18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Ecclesiastes 1: 2; 2: 21-23
2. Psalms 90: 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17
3. Colossians 3: 1-5, 9-11
4. Luke 12: 13-21

• Pep talk
• It's always a good exercise to occasionally compose your own eulogy.  It also helps to think about who you would want to be delivering that eulogy.
• Would you rather be remembered for what you were able to give others, or what you were able to acquire?
• When you think about taking on a new effort in your life, how do you decide whether or not to make that commitment?
• Do you sometimes wonder whether some significant part of your life's work has been in vain?
• What makes you feel that way?
• How do you feel God looks at the things that you have labored over? 

• Numbering my days
• My days on this planet are numbered.  I just don't know what that number is yet.  Maybe that's a good thing.
• When you were young(er) what did you dream of doing with your life?
• Have those dreams come true in any measure?
• Why?
• Do you think that God has dreams for your life?
• Do you know what those are?
• Should you ask? 

• Setting my mind on things above
• I'm beginning to think that Jesus never had to make a mortgage payment.  Life is full of things that must be attended to.  Watching the rising cost of homeowner's insurance, trying to find the best deals on groceries, and the fact that the new puppy has decided to chew on the area rugs for some reason, just to name a few.
• How do you make sure that the mundane things of this life are set in proper perspective?
• How can you tell when you've let that proper perspective slip?
• What is it like for you when the "things above" get their proper attention? 

• False security
• I remember a skit that Steve Martin did on Saturday Night Live advertising insurance insurance.  In the skit, you could pay for insurance that would cover the rising costs of insurance.  We all laughed back then...  "The Lord will provide" certainly rings true.  But how does that work out in practice?
• How has the Lord provided for you in the past?
• What have you learned from those episodes in your life?
• Do you think that you can predict what God will do in the future, based on what He has done in your life in the past?
• Does it reflect a lack of trust on your part to set aside money for retirement? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• What might God be calling me to give of myself today? 
• Will what I have planned for today bring me closer to God's dream for me? 
• Where do my priorities come from?
• How is God calling me to greater trust? 

Shalom!

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Genesis 18: 20-32
2. Psalms 138: 1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8
3. Colossians 2: 12-14
4. Luke 11: 1-13

• Invited to pray
• I'm struck that God hung back with Abraham and let His two companions go on ahead, as though God wanted a word alone with Abraham.  The thought that God enjoys time alone with me, that He finds my company enjoyable is both liberating and moving.
• We all have favorite people that we like to share things with.  One person might be your go to when your kids do something wonderful, someone else might be your favorite person to tell about some accomplishment you had at work the other day.  What sort of things do you like to share with God?
• What sorts of things do you think God actually enjoys hearing about?
• A good leader receives more than just the bare facts in a report, they are looking for how those facts impact the one reporting them, how the reporter perceives those facts, and what the reporter wants to see coming out of those events.  How much of that do you share with God?
• If we believe that God is the Universe's best listener, what should we be telling Him about? 

• Lord give me strength
• I love Morgan Freeman in this video.  When we encounter challenging circumstances, it's easy to ask God to remove the challenges, let life get back to "normal", whatever that is.  I suspect the next rung up on the prayer ladder is to pray for strength to get through that challenge.  Still survival mode, but better.  I'm beginning to realize that maybe the next rung up is to ask that I might draw closer to God in the course of making my way in that challenge.
• When are some times that God has given you strength?
• Did it come about that you got to a place where you no longer needed that strength?
• Why do you think that God uses circumstances in our lives to teach us and build us, rather than just "zap" us with whatever grace we're looking for? 

• Nailing it
• God calls us to be people of hope.  That hope looks forward to something better than the sorts of things that most folks hope for: promotion at work, a house in a nicer neighborhood, our kids finally getting serious about their schoolwork.  While all of these things are good, they need to be set in the proper context, the hope for freedom from sin and ever greater closeness to God.
• What limitations, fears, bad habits, ... that you have that in one way or another hinder you from getting closer to God?
• Can you imagine what it would be like if those shackles were to somehow be removed?
• How do you think that God might go about making that happen?
• Are you ready for one or more of those shackles to be broken? 

• The ultimate gift
• Everything around us can be looked at as props on a stage.  They are here to help us to learn how to be more trusting, righteous, holy before God.  They are nothing but a means to an end.  We cannot take them with us, because we will have no need nor desire to take them with us when we die.
• What are some of the best gifts that God has given you in your life?
• Do you think those all came to you by way of prayer (yours or someone praying for you)?
• How did each of those gifts bring you closer to God?
• If God had asked you ahead of time, would you have suggested that He bring you closer to Him in some other way? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How can I make room in my life for more/better prayer? 
• Where do I need greater strength and courage? 
• Where can I be more free in my walk with God?
• How is God drawing me closer to Him today?

