Collect for 23rd Sunday of Year B

COLLECT SERIES

THE MASS: COLLECT SERIES ICON.

COLLECT

The Collect for the 23rd Sunday of the Year reads as follows:

O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption,

Look graciously upon Your beloved sons and daughters,

that those who believe in Christ,

may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance.

In making this prayer tangible for during the week, the following reflection questions emerged:

  REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1.What does it mean to me to be redeemed?

2. What difference will being redeemed make in my life this week with my family, friends, colleagues, strangers?

3.What does it mean to me to receive adoption from God?

4. What does it mean to me this week to be a beloved son or daughter of God?

5. If someone asked you this week why do you believe in Christ?- what answer would you give him/her?

6. What do you consider true freedom to be? Is it similar to/different from God's true freedom?

7. How can i examine my life ( or one area) of my life in the light of everlasting inheritance?  What can I change/improve this week?

 GOSPEL REFLECTION

In today's Gospel, we hear how Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak.

You may wish to read my thoughts on this gospel from Mark (7:31-37).  There are a couple of key areas to consider as we hear this Gospel read. They are as follows:

·        Jesus heals the ears first and then tongue- we need to hear the word of God first before         we can proclaim it.

·        Healing of the deaf and dumb man is also me at any time.  I need to be healed from the       deafness that I have allowed to permeate my life.  I need to be healed from dumbness-        of not speaking out to help a neighbour/colleague at work when injustice has occurred.

•   Listening to this Gospel invites us to consider our deafness and dumbness. 

·  Jesus healing is miraculous for the deaf and dumb man. The crowd acknowledge it and say "' He does all things well''.  We may think that there are no miracles in our life. Every day when we wake up is a miracle and blessing- God is providing us with another day to know, love and serve Him.  Everything we do and say and even not say can be a miracle for another person. A kind word here or a smile there can light up another person's world- it opens them up to hearing the world from a God perspective and the chance for them to share it with others.  This is just with a smile or a kind word. What miracles do we hear and speak of in our own lives? Do we say "God has done all things well'' in gratitude.  

·   It invites us to think of those who experience physical deafness: with hearing aids, it             makes it easier for the deaf person to hear. However it is not easy for the deaf person - it      is not the same as having one's own physical hearing.  Perhaps we may wish to be more     patient with someone who suffers hearing loss.  We may wish to thank God for our    physical  hearing.

·   It invites us to reflect seriously on our own spiritual deafness and dumbness.  Here we can come to Christ in reconciliation and ask for healing. In what ways am I spiritually deaf and dumb? How well  do I hear Christ when He speaks to me?

·    It invites us to think of the emotional impact of being physically, emotionally and spiritually      deaf and dumb can have on our lives and the lives of others.

EXPERIMENT/CHALLENGE TO LISTENING and COMMUNICATION.

1. Place 2 chairs 1.5 metres apart ( social distancing) of the same height.

2. Invite a spouse, family member/parishioner/colleague to have a short 1-minute (or less) conversation on a topic of their choice. This can be done also on skype, facetime etc in these challenging times.

3.Actively Listen to the person. 

4. Then in your own words tell the person what you heard them say. Listen carefully to the adjectives they used and also to the underlying mood/feelings.

5. Ask the person what you did not hear- what was left out. How well did you listen? How did the other person feel when they were heard/not heard? It is best not to take notes since this is a distraction from listening but this can be used as an intermediate step to active listening if you find that neither of the parties involved are listening well.

4. Invite the person to share the experience.

5. Now it is your turn to have your conversation. Repeat the process.

The key to becoming a better active listener is to practise it as it is a skill.  Do not start on some topic that is likely to be stressful/ an unresolved conflict in a marriage.  Start with some topic that means something to you but does not carry any emotional baggage with it.  For example: My favourite flowers, a favourite movie or a movie I dislike b/c...
The other key to making this successful is keeping the conversation short at first- to give both speaker and listener the chance to develop good communication skills.

You can even tape it if you wish to really hone your listening skills or if you want to try this experiment/challenge on your own.  You can talk about something for a short time, write down what you think you said and then play the tape- what is the outcome? How well did you listen to yourself?

You can even try the listening challenge with Jesus in your prayer time. How well do we listen then?

 COMMUNICATION.

1.  .  . Imagine you are dumb.  You are wanting to express how you feel.  Imagine you are feeling sad- not depressed at the bottom of the emotional pit but sad and give it a number out of 10.

