27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Habakkuk 1: 2-3, 2: 2-4
2. Psalms 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9
3. II Timothy 1: 6-8, 13-14
4. Luke 17: 5-10

• Finding vision
• Some of us don't expect much of this life.  We know that heaven will be glorious, and look at this life as little more than a proving ground that we have to endure on our way to our reunion with God and our loved ones.  At the same time, we know better than to equate discipleship with prosperity.
• What do you hope for in this life?  Where do you think that you'll be in five years?
• What about your family as a whole?
• Your parish/congregation?
• Our Church at large?
• Where did you get that notion of what to hope for? 

• Could you spell that out for me?
• The children of Israel had had enough and they were not going to take it any longer.  They began to doubt Moses' skill in leading them, and maybe even God's intentions.  Maybe things would have gone better all of the way around if God had just told them (through Moses of course) that He was toughening them up for the battles ahead, that they were learning obedience and many other things.  In essence, give some meaning to their suffering.
• What are some things that you have suffered in life?
• Did you ever find any meaning to that suffering?
• Does all suffering have to have meaning?
• If it has meaning, do we have to know what that is? 

• Ashamed of God's ministers
• Diversity within Christian circles is at an all time high. Different beliefs lead to divisions among believers in ways large and small, and it seems that unity is all but impossible.  I remember a friend years ago who had a strong Franciscan background telling me that "when we spoke of ecumenism, we meant the Jesuits."
• How important is unity among/between us?
• If you find that you disagree with something that you hear from the pulpit or that your child hears in Confirmation class, what should you do?
• How do you tell whether a disagreement is something that you can live with, or signals a deep need for you to speak up or just move on to some other community that better agrees with your values? 

• Increase our faith
• Just ahead of this week's Gospel Jesus tells His disciples that even if a brother sins against you seven times in a day, and they repent each time you are to forgive them.  That's what inspired them to ask Jesus to increase their faith.
• Who are some of the people that you have had the toughest time forgiving?
• Before you forgave them, what did that do to you?
• How did you find the strength/courage to forgive?
• How did you know that you had been successful in forgiving them?
• How did that forgiveness change you? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might I pray in greater hope?
• Am I willing to let God lead me through suffering?
• Where can I find more common ground with other of God's children?
• Where am I still on a forgiveness journey?

 Clutching my Hurts

Forgiveness can be a lengthy journey.

Sometimes with setbacks and detours.

Always requiring courage and faith.

 

Courage that the unexplored parts 

Of my heart where forgiveness goes

Will prove to be healing in the end.

 

Faith that God

An unseen, and often unfelt Presence

Is always there along the way at each step.

 

And that letting go of the ashes of my anger

Is more about healing than losing.

More about love than vindication.

 

True forgiveness takes practice.

I forgive you if, or when, or because

All put strings on what must be a free gift.

 

No holds barred love.

That brings us closer to God.

By helping us to act more like He does.

 

Shalom!

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Amos 6: 1a, 4-7
2. Psalms 146: 7, 8-9, 9-10
3. 1 Timothy 6: 11-16
4. Luke 16: 19-31

• The collapse of Joseph
• There are many these days who raise the lament that we as a culture, maybe even a civilization, are no longer able to discourse, to hear each other out, to really listen to each other and get out of our familiar comfort zone out of fear.
• Do you think that what we're seeing today is materially worse than past generations, even past years?
• How do we, as individuals, foster hope for a better tomorrow?
• How can we, as God's children here on Earth, start to build a better tomorrow?
• How can we move through and out of despair? 

• Finding the oppressed
• Oppression and privilege seem to be everywhere these days.  If you enjoy any privileges, then it must be because  you oppressing someone else.  And if you don't have everything that you wanted out of life, it's because you are oppressed.
• Do you agree with the above assessment?
• Do you think that the only way for someone to become wealthy is to take wealth from others?
• If so, what do you offer someone who feels that they have been oppressed?  

• Learning by enduring
• One famous bit of advice is that the race is as much mental as it is physical.  Seems as though applies to so much in life. 
• What are you enduring these days?
• How do you make it from one day to the next?
• Is it getting any easier?
• What do you think God's point in making you go through that?
• Does God have to have a point? 

