Even the everyday stuff counts . . . .

Bible study tonight, and I'm thinking, I'm too busy. I know, I know, but I still thought it. So, we're studying Sunday's readings, and the first reading is about leprosy in the Old Testament, how anyone had to live apart if they had leprosy. The psalm went, "I turn to you, O Lord, in time of trouble and you fill me with the joy of salvation." (No, there is not an equation of sin = sickness) Second reading talked about not alienating others, and being open. Gospel was Jesus touching and curing a leper (hint - touching the leper was a big no-no).

The reflection was about how we are drawn to Jesus because he loves us no matter how 'diseased' we are. We are reminded to be welcoming to all, and to consider who are the outcasts in our lives. It can be emotional, physical, or mental separation. We are to embrace them as Jesus would.

So, it's my turn to read, and I'm still disconnected from the moment (aka - 'self-alienated' perhaps??) and this is what I get to read: "When we are sick and in pain, when we are experiencing alienation or loneliness, when we are overwhelmed with everyday challenges, we tend to seek the presence and help of another who understands what we are going through. At other times we are the one whom hurting people seek. Sometimes we need Jesus to touch and heal us. Sometimes we are this Jesus who touches and heals others." (Living Liturgy 2012 - emphasis mine)

Wow - that made me take notice.  Everyday challenges can be alienation, too.  Like feeling too busy for bible study?  Guess that was my neon sign for the day!

God, You knew me before I was born, and You hold my life, my talents, my struggles, my joys, my pain in your strong embrace.  Help me to turn to Jesus when I forget this, and help me to be like Jesus when others forget You.  ~Amen.

Ordinary time is NOT ordinary

Taken from Living Liturgy 2012:

These thirty-four weeks of non-festal time are named "Sundays in Ordinary Time," first, because they derive non from a feast day as such (they use to be called Sundays "after Epiphany" or "after Pentecost") but from the mystery of Jesus Christ. These Sundays, then rather than celebratings a particular saving event (such as Christmas, Easter, pentecost), actually celebrate the whole mystery of Christ. For this reason, every Sunday might also be called a "cominical" feast day, that is, a day celebrating the Lord (from the Latin Dominus, Lord).

Second, they are called "Ordinary Time" because they are numbered or "counted time" (from the Latin word ordinarius and its cognates, which mean "according to order," "regular"). Although the Latin is translated from the editio typica (the official, Latin version of our liturgical texts) in English by "ordinary," we must not think these Sundays are prosaic or unimportant. In fact, they make up the longest liturgical season of the year, the church's teaching time. This is the time when, Sunday after Sunday, we walk with Jesus through a gospel and learn what it means to be his followers, what it means to hear and heed his call; and we learn how to come to deeper relationship with him.

First Sunday of Advent

November 27, 2011 – First Sunday of Advent – Year B

*First Sunday of the third edition of the Roman Missal*

I can hardly believe it is here! There are several “its” to which I refer:
1 – It’s a new liturgical year. Happy New Year!
2 – It’s the first Sunday we are using all new mass settings, plus our new/changed responses.
3 – It’s the first Sunday of Advent – wow! Where has the time gone?
4 – It’s almost December, which means the month will fly by with lots of activities and preparations for Christmas.

I admit, Advent snuck up on me. Or, probably more honestly, I wasn’t alert to the fact that Advent was almost here! It’s rather odd that I missed the countdown, considering that I’ve spent the last 4 weeks preparing to use the new mass settings in our liturgy, beginning with the first Sunday of Advent. Talk about missing the forest for the trees! But that mindset is exactly what the readings address in Sunday’s liturgy – ‘Be watchful! Be alert!’. If we don’t anticipate and prepare, we are likely to miss it completely.


There is much I could say about how the songs fit and support the readings, but in the interest of brevity, I’ll keep it short. Here’s the anticipated song list:


Opening – Maranatha (Come Lord)
Psalm – Respond & Acclaim “Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved”
Presentation/Preparation – Turn to Me
Communion – Christ Be Our Light
Closing – City of God
After – Soon & Very Soon


I realize you may not all be attending the same Sunday liturgy, but I encourage you to pay attention to the music selection and look for ways that the songs echo the readings. It may be obvious or it may be subtle. Take one song, and focus on the words. What is the meaning? What word or phrase speaks to you? What is challenging about the message?

One last thought – the season of Advent is a time for us to watch and be alert, but for what? It’s more than Jesus’ birth at Christmas. We must also anticipate Christ’s coming at the end of time, and most especially, we must look for Jesus in our daily lives. If we don’t clarify our expectations, we are likely to miss our God among us now.

Resources used:
Living Liturgy by Liturgical Press – http://www.litpress.org/
Today’s Liturgy by Oregon Catholic Press – http://www.ocp.org/
Breaking Bread – Music Issue – www.ocp.org

I love you, Lord, my strength

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/102311.cfm

Tonight's bible study was a fruitful one - we study the readings for the coming Sunday - and I made a connection tonight that I hadn't found before. I love it when things like that happen - when I am either finally open or willing to see the next layer or deeper meaning.

The Gospel was the question about which is the greatest commandment, and you know how that plays out. However the commentary we studied showed how the greatest comandment and the second are connected: We love God when we love our neighbor, realizing that the strength to do so comes from allowing God to love us. What a lovely circle; the more I embrace God's love of me, the more I can share this love with my neighbors, the more I glorify my God, and so on.

What We DO Know

I received this as an email from a friend, and it was too powerful not to share:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ~Romans 8:28

We know…There are so many things we do not know. We do not know if the economy will dip or if our team will win. We do not know what our spouse is thinking or how our kids will turn out. We don’t even know “what we ought to pray” (Rom. 8:26). But according to Paul, we can be absolutely certain about four things. We know…

1. God works. He is busy behind the scenes, above the fray, within the fury. He hasn’t checked out or moved on. He is ceaseless and tireless. He never stops working.

2. God works for the good. Not for our comfort or pleasure or entertainment, but for our ultimate good. Since he is the ultimate good, would we expect anything less?

3. God works for the good of those who love him. Behold the benefit of loving God! Make his story your story, and your story takes on a happy ending. Guaranteed. Being the author of our salvation, he writes a salvation theme into our biography.

4. God works in all things. Panta, in Greek. Like “panoramic” or “panacea” or “pandemic.”All-inclusive. God works, not through a few things or through the good things, best things, or easy things. But in “all things” God works.

Puppet in the hands of fortune or fate? Not you. You are in the hands of a living, loving God. Random collection of disconnected short stories? Far from it. Your life is a crafted narrative written by a good God, who is working toward your supreme good.