27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 27th Sunday in 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 called ...
• We don't often think or even hear about God's emotions.  One entry into prayer is to ponder how your life, the way that you live it, your response to what comes your way, impacts God.
• Picture God gazing on you now.  What sort of expression is He wearing?
• Tell Him about your day, the ups, the downs, and especially where, maybe now for the first time, you felt closest to Him, and farthest away.
• Has that expression on God's face changed at all?
• Why do you suppose that is?

• Family therapy on a grand scale
• Imagine that God gently suggests to you that your relationship with Him needs some help, and that the two of you should see a therapist together to bring some healing to that relationship.  You're in the therapist's office for the first time.
• What things would you bring up?  Maybe it would be some times that you felt betrayed by God, times when you felt that God had not been faithful to you, or times that you felt that God was capricious or not steady.  Remember, you can tell this therapist anything, they are very professional.
• What do you think that God might say in such a meeting?
• Most of us are not trained in this sort of counseling, but what sorts of homework do you think the therapist might assign the two of you?

• Ask, and ask again ...
• I'm finding that prayer is transformative for us.  We start in prayer with one set of issues, one set of desires, and as we pray, we see things from a different perspective, and our prayer changes.  That cycle might happen several times over before we're done.  Maybe it never really finishes.
• What are some of the things that are going on in your life lately that you have not prayed about?
• Why not?  Were they too minor an issue, you didn't want to bother God with it, you didn't really care about the outcome that much, you were too busy, ...?
• What might have happened if you had prayed about that matter?

• To whom much has been given ...
• God's biggest miracle in circumstances of real tragedy is that He's able to transform a hardship into a growth opportunity if we're willing.  In those cases, what looked like a disaster has in it seeds for new life.  In a way, if we are willing to accept them as such, every event in our lives is a chance for growth.
• What are some of the tough times in your life where God was able to tend you, make you stronger, more empathetic, draw you closer to Him?
• What did it take for you to find those growth opportunities?
• Can you think of another way that would have been easier, less traumatic that you could have achieved that same growth?
• Why do you think that other, easer, path did not happen?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. When have I taken the chance lately to gaze on God and He on me?
2. How healthy is my relationship with God, and what am I doing about that?
3. What is one difficult aspect of my life that might bring growth?
4. Where is God calling me to be generous with what he has nurtured within me?

Shalom!

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Ezekiel 18: 25-28
2. Psalms 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. Philippians 2: 1-11
4. Matthew 21: 28-32

• Getting what's coming to you
• It's hard to watch injustice go unpunished.  One cold comfort is to tell yourself that the oppressors will get theirs in the next life.  All we have to do is wait.
• Think of someone who hurt you in some way.  Maybe it was a single action or word on their part, or maybe it was a consistent pattern of behavior that they exhibited towards you.  How do you think of them today?
• If you met this person by chance today, what would be your first impulse?
• If you knew that just one kind word from you would completely change their life around, and make them a better person, would you do it?
• Maybe it's more than just one kind word, how much might you be willing to do for that person to see them truly happy?
• How much does any of us truly deserve happiness?

• Wisdom and humility, the dynamic duo
• Many of us look back on our younger years and wonder a) how anyone was able to put up with us b) what were we thinking when we said/did those things, and c) am I really all that different now?
• What are some of the hardest lessons that you have had to learn in life?
• What made those so difficult?
• What had gone on in your life to prepare you to learn those things?
• Do you think that things you're going through now are preparing you for anything?
• What might that be?

• Being open to humility
• The hard part about putting others first is being authentic about it.  We've all met personalities who take on hardship because they have a "martyr complex" rather then a motivation of true generosity.
• Who are some of the people in your life that you routinely put ahead of your own desires?
• How did you get to that point?
• If you had an intimate knowledge of God's desires, if you had a crystal clear understanding of what God wants, how would that change your life?
• Are you willing to make any of those changes with just a fuzzy idea of what God wants?