2.            2.   You are going to communicate with another person this level of sadness.

    3. The other person needs to establish what the emotion is and its intensity.

How well did you communicate and how well did the other person understand your emotion and its intensity?

In today's society we often take our senses for granted.  They are a gift from God. Perhaps today our prayer of thanksgiving can be:

                         

                               ''God does all things well'' Thank you God.

We may even like to pray this hymn as we listen or sing "Open our ears Lord''  or this well-known hymn ''Open my eyes Lord''

12 Step Catholic Spirituality Series. Introduction to Series.

WELCOME TO MY 12 STEP CATHOLIC SPIRITUALITY SERIES.

Introduction to Series.

 

Welcome to my 12 Step Catholic Spirituality Series.  This series is based on the 12 Steps of AA and could have easily been called 12 Step Christian Anon programme.  However, I prefer to think of it as a 12 Step guide to Catholic spirituality. 

This series can be used in whatever way it suits you. You may decided to initiate a group in your parish or prefer a personal journey with the Lord. However, to be able to complete Step 5 another human being needs to be involved. More about that later, but you might like to think about who that special priest/spiritual director might be.

This programme can be completed over 12 weeks if you wish to complete each step every week. You may prefer to journey along with the series, since I have chosen a monthly process for each step with the new step being introduced on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. I have used the word selfishness to cover a range of sins/ addictions/ behaviour patterns. You may wish to choose your own word suitable to your own situation since we are all individuals with different issues.

12 STEPS

So what are the 12 steps? They are as follows:

1.            We admit that we cannot realise our fullest human potential by living a life of 

''selfishness''.

2.            We confess that Jesus Christ can lead us to the fullness of life.

3.            We decide to term our lives over to Jesus Christ.

4.            We make a searching and fearless moral inventory.

5.            We admit to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6.            We declare ourselves ready to love God, remove all our defects of character.

7.            We humbly ask God to remove all our shortcomings.

8.            We make a list of all persons we have harmed, and determine to make amends to them.

9.            We make direct amends to those we have harmed, except when to do so would injure them.

10.         We continue to take personal inventory and promptly admit when we are wrong.

11.         We seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry on.

12.         Spiritually awakened as a result of these Steps, we are determined to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all areas of life.

These steps might seem daunting at first, but day by day, step by step with God''s loving assistance, these steps become a great tool towards deeper spiritual growth. We cannot successfully embark on this journey without 

·                     asking God's assistance as we start and progress through these 12 steps.

·                     spending time with Him asking Him to shed light on our darkness/selfishness.

·                     setting our personal goals on what we hope we might achieve before we embark on this journey.

·                     reviewing our goals as we progress through the 12 steps.

·                     realising that these 12 steps are an ongoing journey- so in one sense we never quite complete the programme.  However, we can make every effort to complete it to the best of our ability where we are at this present moment in our lives.

PREPARING FOR THE JOURNEY.

To prepare for step 1, we may wish to

·                     Get a journal where we can record our journey. We may need to decide on a safe                   place so that it is between God and myself only. Putting a journal where we know                  other family members can find it is unwise and unhelpful.

·                     Pray to God this week for assistance as we prepare to start this journey.

·                     Write down your goals of what you hope to achieve through these 12 step journey.                You may wish to choose a particular issue/ difficulty/ sin/pattern of behaviour that                  you specifically wish to work on during these 12 months and chart your progress.

·                     Reflect on during the week how Step 1 speaks to you.

Now there is a framework, we will journey along for the next 4 weeks on step 1.

Happy preparation for the journey.

Who am I for you? Chapter 8:27-30).

GOSPEL OF MARK SERIES

The Bible: Gospel of Mark Series.

 

During the remainder of 2018, each week, I will write a weekly post about the Gospel of Mark, as I review and explore each of the 16 chapters and how it may be applied in our daily lives. My goal is to understand and pray the Gospel of Mark. I hope you will join me on this journey as we travel through the liturgical season.
In today's post, we explore chapter 8: 27-30 which is called Who am I for you?

Who am I for you? Chapter 8:27-30).

These few verses usher in the first climax in Mark's Gospel, which was said the beginning to be about Jesus as Christ and Son of God.  Her He is name the Christ or Messiah. Only after His death will He be publicly named Son of God. (15:39).