• Seeing the flowers and the flower peddler
• I wonder whether the rich man (notice he has no name) asks that warning be sent to his brothers.  I wonder whether the rich man wanted to warn them that indifference has serious consequences, or to warn them that the indifference itself was killing them.
• I have to confess, when I see someone by the side of the road selling flowers, fruit, or just looking for money, I try to become invisible.  I don't want to make eye contact.
• How have you found ways to connect to the needy that cross your path?
• How do you know that you must be the one to help?
• How do you know when you've given enough?
• How do you avoid "fig leaf" giving?  That's giving just enough to assuage your conscience, but not enough to really make a difference. 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might I pray in greater hope??
• Where do I need to show more mercy? 
• How could God transform something that I'm enduring into blessing??
• Where can I be a better steward of God's gifts?

 The Eyes of Jesus

 My students have all sorts of hopes, dreams, aspirations.

Some just want that six-figure income that they are sure is out there for them.

Others envision a dream job building the next wonder video game.

 

The more thoughtful ones want to find themselves.

Find where they fit, where they are needed, where they find purpose.

So that they can matter, even if just a little.

 

I used to despair of telling some of them that they are in the wrong place -

Marooned in a vain search for a career where there is none for them,

Try something else, anything else I sometimes wanted to scream.

 

Then I asked myself whether a career is the only brass ring in College.

Or whether there might be other/additional benefits to being here.

And I wondered how I might more effectively usher them into their true purpose.

 

But I don't have the insight nor the training for anything that lofty.

And lately, its come to me that maybe my best gift that I have to offer

Is to tell them that they already matter.

 

Right here, right now, to me if to no one else.

That sometimes the journey is the destination,

And that no salary will ever make them worth more than they are worth right now. 

Shalom!

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Amos 8: 4-7
2. Psalms 113: 1-2, 4-6, 7-8
3. 1 Timothy 2: 1-8
4. Luke 6: 1-13

• How far does injustice extend?
• At CSULB there are those who want CALPERS to divest from any and all fossil fuel corporations as a means toward ecological justice.  Regardless of your views on climate change, this presents a complex scenario.
• How deep should we go when looking at the sources for what we purchase/consume/give to others?
• If your favorite clothing line is manufactured with underage slave labor in Indonesia, does that make you a bad person?
• Or should we just charge them a higher tariff? 

• Lifting up the poor
• Fr. Al Scott has dedicated his life to lifting up the poor.  He stands as a challenge to all of us to find where/how God is calling each of us to lift up the poor.
• What makes a person "poor".  Is it just a matter of money, or mental/physical health, community, culture even?
• How can we tell that we are doing enough?
• How can we detect selfishness on our part?

• Praying for our leaders
• When did life get so complicated?  It seems as though there are no easy answers these days.  It's hard to tell who the "black hats" and the "white hats" are anymore.  Finding common ground from which to pursue peaceful solutions to problems that we have in common seems all but impossible.
• When you pray for our local, state, and national leaders, how do you pray for them?
• What do you think God wants to see for and from these servants of the people?
• Do you think any of God's desires are realistic?
• What action(s) do you think your prayer might lead you to? 

• Proper use of God's wealth
• A steward manages his master's wealth.  I would presume that the master would specify some parameters, such as invest in sustainable enterprises, support the marginalized and downtrodden, and do all of that while still growing the master's net worth.  If we are stewards of all that God has given us, what are our parameters?
•  Time is not like money.  We cannot make more time.  But we do invest our time.  How do you insure that you invest the time that God has given you wisely?
• Time and energy invested in our talents increase our abilities.  Think of some of your talents that you have invested in.  How have your talents made the world a better place?
• How do you decide where/when/how to invest the treasure that God has given you stewardship of?  How do you tell whether a cause is good or not? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might I be unjust and not know it?
• Where do I need to show more mercy? 
• What is God's heart for our political leaders?
• Where can I be a better steward of God's gifts?

 The Widow's Mite

I used to like to sit in the Temple courtyard

Watching the faithful deposit their offerings into the treasury.

So many different motivations for their generosity.

 

Some felt it a singular part of their worship, acknowledging that all is God's.

Some did it just for the show.  Making sure everyone saw their generosity.

Others, because they felt a kinship with the downtrodden.

 

I never trusted myself to give that way.

I made my contributions directly to a priest friend of the family.

All but anonymous, and much more personal.

 

But I'll never forget one day when a poor widow came.

Barely able to walk or stand.  Clothes shabby and torn.  Hair awry.

Shuffling slowly towards the treasury in stark contrast to the rest of us.

 

One hand clutching her walking stick, the other lightly holding two small coins.