Open My Eyes Lord

Funerals are painful for a lot of reasons.

Sharing your grief with other grieving souls is never easy.

Each of the bereft have a different set of memories,

Looking at the departed through a different prism.

 

Finding that all of us carry different facets of the departed,

Sharing stories with one another

Reconciling our personal picture

With the rest of the community of grief can be a challenge.

 

Its a rare person who loses a loved one without regrets.

Rarer still the one whose heart is more full of thanksgiving than sadness 

When a once vibrate part of your life is now gone forever.

Leaving you wondering how it might have been if only you'd known.

 

"I told you I was sick" is a humorous headstone.

Reminding us that life is short, death often unexpected.

And we need to live with each other knowing that we might be in the last days:

Either yours or mine.

 

I think it all comes down to being sensitive,

Bold,

Brave,

Courageous.

 

So that when God comes knocking at our door in the form of a loved one,

We see them, we see Him for who they are in our lives.

And graciously welcome them in knowing that the present is always ripe.

And trust that the knock at the door is an answer to prayer.

 

Whether we know it or not.

 

Shalom!

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Genesis 18: 1-10a
2. Psalms 15: 2-3, 3-4, 5
3. Colossians 1: 24-28
4. Luke 10: 38-42

• A receptive heart
• I don't know about you, but I prefer to have a clear plan for how I'm going to spend my time.  I don't know that plans are bad, but I'm beginning to think that getting too attached to a plan leaves me less open, less sensitive, to God's presence and guidance in my life.  I would probably have been a little annoyed that someone would approach my camp in the heat of the day, when things typically slow down for a bit.
• When have you been "in the moment" with God?  Maybe you had a perfectly fine Confirmation lesson planned, but when you got to class, something totally new, and even better came to mind and you went with it.
• Or maybe you had an "interruption" crop up unexpectedly but you felt led to let that into your schedule anyway, and it turned out to be a real blessing.
• How did you know to "go with the flow"?
• Were your original plans necessarily wrong?
• Why do you think this sort of thing happens to us? 

• Redefining success
• It seems as though each generation of us have their own definition of success.  My father once told me that at one time he thought that "making it" consisted of wife, two kids, brick house in the suburbs, a late-model Buick in the driveway, and a dog.  Not necessarily in that order.
• How do you define success?
• Are you there yet?
• Is your notion of success in this life at all tied to your idea of success in heaven?
• How has your notion of success changed through the years?
• How might your notion of success continue to change? 

• Fully mature in Christ
• Maturity doesn't come easily or quickly.  I am beginning to suspect that maturity gradually blossoms in each of us at a different rate.  Even if we could measure a person's maturity, such a measurement would have little value and less meaning.
• Do you feel that you are more mature today than you were, say, ten years ago?
• What makes you say that?
• How have you achieved that maturity?
• Was any of that intentional? 

• Shifting priorities
• Some years back I chaperoned a Confirmation retreat and I had a wonderful time.  I realized that was the one place where I did not have to constantly wonder whether I was doing the most important thing for the moment.  Life was simple.  A rare experience for me.
• I don't think that Jesus felt that Martha's hospitality was a bad thing, I think that her resentment, and her priorities were what concerned him. 
• How do you decide how to invest your time each day?  Do you have a set schedule that you execute exactly the same each day, do you set goals for yourself of what you want to accomplish, do you set goals for your self of how much time you'll spend at each task, regardless of what you accomplish, ...?
• At the end of the day, how do you tell whether it's been a "good day" or not?
• How might you do that "end of day recap" in prayer? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How could you be a better listener to God's call in your life? 
• What do you think are God's deepest desires for you? 
• How are you partnering with God to grow in your maturity?
• Where has God led you to be generous that you might not have realized?

Apparitions in the heat

I love this time of day.

It's too hot to worry about the flocks.

Most of them are napping about this time.

Supper is hours away.

 

I love to take this time to review the day.

Ask myself whether I've been a good servant to our God.

Review the day and ask where God has touched me,

And where I accepted that touch.

 

Often, I surprise myself.

I find God in the strangest places in my life.

Beckoning, me deeper into His embrace.

Inviting me into His love in a new way.

