"Well done, my good and faithful servant." That strikes me as the key theme in this week's readings:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/111608.shtml
Don't we all want to hear, "Good job!" from our spouses, children, parents, co-workers, teachers, bosses? We want to be validated for the effort we put in to our daily tasks.
Here are the readings for the week:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/110908.shtml
This Sunday is the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, and the readings present us with several images of "temples." The historic Temple in Jerusalem, the temple of our bodies, the temple of Christ's Body.
We can choose to honor these sacred spaces, or defile them. What does it mean to be holy? Is it a matter of following laws, remaining pure, sincerity of heart?
How do we create and honor sacred space in our daily lives?
This Sunday is the Feast of the Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed, or All Souls Day:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/110208.shtml
This time of the year is an "in-between" time...seasons changing, days growing shorter and nights longer. We're on the verge of winter, and the earth around us is winding down for a good long sleep. It's a natural time to reflect on our mortality and ponder what lies beyond the veil of death.
Where are our loved ones who have passed?
What lies ahead for us after this life?
What is heaven like?
Here are the readings this week:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/102608.shtml
I guess if you only ever read one passage of Scripture, this would be it!
The greatest commandment: "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: Your shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Here are the readings for the week:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/101908.shtml
We're all familiar with the traditional interpretation that supports the separation of church and state: "Give Caesar what's Caesar's and give God what's God's."
But I don't find that particularly helpful. Reality is messy, and our values inform our actions and our political perspectives too. This gospel reading shows the Pharisees and the Herodians (the religious AND political leaders) trying to trick Jesus into a no-win answer. Jesus, in his wonderful way, answers their question with one of his own.
This week's readings are offering me an abundance of food for thought:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/101208.shtml
In both the first reading and the Gospel, we see an image of God setting out a beautiful, rich feast and inviting us to come and enjoy. The table is set, the decorations laid, the delicious and plentiful food prepared. And God has asked us to come and sit down.
I know that I often feel too busy to accept the invitation. I settle for a bowl of cereal standing up in my kitchen on the way out the door instead of sitting down for a real meal with my family.
This is one of those weeks when the readings seem pretty, well, harsh:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/100508.shtml
See what I mean? We've got a couple of vineyards -- one where the vines aren't producing fruit, and one where the tenants aren't giving the landowner the produce of the vines. Two patches of land that seem useless...or at least that aren't being used to their full potential just at the moment.
Here are this week's readings:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/092108.shtml
It seems to me that the theme this week is that God can work in mysterious ways. Great U2 song. But still one of those cliches that can be very unhelpful and frustrating when you are dealing with a crisis or just trying to make sense of what's going on in your life.
Have you ever been annoyed when someone told you God worked in mysterious ways?
Have you ever felt comforted by that thought?
This week we celebrate the feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/091408.shtml
The symbol of the Cross, and the mystery of it, is so central to our faith. We have a God who suffered and died on the Cross, seemingly in shame and failure in the eyes of the world. And yet we triumph in the Cross because of what Jesus did while lifted upon it.
The Cross reminds us of the radical, complete, totally self-giving love that God has for each of us.
The Cross reminds us that God suffers with us when we suffer.
Here are the readings for the week:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/090708.shtml
Scripture this week presents us with images of community and challenges us about how to handle the conflicts that inevitably come up, even in a Christian community.
I take such comfort in the thought that "where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
