and prayer far more than merely putting coins into that vending machine and choosing what we want from it.
• How do you decide what to pray for?
• Think of a time when you desperately needed something from God, and prayed for that devoutly, for a long time.
• Did your prayer change any along the way?
• How?
• Why?

• Finding inspiration
• Creative folk fear "writer's block", that horrible moment when they realize that they have nothing left to say, that no amount of discipline is going to rescue them, that they just need to ride it out.
• What about God do you find inspiring?
• What has God inspired you to do lately?
• What do you think God might do to make that inspiration easier?

• Finding your glory
• Hebrews 1: 1-3 describes Jesus as the refulgence of God's glory. When do you feel most in touch with that glory?  Is it maybe in prayer, at the end of the day as the sun sets and you think back over how God was present with, in, and through you, when you gather around the table with family ...?
• These epiphanies in your life, what do they have in common?
• What makes you more open, more sensitive to those divine revelations?
• How can you become more sensitive to God in the day to day?

• The joy of the Lord
• Possibly the most corrosive thing that can happen to us is to lose our sense of purpose.  Our days begin to melt one into the next with no accomplishments worth noting to punctuate the time, we feel worthless and useless.
• Why do you get up in the morning most days?
• What does that have to do with your faith?
• How did you find your purpose in this life?
• Do you think that purpose ever changes?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. How has my prayer changed me lately?
2. What about my life could/should inspire others?
3. Where is God revealing Himself through me?
4. What am I doing to give the better parts of me a better chance to grown and develop?

Shalom!