She waited humbly for the prima donna givers to have their day.

Then she let loose of her offering into the treasury with barely a sound.

 

I ran to catch up with her, and asked breathlessly

"That's all all that you have, isn't it?

"Yes" was all that she would say.

 

"But what of tomorrow, what will you do then?"

"God will provide.  He always has.  He will stop when I no longer need anything.

I have been His servant lo these many years.  He won't abandon me now."

 

"It seems as though God could be more generous to you don't you think?" I said.

"God has been generous to me.  He has given me freedom to follow Him without question."

"Let me pray for you" she said.  "What is it that you desire from our Lord?"

 

"Humility" I said.  Scarce believing that I said that.

"Then you shall learn humility.  Probably in places you never dreamed of.

Our God is generous with that gift to those with the courage to receive it." 

 

Shalom!

Exaltation of the Holy Cross Sunday

Our readings for Exaltation of the Holy Cross Sunday:

1. Numbers 21: 4b-9
2. Psalms 78: 1-2, 34-35, 36-37
3. Philippians 2: 6-11
4. John 3: 13-17

• Where are the serpents?
• I find it interesting that when the children of Israel repented of their rebellion, that there was no mention of God removing the serpents.  That's what the people prayed for, but it's not what they got.  Instead, God instructed Moses to craft a bronze serpent and mount it for all to see.
• Have you ever had a "thorn in your side" that was a real challenge for you, and yet, it never really went away?
• Has your attitude/relationship to that thorn (whatever/whoever it might be) changed over time?
• Would you say that, in any way, that thorn has become something of a blessing?
• How did that transformation come about?
• Did you see that coming? 

• Second chances
• All of us need a second change at one point or another in life.  But it can be hard to give someone else a second chance, particularly if this is their third or fourth "second chance".
• How would you define "mercy"?
• When is a particularly meaningful point in your life when God showed mercy to you?
• How do you think God decides whether or not to show mercy to His children?
• Given that, how often, under what circumstances, should you show mercy to others?
• How can we balance mercy with protecting ourselves? 

• Finding freedom
• It's easy to become attached to things in life.  That could be a job, a role, a place, a ministry.  All of that may well be gift from God.  But sometimes, the best way to show appreciation for what we have been given is to give it away.
• What are some things that you've given away in your life?  Maybe it's time, talent(s) that you have (no matter how modest those talents might be), or other resources.
• How did you come to being so generous?
• How did that giving away affect the recipient(s)?
• How did it affect you? 

• Finding my sins
• When Moses elevated the bronze serpent for the children of Israel, he reminded them of their sins, and the punishment for them.  It can be hard to really come to terms with our own sin, and the consequences of that sin.
• How do you tell when you have sinned?
• Does that realization usually come to you right after you commit the sin?
• Do you have a practice that you follow to help you see your sins for what they are?
• How successful is that practice?
• How might you make your self-reflection practice better? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where is God blessing me in unexpected ways lately?
• Where do I need to show more mercy? 
• What do I need to give away/give away more?
• How can I better form my conscience before God?

 

Shalom!

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Wisdom 9: 13-18b
2. Psalms 90: 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17
3. Philemon 9-10, 12-17
4. Luke 14: 25-33

• Figuring God out
• My marriage has improved my prayer life immensely.  In the course of 45 years of marriage, I've come to realize that my wife is not me.  She has her own way of doing things, her own desires, dreams, and loves, and I'm still learning to appreciate all of that diversity after all this time.  God is not me either.
• If someone were to ask you who God is, what His essential character is, what would you tell them?
• With all of that knowledge and experience of God, is He still a mystery to you?
• What is the nature of that mystery of God?
• Do you think that that mystery is a good thing?
• To what extent do you feel that you can predict how God will react/respond in a situation? 

• It's all gift
• The play Godspell includes the song All Good Gifts.  I have always found the lyrics and the orchestration to be inspiring because it speaks to the faithfulness of God in our lives, and just as importantly, our role in the ongoing unfolding of creation as we work with God to bring about His kingdom.
• What are some of the greatest gifts in your life?
• How are you giving those gifts away to others?  My wife Mary & I do volunteer work for Guide Dogs of America.  I have to admit, Mary is the one who does most of the work there, but I support as I can, encourage her every chance that I get, and let her know as often possible that I support her work.  And yes, I do clean up after the dog.  I like to feel that I'm helping her to be generous. 
• How do you decide when/how to give those gifts away?
• How has that giving changed you through the years? 

