NEW BLOG

Thank you to all of you who have been following my Religious Education reflections here at Echoinghope. I will be moving my Sunday Gospel reflections as well as others to a new blog:

 mountcarmelmv.blogspot.com

The new blog will feature similar and more frequently updated content that will be geared a bit more specifically to the my parish faith community in Mill Valley, CA through applicable to much wider audience! I hope that many of you will still stay connected and give me feedback on how I can grow in echoing the hope that is among us. 

Love one another!

Jonathan

Sunday Gospel Reflection: October 23rd, 2011

Matthew 22: 34-40

We should all memorize part of today’s Gospel:

What is the greatest commandment? "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. “

In his first letter for the benefit of all Catholics (encyclical), Pope Benedict XVI gave us a beautiful reflection on how our God is a God of love and what that means for us as followers of Jesus. Reflecting on the two-fold commandment in today’s Gospel he writes that the “love of God and love of neighbour are thus inseparable, they form a single commandment.” We need both and they mutually enrich and inspire the other.

It is not enough to just to love other people, for, “if I have no contact whatsoever with God in my life, then I cannot see in the other anything more than the other, and I am incapable of seeing in him the image of God.”

But it is also not enough to just sit in prayer and love God, for “if in my life I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be “devout” and to perform my “religious duties”, then my relationship with God will also grow arid. It becomes merely “proper”, but loveless.”

“Only my readiness to encounter my neighbour and to show him love makes me sensitive to God as well. Only if I serve my neighbour can my eyes be opened to what God does for me and how much he loves me.” (Pope Benedict XVI, God is Love (Deus Caritas), 18)

*Interested in reading more? You can read it here! Check out Part II of Deus Caritas Est.

Questions for Reflection and Discussion:

-How can we love God if we cannot see Him?

-Isn’t love a feeling? How can I love someone who I am mad at or who annoys me?

-Why is it difficult to love others if we do not love God?

-Why is it difficult to love God if we do not love others?

-What are three ways we can love people in our life (be concrete!)? Commit to following through with one of those ways this week.

--What are three ways we can love God? (be concrete!) Commit to following through with one of those ways this week.

October 16th 2011: Sunday Gospel Reflection

Matthew 22:15-21

What belongs to God?

In today’s Gospel passage the Jewish leaders are trying to trick Jesus into getting in trouble with the government (Roman Empire) by trying to get him to say that a person need not pay taxes (since paying taxes wasn’t one of the Jewish laws).

Jesus responds by asking them: whose face is imprinted on the coins? When they respond “Caesar” He tells them that they should “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”.

It is important as Christians for us to live a life of justice: giving each person what is owed to them. But how do we give God what belongs to Him? What belongs to God? We believe that God created the world, every person, and everything. Every day God continues to give us life and love as a free gift. While Caesar’s face was imprinted on coins, the face of God is imprinted on each of our hearts. We are called to give God our whole selves, everything that we are, nothing less. We do this by resembling God in our thoughts, words and actions.

Questions for Reflection and Discussion:

-What is one way I resemble God and share His presence with others?

-What is one way I need to work on resembling God and sharing His presence with others?

-Imagine that the laws of the Government and God’s laws worked together. What would be different here in Mill

Valley?

A Morning Prayer

Dear God, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings this day. I believe that I am your beloved Son/Daughter. Help me to be the best version of myself so that I may resemble Jesus and share His love with everyone I see today. Amen.

October 10th 2011: Sunday Gospel Reflection

Matthew 22: 1-14

God lovingly created each person so that each of us might love God in return and be the happiest we can be! In the Old Testament we hear stories about how God created covenants (or pacts) with His Chosen People, the Jews (Abraham, Moses, Noah, etc.). God promised that He would never leave them and always help them if they were faithful to God.

When God sent Jesus into the world he created a New Covenant (or pact) which was not meant just for one group of people but for everyone. Jesus told his followers that He came into the world so that all people might have new life in Him.

In today’s Gospel Jesus tells a parable (or story) about this New Covenant. He tells a story about a King who invited his friends to a wedding party for his Son, but none of them came, they rejected the invitation. As a result the King invited others to the wedding party who might not normally have been invited because they were slaves, poor or didn’t seem to ‘fit in’. Like the King, Jesus invites each one of us, every person to be His follower and to share His life in the loving arms of God.

