Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time

Here are the readings for the Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 28, 2011:

Jeremiah 20: 7-9
Psalm 63: 2-6, 8-9
Romans 12: 1-2
Matthew 16: 21-27

What gets you all fired up?  What do you love doing so much that you lose all track of time? What makes life just *that* much better for you? Maybe it's reading or gardening, exercising or cooking, building something in a workshop, or any job that you truly love.

If you think about that thing, you can get just a small sense of Jeremiah's dilemma. Deep down, his call was to be a prophet of the Lord, deep down- that's what gave him life ... and yet he struggled because the outcome was less glamorous and more dangerous than he was ready for. (Sort of a "Dirty Jobs: BC Edition")

Peter, too, had a different plan for what it meant to have an 'in' with the Messiah. Fame, power, prestige... all those temptations Jesus had successfully faced down in the desert after his baptism. And so Jesus is very direct with him, in redirecting Peter's expectations for discipleship!

But in the midst of what seem very harsh words, consider this... what if 'losing one's life for my sake' means that in spite of the hardships that arise, discipleship brings you so much joy, absorbs so much of your positive attention (like reading, or gardening, etc) that you find abundant life precisely in following the ways of Jesus Christ?!

Deny ourselves, take up our crosses, follow Jesus....   we're not promised a life without pain or sacrifice, but by being true to who we really are (people created in the image and likeness of God) our sorrows and thirsts, misunderstandings and obstacles can be transformed by the Divine Perspective, by hope, and by the promise of the resurrection.

• In the crosses you have carried during your life, what part of yourself did you deny?
• In this carrying of the cross, what life did you gain?

Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time

Here are the readings for the Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 21, 2011:

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


Here's the key to it all: Who do YOU say that Jesus is, for you?


Inquiry meets this Tuesday, August 23.

Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Here are the readings for the Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 14, 2011:

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

A determined mother meets a man with a defined mission and challenges him to expand his vision. A woman dares to speak with an unrelated man of a different religion, and demonstrates an awareness of Jesus' power that many of his own culture were unable to accept. God's salvation is, after all, offered to all people, and we have the free will to accept or reject it.

If you could ask one thing of Jesus, what would that be?

Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Here are the readings for the Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 7, 2011:

1 Kings 19: 9a, 11-13a
Psalm: 85: 9-14
Romans 9: 1-5
Matthew 14:22-33

It is much too simple, and yet truthful all the same, to assert that 'peace' is a by-product, a deep assurance of God's intimate presence. Time and again in the Gospels, the Risen Christ greets his disciples with, "Peace!". He's echoing the scriptural greetings of the archangels whenever they, the messengers of God, appeared to humans. (Let's be honest, if an angel or previously-dead man appeared to you, wouldn't a sense of peace be exactly what you'd need?!)

There's a sense that this peace is hard-won.... not a simple fact of a lovely sunny, cool day with an ant-less picnic in your favorite locale... but the deep assurance that in whatever our struggles, whatever the storms that may surround us, God is there. God is there and ultimately will not let us come to ruin.  It is, I think, unfair to blame God for these 'storms' as if God tests us in order to reward us--- that's just sort of passive-aggressive, which has never been one of the traditional names or descriptions of our Creator! 

Rather, while God is perfect, and creation is good, the reality is that humanity, and life, is imperfect. And as the old saying goes, 'bad things happen to good people'. Unemployment. Foreclosure. Illness. Strained Relationships. Flunking a Course. Where is God? There may be no immediate fix, but remember Elijah and listen for the still small voice, remember Peter and reach out for Jesus.... focus on the peace in the whirlwind as a guide for how to live through it and come at last to the assurance that God IS with us.

• Do you pray every day, taking time to listen as well as talk?
• Where in your life do you feel ill-at-ease? Are there changes you could make that would lead you to peace?
• When have you felt God's presence holding you up through difficult times?
• Do you have an opportunity to extend that peace of Christ to someone who is now weathering their own storm?

Mystagogia meets this Sunday, 10:45-11:30am.
Inquiry meets August 9 at 7pm.

Sunday Reading Resource

Here is another website that can help you prepare for or reflect on the Sunday Mass scriptures.

If you have children or teens, there are also questions and activities designed to relate to them.