Jesus is still outside Israel, travelling among the villages to the north near Caesarea Phillipi where the Jordan river rises from the mountains.  The 'way' used by Mark here and several times in the next part of his Gospel, can mean not only to the physical roadway, but may also symbolise 'the way'.  Jesus is teaching His disciples to walk as true disciples, the theme of the next part of his Gospel (8:1-10:52).

Jesus first asks what outsiders, people who are not disciples, say about him.  Various answers are given which identify him with great figures from Israel's past, for like the blind man they do not see clearly yet.  Then Jesus asks his disciples, ''But who do you say that I am?".

Earlier, Jesus silenced the demons who named Him (1:34, 3:12) and also the people whom He cured (7:36, 8:26).  His disciples asked among themselves in astonishment and in terror, who is this man (4:25)?  Now Jesus himself asks his disciples to name Him, as He asked each of us, not from any book knowledge but from an experience of being touched by Him in one's own life.

Peter, like the blind man when he sees clearly, names Him the Messiah, which means Christ, the one anointed by God for the divine task of revealing His power to Israel.  Peter is thinking of the popular expectation of a worldly and political Messiah.  At the same time, it may be Peter's best word to identify the most wonderful person he has ever met.

This episode serves as a bridge passage which concludes the first half of Mark's Gospel and begins the second.

In our journal and/or our discussion group we may wish to reflect on this passage as follows:

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

•  Name the key points that you have learnt about the person of Jesus in this              passage of scripture.
•   Imagine that you are one of the disciples What do you see and hear and feel?          . What can I learn from this? 
•  How does the question of Jesus in this passage resonate with you?  What would you say?
•  Why did Jesus ask the disciples not to tell others of His identity?  
•  How would we respond to Jesus regarding our blindness and sight in relation   to His identity?  
• Reflect on my relationship with Jesus and this teaching in the light of this gospel         passage.  
•  What impact does Jesus’ teaching have on you (8:27-30)? 
•  How has this passage spoken to you- what does it say to you personally?  ·  
• If you were to meet a fellow parishioner who was interested in reading gospel of Mark, what would you say to him/her about this passage? 
•  If a fellow parishioner had read this passage, what might he/she say about this            passage?

Collect for 22nd Sunday of Year B:

COLLECT SERIES

The Mass: Collect Series Icon.

COLLECT

The Collect for the 22nd Sunday of Year B reads as follows:

God of might, giver of every good gift,

put into our hearts the love of Your name,

so that, by deepening our sense of reverence,

You may nurture in us what is good,

and by Your watchful care,

keep safe what You have nurtured.

 REFLECTION QUESTIONS

In making this prayer tangible for during the week, the following reflection questions emerged:

1.Name the good gifts God has given you this week/fortnight/month.  (This is particularly useful when we are feeling down and/or life feels on top of us.  It is also useful to do to nurture grace of gratitude.).

2. What does the name of God mean to you?

3. How do you feel when I misuse the name of God and when others misuse it?

4. What can I do when God's name is misused?

5. What does a sense of reverence mean to me- are you fearful what others may think of you when you have a sense of reverence?

6. Name the areas in your life that God has nurtured good in you?  How do you want Him to continue to nurture these areas?

7. How can God keep safe what He has nurtured that is good in me?

GOSPEL REFLECTION

When it comes to God's name being used irreverently, we may feel that we have to keep quiet and cannot speak out.  We may fear what others might say to us if we politely correct them.  So, before you embark on improving this aspect and highlighting in your circle of friends, family, parishioners, colleagues, strangers etc. you may wish to listen carefully to oneself first.  How often do I take the name of the Lord in vain- do i even give it a thought?  Expressions such as OMG comes to mind.

Listen to yourself over a day or two and see what happens? What are the expressions I use myself which are irreverent to God?

During this coming week, why not join me in an experiment:  listen to conversations that we have, with ourselves, family, colleagues at work, watch the TV, read the paper, notice billboards and count up the number of times the name of God and the things of God are spoken or written about irreverently.  Perhaps if this seems too much just focus on one of these areas. 

Then for every time that God's name is irreverently used,  say a prayer- a Glory Be would be great as it praises God or Our Father or Hail Mary or your own prayer. Any prayer that praises God said with love and reverence offers reparation for the sin.  Remember the second commandment

 "' You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.(Deut 5:11) 

Jesus reminds us also  when He said  ''You have heard that it was said to the men of old, "You shall not swear falsely. . But I say to you, Do not swear at all.(Mt 5:33-34).

