Day 1/Week 2

God has a plan for each of us and for all of creation. When we use the word "plan", note that we are not referring to a single, fixed, arbitrary path established according to God's own eternal laws, hidden from us. God's "plan" is that we might respond to God's unconditional love in the interpersonal and social reality that surrounds us. It is a plan for "communion", a living in friendship with God and with one another. My participation in this plan can receive its expression in both the extraordinary and ordinary moments of my life. The choice, however, is mine. God gives each of us the gift of freedom, and we can choose to respond to the invitation to relationship or go it alone.

Prayerfully Read: Jeremiah 29:10-13
29:10For thus says Yahweh, after seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end. 12You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.

Suggested Reflections:

♦ What stirs in me when I think that God has a purpose for my life and that my gifts are to be put to the service of that purpose?

♦ From where do I need to be "brought back"?

Day 2/Week 2

As we saw in the Context for Prayer this week, the story of the lost son and the dutiful son is a masterful illustration of God's desire to enter fully into loving relationship with each of us. The story also notes, however, that we all have the freedom to refuse that invitation to communion. That refusal, in fact, seems to be part of the human journey.

Spirituality begins with the acceptance that we are endowed with many gifts and strengths and much goodness. We are also, however, weak and limited and sinful. Our imperfection simply is. It isn't helpful to dwell on blaming others or ourselves. Spirituality helps us first to see, then to understand, and eventually to accept that we are loved even in this imperfection that lies at the core of our human being. It is, in fact, our brokenness and inability to find fulfillment in "going it alone" that opens us to our radical need for God. Spirituality can be understood as meaning "the way we are with God and the mystery of creation."

Ronald Rolheiser speaks of it as a "fire that burns within us." What we do with that fire, how we channel it, is our spirituality. We all, therefore, have a spirituality whether we want one or not, whether we are religious or not. Spirituality is more about whether or not we can sleep at night than about whether or not we go to church. It is about being integrated or falling apart, about being within community or being lonely, about being in harmony with the natural world or being alienated from it. Irrespective of whether or not we let ourselves be consciously shaped by any explicit religious idea, we act in ways that leave us healthy or unhealthy, loving or bitter. What shapes our actions is our spirituality. (See, Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing)

Prayerfully read: Luke 15: 11-32

15:11Then Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons.12The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, let me have the share of the estate that will come to me.' So the father divided the property between them.13A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.14When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch;15so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs.16And he would willingly have filled himself with the husks the pigs were eating but no one would let him have them.17Then he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father's hired men have all the food they want and more, and here am I dying of hunger!18I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;19I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired men.'20So he left the place and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him.21Then his son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.'22But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.23Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we will celebrate by having a feast,24because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.' And they began to celebrate.25 Now the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the house, he could hear music and dancing.26Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about.27The servant told him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the calf we had been fattening because he has got him back safe and sound.'28He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out and began to urge him to come in;29but he retorted to his father, ‘All these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed any orders of yours, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends.30But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property, he and his loose women, you kill the calf we had been fattening.'31'The father said, ‘My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours.32But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.' "

Suggested Reflections:

♦ Can I pick out any of the seven deadly sins in this passage (Pride, Anger, Lust,
Envy, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth)?

♦ In what ways has my experience of sin brought me closer to God?

Day 3/Week 2

One of the passages in scripture that many Christians strongly identify with is Paul's description in his Letter to the Romans of the power of sin and the tension between our desire to respond to God's invitation to communion and the pull of self‐centeredness and fear. The reading invites us to sense more deeply the sinful side of our personhood, not to discourage us but to allow us to more deeply appreciate God's constant and unconditional love for each one of us. We are loved as we are, in all of our weakness and sin. In highlighting the graced and ungraced sides of human experience, St. Paul hopes to deepen our appreciation of God's love and spark our desire to respond ever more faithfully.


Prayerfully Read: Romans 7: 18-25

7:18And really, I know of nothing good living in me in my natural self, that is for though the will to do what is good is in me, the power to do it is not: 19the good thing I want to do, I never do; the evil thing which I do not want-that is what I do. 20But every time I do what I do not want to, then it is not myself acting, but the sin that lives in me. 21So I find this rule: that for me, where I want to do nothing but good, evil is close at my side. 22In my inmost self I dearly love God's law, 23but I see that acting on my body there is a different law which battles against the law in my mind. So I am brought to be a prisoner of that law of sin which lives inside my body. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body doomed to death? 25God-thanks be to him through Jesus Christ our Lord. So it is that I myself with my mind obey the law of God, but in my disordered nature I obey the law of sin.

Suggested Reflections:

♦ What am I beginning to realize about my own blindness, deafness, and insensitivity?

