Opening Prayer – 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Father God,
Your love for us is unlike any love we have ever known
Your love has no boundaries, no conditions, no reservations
Your love has given us life, it has died for us, and it redeems us
May we seek Your love in our lives;
our souls are yearning to embrace Your love!

Journal/Reflection Questions
Isaiah 49:14-15
• Is there a time in your life when you felt God had abandoned you? A time you felt God was absent from a trial or tribulation you suffered?
• How does God comfort people today? Where do you see God’s comfort?

1Corinthians 4:1-5
• What motivates you to do good or to do bad? Try to identify the feelings or emotions you feel when you are drawn to do the right thing and compare them to the feelings or emotions you have when you are drawn to do something you know is not right.
• What is a steward? How are you a steward of God’s mysteries? Do you protect those mysteries? Do you keep them hidden or do you share them with others? What would a good steward do with God’s mysteries?

Matthew 6:24-34
• Are you more like the worrier or the wildflowers?
• What lesson(s) can you take from the wildflowers?

General Questions for Journaling
• Reflect on a time when you needed God to comfort you. Was God there? How? Spend time going back to the specific moment when you knew God was with you.
• Has there been a situation in your life when you felt forsaken by another? What became of the person or of the situation? Where was God in it?
• Can you relate to the comparison of God as a nursing mother? Why or why not? What does it say to you?
• Are there specific gifts which God has made you the steward of? What are those gifts? Are you being a good steward or a bad steward of the gifts God has entrusted with you?
• What motivates you to get up each day? What does this motivation say about your priorities?
• What are the things you value the most? Write down five things in the order which you value them. Is this task easy or difficult? Why?
• Make a list of the things you have worried about already today. Which items on the list are worthy of your worry? What items of worry can you turn over to God to take care of?
• Do you believe it is possible to live without worry? Why or why not?

Closing Prayer – Serenity Prayer
O God,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time.
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as HE did, the sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
and supremely happy with HIM forever!

Challenge for the Week: Would you say you live in the present or are you preoccupied with what is going to happen in the future or what has happened in the past? What can you do to live more in the NOW instead of tomorrow or yesterday? Reflect on the past 24-48 hours, make a list of the things that caused you worry. Go back and identify whether those worries are things of the past, present or future. Then take time determining if the things you are worried about are things you have the ability to change or do something about or if they are beyond your control? Be honest with yourself.

Opening Prayer – 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Almighty God,
You are the lover and creator of our soul;
from you come all things good.
Send Your Spirit to dwell in us;
so we may be holy, as you are holy.
Help us surrender to your grace;
that it may overflow in our lives.

Journal/Reflection Questions
Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18
• How is holiness described here? How is your personal holiness connected to others?
• To love others as Jesus loves is a tall order. Are there people in your life with which you hold a grudge? Feel contempt toward? Consider unworthy of your time or attention?

1Corinthians 3:16-23
• How can others see “the Spirit of God” within you? How do your actions change when you act upon this truth?
• How do you treat the “temple of God”? What can you do to take better care of yourself knowing within you dwells God?

Matthew 5:38-48
• Jesus said the “old” law was to seek justice, “an eye for an eye” but the “new” law says to “turn the other cheek.” This is easier said than done but have you done it? Reflect on a time when you were able to “turn the other cheek”, how were you able to do this?
• Consider your actions toward someone who has hurt you. What are the feelings you feel when you are around that person or when you know you know you will need to interact with them? What steps can you take to transform those negative feelings into more positive ones?

General Questions for Journaling
• What does it mean to be holy? How can you be holy like God is holy? Where do you start?
• Where do you see God’s holiness in your life? What signs of heaven do you find here on earth?
• Imagine your heart is a garden, what condition is your garden in? What do you need to do so God can grow more abundantly in your heart? What do we need to weed out? What do we need to plant?
• Are there people in your life who have hurt you? Have you forgiven them for that hurt? What did you do or what do you need to do in order to let go of the hurt and allow forgiveness to work?
• Identify where evil lurks in your life. How do you identify it? How do you feed it? What can you do to resist evil?
• One of the hardest things for humans to do is to let go and forgive. Is there someone who is in need of your forgiveness? What can you do to begin to work on forgiving that person?
• Spend some time reflecting on how Jesus lived out this Gospel message in his final days on earth. What can you take from this example and apply to a situation you are experiencing at this time in your life?

Closing Prayer – Psalm 103
Leader: The Lord shows kindness and mercy…
ALL: when we speak with gratitude.
Leader: The Lord shows kindness and mercy…
ALL: when we forgive others.
Leader: The Lord shows kindness and mercy…
ALL: when we show compassion.