Jesus in today's Gospel of Mark that we forget the commandments of God and hold on to human traditions. You may wish to check out my thoughts on this Gospel chapter 7 from my Mark Series.  The Gospel also used 14-15,21-23 from chapter 7.

The second reading of James invites us to be doers of the word.  Like James, I invite us to join together to be doers of the word this week in whatever way we can.

Once we have examined our own use of God's name, we may wish to read Compendium of the Catholic Church and revise the Second Commandment.  Examine how it affects you personally as you read it.  Then be prepared to find your own ways to give God's name honour and reverence.

I can tell you a personal story of how I approached it myself.  I take an older lady shopping regularly.  She is not a catholic.  At first, I noticed how many times she used bad language and irreverent use of God's name. I used to cringe and wanted to say something, but thinking that she is not a Catholic and she is an elderly lady, I decided it was inappropriate.  First mistake: Every time someone misuses God''s name, it is belittling God, and the things of God. I , as a Catholic should stand up for what I believe and hold dear.

This went on for some time as I felt weak to say something.  Then one day, I decided, after some prayer on the matter, to say something.  I calmly said "' I would prefer you not to use God's name that way as it is offensive to my beliefs''.  She looked at me with great surprise- I felt sick but also happy. Then the biggest surprise of all- she said "' thank you for stopping me- I have got into a bad habit and have not been able to stop it''.

Years later, I still take that lady shopping and I seldom get an irreverent word from her- an occasional one slips out from time to time. There is always a very quick apology.

So, if we as Catholics do not stand up for what we hold dear ( provided of course we do), then we cannot expect society to take us seriously either.  We must stand up and be counted.

Start of course with ourselves of course because it is often easier to find the splinter in the eye of another and not the plank in our own as Jesus warns us.  However with God's help, this plank can be removed and with our constant love for Him and our efforts through the grace of God.

Perhaps you might like to start something like this or a version of this in your parish- pick an issue which as as parish you can work on together.  It starts with one person- and the ripple effect will take hold.

19th Sunday of Year Collect

COLLECT SERIES

COLLECT

The Mass: Collect Series Icon.

The Collect for the 19th Sunday of Year B reads as follows:

Almighty and ever-living God,

whom, taught by the Holy Spirit,

we dare to call God our Father,

bring, we pray, to perfection to our hearts,

the spirit of adoption as Your sons and daughters,

that we may merit to enter into the inheritance 

which you have promised.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

In making this Collect Prayer tangible the following reflection questions emerged:

1.What does calling God our Father mean to me?

2.Why do I want to pray for the spirit of adoption as God's children?

3. What does it mean to me to be a son or daughter of God? What difference will it make in my life this coming week?

4.Why do I want to merit Heaven as the inheritance to which I have been promised?

5. What area in my life will I change this week with God's help ? How I will be a better person by next Sunday?

GOSPEL REFLECTION

Today's readings are very helpful to us.  In the first reading, Elijah had reached his limit. He had had enough and told God so. He just wanted to die.  I dont know about you, but there are plenty of times in my life where i have said almost those same words "God, I have had enough". I may not have voiced the second phrase, but there are times when dying would have been a great way out at the time.

However, as we see in the reading, and hopefully in our lives as well, that God provides for our weakness, provides us with strength and courage to continue when things are tough and at times places the right person in our path to help us. We need to be faithful and persevere and know that God is with us in every moment of every day. We are a child of God who has been promised the inheritance.  Are we going to merit it or give up?

We don’t need to give up or lose courage.  Jesus tells us in the Gospel today, that He is the bread of life.  In other words, Jesus provides us with food for the journey- not just any food but Himself under the appearance of bread and wine.  We can go to Mass daily or as often as we can to hear the word of God and to receive Him in communion.

At Mass, the readings provide the word of how we are to live. Take for instance the second reading today. It is quite clear that we are not meant to call each other names or be jealous. No, we are to walk in love with Jesus by our side.  We do not need to be afraid, lose heart, lack courage as Jesus loves us and, as His children God will provide for all our needs.  Not only, that, when we receive Jesus in communion, we are together with Him - in union.  If we are in union with God every time,we receive Eucharist at Mass, then all of our weaknesses, flaws, anxieties, fears etc can be given to Him.  We can walk in courage and faith knowing in hope that Jesus is there always.  

So put Jesus first place in your life every day.  Make Jesus your no 1 of your heart and mind.

May you continue to walk the journey in love and when discouragement and problems come, call out to God, knowing that He will give your courage and encouragement. God will provide.

May you have a blessed week