 

Just when I was settling into meditation,

These three travelers appear out of nowhere.

On a journey when they should be resting.

Looking as though they could use some hospitality.

 

Quickly I arose, afraid that they would pass by in their haste.

Provided the necessities for them as best I could without warning.

And then we companioned together.

Easy and slow, each of us making time for the others.

 

I finally realized who they were -

When one of them repeated a promise to me that only God, Sarah and I knew.

A promise that seemed at once amazing and so generous.

Inviting me and Sarah into all of the joys and sorrows of parenthood.

 

You would think that a promise repeated is more believable.

But Sarah and I had given up hope of ever having a child of our own long ago.

Better to give up, and make peace with that.

Than keep hoping that for a miracle that will never happen.

 

I've come to see that those three travelers who visited that day -

Were not an interruption to my prayer.

I was able to meet them where they were, at that precise moment -

Because of my prayer in the heat of the day.

 

Sometimes God's promises just take time to arrive.

Sometimes my faith takes time to mature.

Sometimes miracles happen when you least expect them.

And there is no "sometimes" about God's mercy. 

 

Shalom!

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Deuteronomy 30: 10-14 
2. Psalms 69: 14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37
3. Colossians 1: 15-20
4. Luke 10: 25-37

• Finding God in your heart
• Once upon a time, I prayed for greater clarity.  I asked God to make His desires for me more clear, speak to me more plainly, relieve me from the challenge of hearing that still small voice.  Now I pray for greater sensitivity on my part that I might be more in tune with His voice, more inclined to listen, more aware of when I drift from His side.
• How does God let you know that you are wandering from the best that He has for you?
• How have His ways of revealing Himself to you changed through the years?
• Do you find that you are better at listening over time?
• Do you think that you can follow God even closer? 

• Finding your needs
• I used to scoff at those who only sought God's help when they had hit bottom.  I imagined God sitting in His favorite recliner with His arms crossed looking at such opportunists saying "where were you during the good times?  Why turn to me now?  Where will you go once you don't think that you need me anymore?"
• I'm beginning to realize that a) God never withholds His mercy from us just because we do not think to seek Him consistently and b) we always need God.
• When is a time that you have called on God to be with you to help you lately?
• Would you have thought to look to God for that earlier in life?
• What happened along the way? 

• Seeking harmony
• Harmony in music is not unison.  Rather, the various voices weave in and out in a dialogue with each other, each making their own contribution, making the result richer.
• Where do you see Jesus bringing diverse points of view, diverse backgrounds, diverse voices together into harmony among us today?
• What can we do to foster that harmony?
• Why can't everyone else just see reason and agree with you? 

• Finding a generous heart
• The words generous and generate share a common root: genus - to give birth, to beget.  Being generous to others brings new life into the world, brings about the Kingdom of God.
• What are some ways that God has called you to be generous in a new, unexpected way?
• How did that turn out?
• How did you come to recognize that God was behind that request?
• How did your generosity change you? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How could you be a better listener to God's call in your life? 
• What do you need God that you've failed to ask for His help? 
• Where do you see a need for greater harmony in your life?
• Where has God led you to be generous that you might not have realized?

Looking for a schedule

I would dearly love it if God would just learn to update my Google calendar.

Better yet, put His wants, desires, events in there with just a couple days notice.

Even better yet, ask me whether I feel up to the call before He changes my schedule.

 

But maybe the unexpected request is an unexpected mercy.

The need unseen (as yet) gives me time to prepare for the I know not what,

Before I have the chance to throw up my defenses my "not this times".

 

Lord, help me to be resilient in the face of need.

Always listening to your call in my life.

Always ready to set aside what has given me joy -

 

That I might embrace an even greater gift -

A gift that you have been growing in me all along -

A gift that has come to bear fruit in the giving it away.

 

Shalom!

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Isaiah 44: 10-14c
2. Psalms 66: 1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
3. Galatians 6: 14-18
4. Luke 10: 1-12, 17-20

• Looking for hope
• Do you see God at work around you?
• How does that make you feel?
• Do you think that God is diligently working some master plan?
• Do you think that you have an important role to play in that plan?
• Do you think that God will clue you in to just what that role might be?
• With all of that reason to hope, why don't you feel more hopeful?
• What does that say about God?
• What does that say about you? 

• Wondrous deeds
• A friend comes up to you and says "I hear that you're Christian.  Why?"
• What would you say to such a person?
• How far back in your life would you start that narrative?
• What characteristics of God would you think would come through in the telling of such a narrative?
• How might telling that story shape you today? 