• Receiving again, receiving anew
• In Genesis, Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac, the child of promise.  God spared Isaac, and I'm sure that the relationship between Abraham and his son was never the same again.  In Philemon, we see someone who had Onesimus as a slave, and Paul was offering Onesimus back to Philemon as a brother.
• Can you think of anyone, anything that your attitude toward them was changed radically?
• What brought that change about in your life?
• Was that change necessarily something that you would have sought?
• What was different about your relationship afterwards?
• What was the same? 

• Finding their place
• If we are lucky, we have a small handful of relationships that truly define us.  They help us know who we are, what our meaning is in life, give us strength to carry on even in times of trouble.  The temptation is to look to those people for support and strength that only God can provide, and forget who it is who ultimately sustains us, regardless of who He works through.
• Who are the people whom you look to when you are down?
• What is their charism in your life?  What is it that you know that you can count on them to provide you?
• When you are thankful for their presence in your life, whom do you thank?  God, them, both, ...?
• How did God bring them into your life?
• Do you think that God might one day ask you to leave one or another of them behind for something, someone even better? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Who is God to me lately?
• Is it time that I become generous in new ways? 
• How might I be clinging to something/place/person rather than the freedom God wants for me?
• Where might God be calling me into more trust with my relationships?

All Good Gifts

I thank you God for the gift of wonder.

That I can wonder about the little things,

Like why it is that I have to have everything in exactly its place.

That I can wonder about the big things,

Like why it is that you have blessed me so thoroughly with, in, and through the love of my life.

 

I thank you God for the gift of time.

For it reminds me that each moment is a choice.

Once time is spent, there is no getting it back.

How I give myself away means something.

And that generosity requires trust as much as it requires love.

 

I thank you God for the gift of my body.

For it, too, reminds me of the passage of time.

That all too soon these limbs, this heart, my mind,

Will noticeably begin to return to you,

As I make my uncertain journey to eternity.

 

I thank you God for the gift of friends.

Their generosity inspires and challenges me.

Their needs invite me to humility.

Their faithfulness reminds me of Your presence in my life.

Their joys, sorrows, fears, and triumphs remind me that we are all in this great journey together.

 

I thank you God for the gift of gratitude.

That turns my gaze beyond myself -

To your holy, yet broken body among us.

Your ongoing passion and death in our midst.

As you continue to pour Yourself out in our midst.

 

Help me to desire to follow you so closely -

That I am able to give beyond my fears,

Offer what you have first given me.

That I may fully and finally appreciate the Gift

That is you, the gift that you invite me into. 

 

Shalom!

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Sirach 3: 17-18, 20, 28-29
2. Psalms 68: 4-5, 6-7, 10-11
3. Hebrews 12: 18-19, 22-24a
4. Luke 14: 1, 7-14

• Is ambition a bad thing?
• My father use to counsel me that in my career I needed to always look ahead, always ask myself what I can be doing to qualify myself for that next promotion, that next assignment, push myself to greater ability and responsibility.  I don't know that that's necessarily bad advice, but maybe there's a point where ambition becomes toxic and we start to look like Shakespeare's Macbeth all over again.
• Have you ever had to say "no" to an offer of more responsibility, bigger scope to your function, maybe even a pay raise?
• What made you back away from that offer?
• How did you turn that down?
• How did you feel after that?
• How did you pray through that experience? 

• A home for the poor
• I have never in my life been food or shelter insecure, I've never felt threatened by any form of oppression or prejudice.  So finding solidarity with the poor is something that I have to work on.
• What exactly makes someone poor?  Is it just about money, or does it include the esteem of your peers, your security, your relationships, your education, ...?
• How do you help the poor?
• How did you get involved in those efforts?
• How do you know that what you're doing is enough? 

• The blood of Abel
• Cain and Abel remind us of the depths to which we can fall when we lose sight of God's love in our lives, and instead try to grab what we want, rather then ask ourselves where we have parted ways with God.
• How can you tell when your relationship with God is getting strained?
• When it happens, how do you find the source, the root of that strain?
• Do you think that you're getting better at that process as you get older?
• Why? 