• By their fruits you shall know them
• I'm sure that John the Baptist looked like just another nut case in a long string of such prophets to the established religious leaders of his day.  Jesus' condemnation of those leaders was that they chose to cling to what they knew, had handed down to them, rather than see the consolation that John brought, and take that to heart.
• What are some things that you are especially attached to?  Lately, we've had to give up our sanctuaries, the church music, in-person meetings of any sort, and the list goes on and on.  The question is, is any of that essential?
• In your life, how to you separate the critical, the essential from the accidental, the cosmetic aspects of your life?
• How then should you treat those non-essentials?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. Where is God inviting me to show greater mercy?
2. Where is God inviting me into greater humility?
3. Where do I need to give something up in my life, in order to draw closer to God?
4. Where is God calling me to be generous?

Training Camp

Giving generously isn't easy to do.

First there's the fear.

What I give away, I don't have for myself, my family.

Then there's motivation.

Looking at your giving as an investment.

That will yield interest in the sweet bye & bye.

Or giving as a way to wield influence.

I'll give of myself to you,

But I have a few suggestions on how you can do better.

Or using giving as a way to advance socially.

The truly generous among us occupy a stratospheric level of life,

And to be ushered into their ranks for your generosity is an amazingly affirmative experience.

But giving because it's the right thing to do.

Because it's the only thing to do.

Because it's the godly thing to do.

That's hard.

No one will hold a parade in your honor.

No one will invite you to the speaking circuit.

No plaques in the lobby to remember you.

Just consolation for the hopeless,

Just a voice for the abandoned,

Just an answer to prayer for someone who needs you.

Holy Spirit,

Grace me with trust, humility, and open hands.

That I might touch your children with your love, and not notice it.

Shalom!

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 25th Sunday in 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 power of giving it away
• Injustice suffered has a way of making the oppressed feel powerless.  Certainly restorative justice repairs the harm done by the perpetrator, but the oppressed has a power that no one can take away from them, no one else can exercise: to forgive.
• What calls for more strength, to forgive, or to hold a grudge?
• What calls for more courage, to forgive, or to hold a grudge?
• What gives you more power, to forgive, or to hold a grudge?
• Why?

• Kindness and mercy chillin' together
• Oftentimes, inspiration comes to us from unexpected places.  Someone who seems to have nothing in this life, is still able to be kind to someone less fortunate.  Or someone who has suffered a great wrong is still able to show mercy.
• Can you be kind without mercy?
• Can you be merciful, without being kind?
• Have you ever consciously shown someone mercy?
• What prompted you to do that?

• What are you living for?
• A preacher with an unfortunate turn of phrase once said "I get paid to be good, the rest of you have to be good for nothing" yet retirement often feels that way.  The retiree's efforts no longer get weighed in the balance, valued, and paid for, so does that work still have value?
• Who finally establishes the worth of what it is that we do?
• How do you find out that ultimate valuation?
• If you knew just what the value of your labor was, and what was most valuable about it, how would that change you?

• Gratitude changes everything
• Often we miss the chance to be godly because we don't pay close enough attention to God's example of godly behavior in our own lives.  We miss the generosity, the abundance, the awe inspiring courage and incredible sense of timing that God exhibits.
• What of God's blessings in your life are you most grateful for?
• When was the last time that you thought about those blessings?
• What do they tell you about God?
• What is the best way that you can show your gratitude for those blessings?

• Preparation for Reconciliation

1. Where can I find greater freedom in life by forgiving?
2. Where is God inviting me to celebrate His kindness in another's life?
3. In the final analysis, what is my life good for?
4. Where is God calling me to be generous?

Footprints in Hearts

Sometimes, the best results of our lives

Are largely unnoticed

Often not celebrated.

That doesn't make them less worthy

Or smaller in importance,

Just less visible.

The kindness of a moment can live forever,

In the heart of someone who really needed it.

The bridge to hope from an act of mercy,

Can last for an eternity.

Look for the collateral beauty

The chance to show kindness and mercy.

Look for it in the unexpected, the brief, the fleeting.

And so savor the moments of life as they pass through your fingers,

Like the sand at the beach.

Shalom!

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!