Will we say ‘yes’ to God’s invitation to us not only in our words but in our actions? In the parable one of the people who said ‘yes’ to the invitation did not show respect for the wedding party by wearing inappropriate clothes. He made a decision that meant he wasn’t able to stay at the party.

We are invited to be in covenant relationship with God. This means (like any relationship) that we have to be good friends of God by loving Him and our neighbors. When we are not good friends of God it is like we are walking away from Him. God is always ready to welcome us back if we turn back toward Him.

Questions for Reflection/Discussion:

-How does God want me to be faithful to our Covenant? (living as an active member in the Church, following the commandments/beatitudes, golden rule, etc.)

-Do I believe that every person is created by God and has equal dignity in God’s eyes?

-Who are people who I don’t like or who I don’t have respect for?
-What can I do this week to show them the love God has for them? 

October 2nd 2011: Sunday Gospel Reflection

Matthew 21: 33-43  

God created us with free will so that we will flourish and have life “to the full”. Since God gave us the freedom to love him it means we also have the freedom to turn away from God. Even when we turn away from God, He continues to love us and reach out to us. The ongoing story of God loving us is called Salvation History.

In today’s Gospel Jesus tells a parable of a landowner (God) who leases his land (the world) to tenants (human beings/us). When the landowner sends workers (prophets and saints) to collect the harvest the tenants mistreated them and even killed them! Finally the landowner sent his own Son (Jesus) and they even killed him!

In this parable Jesus is teaching us that sometimes we are like the tenants and that it is our responsibility to listen to God’s voice and to be good tenants by caring for God’s creation and our neighbor.

Other times we are like the workers (prophets and saints) who are sent into the vineyard to do the landowners’ will. Sometimes living out our faith and right relationship with God will be unpopular; we may be mistreated or made fun of. Yet, Jesus reminds us, the stone that the builder rejected has become the cornerstone; Jesus was rejected and died for us so that we can be with Him forever. Jesus is the cornerstone for all of history and for our lives, that most important piece without which the whole building will fall down!

Jesus already suffered and died for us and promises us that if we say ‘yes’ daily to follow Him, sometimes even when it is difficult, we will be most happy in the Kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven.

Questions for Reflection/Discussion

-What/who has God given us in our lives to care for?

-How can I better care for what God has entrusted to me?

-Am I willing to do what is unpopular because of my faith and love of God?

-Is it better not to do or say the right thing because it might be unpopular? Or Is it better to do what is right even if there are some negative consequences?

-Give an example when you have done the right thing because of your love for God and others that was not popular.

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September 25th 2011: Sunday Gospel Reflection

Matthew 21: 28-32

In today’s Gospel Jesus tells a story about two sons who are each asked by their father to go out to the vineyard to work. One son says ‘yes’ but never goes, the other says ‘no’ but ends up going after all. The message of Jesus is that we are called to be authentic people of Faith. Jesus does not care if we say the right things but rather that we be the right kind of people.

When we remember and believe that we are loved abundantly (even irrationally!) by God then we will choose to love Him in return. When we choose not to love God and our neighbor we become less whole and send a message to our friends, and family that what we believe might not be true.

A Franciscan priest, Brennan Manning, once wrote that: 

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle…

that is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." 

Today we have an opportunity to be authentic, the best versions of ourselves that we can be. When people see us love others as radically as God loves us they will know that there is something different about us, that God is with us and that we (all) are the Beloved Daughters and Sons of God!

Questions for Reflection/Discussion: 

-In what ways to I not act in a way consistent to what I say about being a follower of Jesus?

-Who are the people in my life who are looking for an authentic Christian example?

 -What is one way that I can be that example by loving someone radically this week?

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September 18th 2011: Sunday Gospel Reflection

Matthew 20:1-16

In today's Gospel Jesus tells a parable that does not seem fair. Some workers came to the vineyard and worked a full day, some a half-day, and some only a few hours; they each were paid a full day's wage.

We do not think as God thinks; this is Good News. God loves us radically and extravagantly no matter what we do. He has a plan for each of us and promises us that if we stay close to Him He will lead us to a life full of abundant joy. Certainly the God who made us knows what is best for us, right? Perhaps He even knows better than we do! We will be truly happy if we respond to God’s abundant love with a radical faith and trust in God. 

Respond Today: 

-When we are faced with difficulty, frustration or injustice, practice turning to God in prayer.

-Love someone radically in a way they might not deserve.

-Advocate for someone who is not receiving what is just.

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