• The danger of false humility
• Perhaps the most insidious of vices is false humility.  A person with false humility may use their appearance of humility as a way to manipulate others, or gain control of a situation, or gain validation of themselves.  But perhaps the worst liability is that the person afflicted with false humility can eventually fool themselves.
• What are some benefits of true humility?
• Does true humility have any down side?
• Is true humility about actions, motivation, both, neither?
• How do you guard against false humility?
• How has genuine humility brought you closer to God and others? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How is God calling me to greater trust?
• How might I find greater solidarity with the poor around me? 
• How might I become more sensitive to how my relationship with God is going?
• Am I truly humble before God and those around me?

After You

True humility finds:

Joy in giving,

Courage in honesty,

Meaning in serving.

 

When giving, honesty, or serving become a burden,

The coward's way out is to ignore that seismic shift in perspective.

Try not to answer the really deep questions about what's changed.

And desperately hope that no one notices.

 

But doing the right things for the wrong reasons is a poison,

That infects everything that it touches.

Sowing seeds of confusion and doubt.

All because I was afraid to look within.

 

Look within and find when 

When the light within me died.

The lamp of my love and passion winked out.

Leaving just an empty shell of a man where once I stood.

 

Maybe it was burnout from too much giving.

Maybe it was disappointment in the tangible results.

Maybe it was just time to move on, and I refused.

Maybe it was the sad, sad thought that I never belonged here at all.

 

Whatever the cause, I need to find it.

Pray for healing and consolation.

Admit to those that I serve that I am empty.

And maybe find solidarity with them in that emptiness.

 

Shalom!

21st Sunday in Ordinary TIme

Our readings for 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Isaiah 66: 18-21
2. Psalms 117: 1, 2
3. Hebrews 12: 5-7, 11-13
4. Luke 13: 22-30

• Radical inclusion
• God wants us all, and He wants all of each of us.  Yet it's sometimes difficult to accept others into our midst when they hail from a different culture, denomination, political perspective, you name it.
• Think of a time when someone new came into your life.  Maybe they were a soon to be in-law, maybe they were a new colleague at work, or someone looking into joining a ministry group that you had been a part of.
• Were you personally welcoming to them?
• If so, what did you actually say/do to help them feel welcome?
• If not, what lessons did you learn about hospitality from that?

• Telling the good news
• We have received "the Good News."  But what does that really mean?
• Do you have friends, family even, who you know would be much happier, more blessed if they could just see & appreciate God the way that you do?
• Do you think that they know that?
• What would have to happen before you might be tempted to share your faith with them?
• What scares you most about starting that dialogue?
• What scares you most about not starting that dialogue? 

• Forged in discipline
• Matthew Kelly has a chilling quote "you're only as good as your worst habits."
• What are some habits that you've accumulated through the years?  If you don't think that you have any, ask a close friend or spouse.
• Which of those habits bring you closer to God in some way?
• Why do you still have the rest of your habits?
• What is one habit that you wished that you had?  This could be something simple, like "the habit of being grateful for everything that comes my way", or "finding the best in other people, no matter what the circumstances. 

• State of grace
• It's too easy to judge others.  Not so easy to really take a hard look at ourselves.  Ignatius (and others) offer us the examen prayer to meditate fruitfully on our place in time and space, and see how best to move forward.
• Where has God been evident in the past 24 hours for you?
• What are you thankful for today?
•  What were the decisions that you made today?
• Were your motives always pure, did you take the appropriate time to pray through those decisions, were you listening to/for the voice of God?
• How can you do better tomorrow? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• How is God calling me to greater trust?
• How is my life drawing others to God? 
• What are my worst habits?
• How is God calling me to greater self-awareness?

Is it OK to Pray Here?

My wife and I were on our way home from Mass.
People were already streaming into the parking lot for the next Mass.

A gentleman, on foot, looking lost in the parking lot approached me.
"Is it OK if I pray here?  I'm not Catholic, but my friend was."

He went on: "I thought that if I prayed for them in a Catholic Church, God might hear me."
I wanted to get home, start the rest of my day.  So I just said "sure thing, the door's over there."

So many better responses have come to mind since then.
I could have told him "God loves to hear from His beloved, no matter where they are."

Better yet, "let me show you to the door and get you seated."
Better yet, "when you're done, I'd love to hear about your friend so that we can pray for them too."

Better yet, "who told you that you're not Catholic.  How do you know?
I am sure that your friend is very grateful that you're praying for them.  And God is too."

Perhaps best of all would have been "remember that you're always welcome to come back."
I pray to God that He'll help me remember this the next time he sends someone across my path.

Shalom!