• Discovering what's important
• In once heard an old Jesuit priest say "As I get older, it's harder and harder for me to get around, and I find greater and greater freedom to follow Jesus."
• Would you agree?
• Why do you think that happens to us, that gradual letting go of things/people/grudges/ ... that never really gave us any happiness to begin with?
• Why do you think it takes so long to find and hold to that freedom?
• Does it have to take this long? 

• I'm not Billy Graham
• When I was growing up, we Evangelicals looked up to Billy Graham.  He never let up, never rested on his laurels, was always humble, and he was truly out there, bringing people to Jesus by the hundreds.  Trouble was, not all of us are called to that sort of ministry, and it can be tough to tell sometimes what you are called to.
• Do you think that some people, or some personality types are just naturally better at spreading the Gospel?
• Do you think that those who are naturals at it should be the ones doing that work so that the rest of us can go about doing other things?
• How would you define "saving a soul"?
• What should happen to/for those folks once they get "saved"?  Who should look after them?
• If you had never been exposed to Christianity until today, how would you want to be approached?  How would you be most likely to accept the Gospel in your life? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• What in your life is robing you of hope? 
• What are you doing to help God be wondrous? 
• Are you shedding anything unimportant lately?
• Where might God be drawing you to share His word to others?

Tent Meeting:

The guest preacher was really getting his rhythm on this evening.

Cries of "amen" and "praise the Lord" were gradually building.

Just like a tidal wave coming into shore as it gathers itself.

 

I was working the meeting as an usher.

Well, really, I was just whatever needed done at the moment.

I knew the knots that held up the tent,

 

I knew the preacher's schedule to the minute so he didn't have to.

I knew all of the other ushers, what they did, and why.

I knew that this preacher was really special.

 

There was an old man in the back, by one of the doors.

I made my way over to him and asked if he wanted to sit.

"I'd love to, but that would mean taking someone else's seat" he said.

 

I left and came back with an old rickety folding chair that I had tucked away.

I told him to take it, but be careful when leaning back, it might throw him.

He looked at me with piercing eyes and asked how I was going to sit.

 

I told him it was my place to circulate, look for folks in need, do what I can.

He asked if I ever got tired.  I said "no", this work is all that I need.

Seeing the folks coming from miles around.  Singing and clapping and praising.

 

That was more than enough for me.  All that, and I get to meet some nice people.

He asked me "don't you ever get tired of being in the background, out of the spotlight?"

I told him that's not for me, I prefer to do the little stuff, what I can handle.

 

I asked him whether I could get him anything to drink, or eat.

He said that a bite would be very appreciated.

I came back with my supper and we shared it together.

 

Again those piercing eyes.  "What are you going to do for the next hungry person you meet?"

I told him that I didn't know, but that I was sure provisions would be there if needed.

I just had to trust and obey.

 

The old man put his hand on my head and said a private prayer over me.

Thanking me for my witness.

I was confused.  I hadn't told him anything about Jesus, just shared a chair and a sandwich.

 

Then he said "sometimes, that's all that is needed."

He got up and walked off.

The creaky old chair was silent as he got up.

 

And he didn't leave footprints as he walked away.

But I knew that I had grown a little that day,

By giving away without regrets or worry, just trust. 

 

Shalom!

Saints Peter & Paul, Apostles

Our readings for Saints Peter & Paul Sunday:

1. Acts 12: 1-11
2. Psalms 34: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
3. I Corinthians 11: 23-26
4. Luke 9: 11b-17

• It sucks to be you
• Peter was spared (at least this time) but James was not.  No explanation is given why James died a martyr's death at Herod's hands, but Peter was rescued.  Yet God is faithful in all things.
• Why do you think that God allows some things to happen and not others?
• Is it for us to even know the answer to that question?
• How would you react if some tragedy befell someone that you counted as holy before God, yet you could find no reason for that tragedy? 

• Finding the rescue
• We like to think that there must be some benefit to being a follower of God.  Not just in the next life but this one.  Trouble is, that benefit can be hard to really appreciate.  True happiness may be hard to find, but sometimes, its even harder to recognize.
• How has following God benefited you?
• Has there ever been a time when God rescued you from something?  Maybe you were tempted to go down a dark path, and somehow God convinced you otherwise.
• What did you learn from that rescue? 