♦ Can I identify with Paul's sense of helplessness and need for God in the face of those sinful patterns that I keep falling into over and over again?

Day 4/Week 2

For immigrants who journey to a new country, there can be a deep sense of being cut-off from one's family and cultural supports. The immigrant is acutely aware of living life as if on a raft far out to sea. In Danish philosopher/theologian Soren Kierkegaard's famous image, it is the terror of finding oneself floating above "70,000 fathoms of water". All it takes is one wave, one Tsunami, and our world is gone. But the immigrant is simply more conscious of a situation common to us all as we experience both the beauty and fragility of human life. We all face the decision of whether to respond to this situation in fear, by grasping and hoarding, shrinking back and closing down, or to open ourselves to life's mystery in trust and in faith.

Prayerfully Read: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

30:15Look, today I am offering you life and prosperity, death and disaster. 16If you obey the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I am laying down for you today, if you love Yahweh your God and follow his ways, if you keep his commandments, his laws and his customs, you will live and grow numerous, and Yahweh your God will bless you in the country which you are about to enter and make your own. 17But if your heart turns away, if you refuse to listen, if you let yourself be drawn into worshipping other gods and serving them, 18I tell you today, you will most certainly perish; you will not live for long in the country which you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19Today, I call heaven and earth to witness against you: I am offering you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live, 20in the love of Yahweh your God, obeying his voice, holding fast to him; for in this your life consists, and on this depends the length of time that you stay in the country
which Yahweh swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that he would give them.

Suggested Reflections:

♦ What are those patterns of thought, emotion, and/or behavior that bring me closer to God and others, and what are those that close me in on myself?

♦ Are there any relationships in my life where I have "closed down" and found it difficult to be open? Is there anyone I need to forgive or from whom I need to ask forgiveness?

Day 5/Week 2

No shepherd would ever risk leaving his flock unattended to go in search of one stray animal.
Like any good parable, that of the Good Shepherd was meant to shock the hearer into seeing the familiar anew. With an image common to his listeners, Jesus illustrates once again the passion and even reckless love of a God who embraces us in our sinfulness.

Prayerfully Read: Luke 15: 1-7

15:1The tax collectors and sinners, however, were all crowding round to listen to Jesus,2 and the Pharisees and scribes complained saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."3So Jesus told them this parable: 4"Which one of you with a hundred sheep, if he lost one, would fail to leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the missing one till he found it? 5And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders6and then, when he got home, call together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, I have found my sheep that was lost.'7In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner repenting than over ninety-nine upright people who have no need of repentance.

Suggested Reflections:

♦ Have I ever had an experience of drifting away or getting lost, being found and brought back?

♦ Who are those people in my world who need to be reached out to? Do I know anyone who might have a special need to experience being welcomed and cared for?

Day 6/Week 2

We take the Annunciation as our scripture passage today. As we prayerfully read this text, we can imagine Mary fantasizing about the joys of her up-coming married life with Joseph. Suddenly, there is an interruption – an intervention – that will turn her whole life upside down. Mary is disturbed, but listens. She questions and takes in the answer. She is not fully satisfied intellectually, but she trusts. "Let it be done as you have said" she tells the angel. It is a heartfelt "yes" to allow God's decision to become incarnate in the world through her. From this point on, this "yes" will be the compass that directs Mary's life. The Church honors Mary not only as the mother of Jesus, but also as the first disciple: one who hears the Word and puts it into practice.

Prayerfully Read: Luke 1: 26-38

1:26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28He went in and said to her, "Rejoice, you who enjoy God's favor! The Lord is with you." 29She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, 30but the angel said to her, "Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favor. 31Look! You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; 33he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end." 34Mary said to the angel, "But how can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?" 35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God."
36And I tell you this too: your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, 37for nothing is impossible to God.*[Gn 18:14] 38Mary said, "You see before you the Lord's servant, let it happen to me as you have said." And the angel left her.

Suggested Reflections:

♦ In what challenges of my life am I being asked to say, "yes" to God as Mary did?

♦ What do I do with my questions about the ways in which God seems to work in my life?

Day 7/Week 2

Heart Prayer

You can only pray what's in your heart.
So if your heart is being ripped from your chest
Pray the tearing.
If your heart is full of bitterness
Pray it to the last dreg.
If your heart is a river gone wild
Pray the torrent.
Or a lava flow scorching the mountain
Pray the fire.
Pray the scream in your heart
The fanning bellows.
Pray the rage, the murder
And the mourning.
Pray your heart into the great quiet hands that can hold it
Like the small bird it is.

Elizabeth Cunningham, From Goldman and Dols, Finding Jesus, Discovering Self, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, 2006, p. 52