• When all is said and done
• One Ignatian discernment technique is to imagine yourself on your death bed.  You know your end is near, and you are looking back over your life, and you get to this moment that you are in right now.  In that moment of looking back, which path that is set before you will you wish that you had taken?  Now you know the way.
• What do you hope that others will say of you when you're gone?
• What are you doing now to help make that happen?
• Why are those things important to you?
• Do you think that any of those priorities will change in the years ahead? 

• Revelation
• Revelation is a tricky matter.  Down through the centuries, various prophets and charlatans have filled the world with revelation.  Sometimes, its hard to tell the prophets from the charlatans.
• How has God revealed Himself to you?  Prayer, reflecting on Scripture, prayerfully reflecting on Scripture, Bible studies, conversation with friends, ...?
• How do you weigh all of that input?
• How does God reveal Himself to His Church?
• Is that revelation still ongoing?
• What part do you play in that ongoing revelation? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• What are you doing today to strengthen your faith in God? 
• Are you grateful for the rescues that God has done in your life? 
• Do you feel that you honor God in your decisions?
• Where might God be calling you to share His love in a new way?

 Shalom!

Corpus Christi Sunday

Our readings for Corpus Christi Sunday:

1. Genesis 14: 19-20
2. Psalms 110: 1, 2, 3, 4
3. I Corinthians 11: 23-26
4. Luke 9: 11b-17

• Exchange of gifts
• To be in right relationship with God entails an exchange of gifts, not to bribe God, but to celebrate that everything comes from and returns to God
• What do you think that God wants from you?
• What do you think that God wants for you?
• What do you really, deep down inside, want from God?
• What do you think God's chances are for getting what He wants?
• What do you think your chances are for getting what you want?
• Do you think that will make you happy? 

• Priesthood of believers
• Ordained or not, we are all called to be priests, it's a fundamental aspect of our identity.
• Define priest.  Get creative.
• Does anyone come to mind who has filled that role especially well in your life?
• What made them a good priest?
• Why do you think that all of us are called to be priests in one fashion or another? 

• A friend like no other
• It's hard to know how much Jesus knew about His passion going in.  My bet is that the revelation of just what was coming was gradual, and that Jesus had to process that revelation a piece at a time.  I also bet that He took a very bittersweet comfort from celebrating one last Passover with His friends, knowing that it was never going to be quite like this again.
• Who are some special friends that have been a support for you?
• Would you say that God had worked through them in your life?
• What is about one of those friends that you treasure the most?
• What do you think they might treasure about you? 

• Basket case
• Jesus never did tell His disciples what was coming, He just gave them the next thing that needed to be done.  In so doing, He invited them into a miracle.  In so doing He invited them into the fellowship of the Trinity, into the ongoing creation story that is still unfolding.
•  When is a time that you felt called of God to do something where you had no idea how it would turn out?
• How did you come to be certain of that direction, not knowing how it was to end?
• How did that turn out?
• How do you know that the effects of that act of faith are played out even today?
• How does that make you feel about God, about yourself? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where is God calling you into greater happiness?
• How is your priesthood progressing lately?
• Are your friendships making a better person of you?
• Where might God be calling you to reckless obedience?

Bread Unnoticed

Indeed, that was a day of miracles.

 

It started with Jesus' welcome of the crowds.
He had gone there to get some rest,

But still He welcomed the crowds when they gathered.
As though He somehow found a second wind.

Then, wave after wave of needy villagers came.

All of them touched, healed, loved.

Every one of them transformed in the encounter

No matter where they came from.

But the rest of us, we could tell that this could get ugly.

All of those folks far from home, kith and kin,

Transformed they may be, but soon, soon

They were going to need food and shelter.

 

Besides, all of us were nearing the end of our endurance.
Striving to find the inner reserves needed to meet the seemingly endless need.

But instead of sending them away, Jesus told us to "lean in" and meet the need -

Meet the needy.

The next miracle was that we somehow found the trust we needed.

The trust we needed to put one foot in front of the other one more time.

Get the people seated to receive, we knew not what.

We prayed with Him over a few loaves and fishes, to what purpose we knew not.

Then He asked us to give from our need, our lack, our fatigue.

After all, by then, those were the only gifts we had left.

The next miracle was that we found just enough strength and just enough courage

To distribute the little that we had to those massed there that day.

I wanted to apologize for such miserable offerings.

But I saw understanding in their eyes.  They knew.

And so we moved among them, as needy as they were.

And gave away all that we had, no longer caring whether it was enough.

 

Only, only desiring that we could see this last miracle through.

Some saw only bread and fish that day.

Some saw a divine gift-giver in full riot. 

I, I saw resurrection within my own poor heart.

 

Shalom!