Challenge for the Week: Pray, Pray, Pray. We pray for ourselves, we pray for those we love, we pray for friends and family who are sick or have asked for prayers but do we pray for those who have hurt us or who persecute us? Perhaps we pray for those who hurt us to stop hurting us but this week, the challenge is to pray for their soul; pray for their conversion; pray their hurt may be healed; pray they seek God. It is not easy to pray for good things for those who hurt us or persecute us, our human instinct is to wish them harm, though Jesus says in the Gospel this week we must love our enemies. Consider also how we can show love toward those who hurt us. What examples of Christ can we follow?

Opening Prayer – 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time
God of ALL things
May we have eyes to see
ears to hear and voice to speak
All of the wonders you provide
let us have our fill
Then never cease in giving you praise!

Journal/Reflection Questions
Sirach 15:15-20
• Why do you think God trusts us with free will? Are we able to tell the difference between good and evil all of the time?
• Do you believe God sees all things? If so, what would he say about your actions this past week? Today?

1Corinthians 2:6-10
• Can you imagine something beautiful? How does it make you feel that God created that beauty just for your pleasure?
• Describe what it feels like to be surrounded by Gods beauty?

Matthew 5:17-37
• Is there anger in your heart? How would God judge?
• How can what we do or say contradict the truth?
• What does the “spirit of the law” mean? How can you apply it to your life?

General Questions for Journaling
• One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is, fear of the Lord. How do you show fear of the Lord? Does “fear” mean frighten or scare? How would you define “fear”?
• How do you know the will you have chosen is God’s will?
• How does God show you He loves you? How do you know it’s God?
• When you think of heaven, what do you see, hear, smell, taste? God has prepared a place for those who love Him…
• Describe a time when you felt the Holy Spirit “working” inside of you. When was it, where were you, who were you with, what were you doing? How do you know it was the Holy Spirit?
• The Bible says God is a good judge. What evidence do we have of this?
• When was the last time you did something good or something you were supposed to do and then made sure others knew you did it? How was this like OR not like the Pharisees in the Gospel?
• How can righteousness keep you from loving God or your neighbor. Reflect on a time when you experienced this first hand.

Closing Prayer

Leader: God of Wisdom

ALL: We long for your presence within us.

Leader: God of Right Judgment

ALL: Be in our decisions each day.

Leader: God of Understanding

ALL: Guide our words and actions.

Leader: God of Wonder

ALL: May we see you in all things.

Challenge for the Week: Judging others is a sin many struggle with on a daily basis but did you know that even if you have been able to control judging others, you may not have controlled judging yourself? When people judge themselves they tend to be harder on themselves than they are on others. Spend some time this week “judging” yourself and others through the eyes of Jesus. Consider how your vision changes.

Opening Prayer – 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Come Lord Jesus,
Break through our hardened exterior.
Free us of the chains that bind us to this world.
Mold our thoughts and our understanding
so we may look beyond our own needs,
and be moved to be salt and light to others.

Journal/Reflection Questions

Isaiah 58:7-10
• How can you re-word the phrase, “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall be quickly healed” to have meaning in your spiritual life?
• Good can come from suffering; how can something you have suffered through be a benefit to another person?

1Corinthians 2:1-5
• Reflect on a struggle you have right now. Consider the struggle from another person’s point of view. How might God see the same struggle? How can your faith give you a different perspective?
• When you look through human understanding, it doesn’t make sense that death on a cross gives eternal life. Faith says differently. Is there anything you are anxious about or causes you worry that needs the power of God?

Matthew 5:13-16
• Personify salt, light and a city on a mountain. What qualities would each of these have? What qualities do you emulate? Are there qualities you can cultivate into your life?
• You can have not enough salt or too much salt, or not enough light or too much light. How does this concept apply to your spiritual life?

General Questions for Journaling
• From the time Jesus was born, he was “light”. The Shepherds and Magi found him by following the star. Simeon and Anna recognized the “light”. Even the fishermen on the shore were drawn to the “light” so that they left everything behind to follow it. How do you let the “light” of Jesus shine in your life?
• When did you last give bread to the hungry, clothe the naked and shelter to the homeless? How can you make this a more regular part of daily practice?
• The world has an “it’s all about ME” attitude but Jesus calls us to fill the needs of our neighbors. Consider your actions in the past week, when did you have an “it’s all about ME” attitude? What could you have done differently to have an attitude of Christ?
• Make a list of 25 positive qualities you possess. How can these be put to use serving God?
• Do you hide a bad habit, negative behavior or addiction from others? You cannot hide your true-self from God. Create a strategy to bring what you hide from others to light so God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness can help you overcome.
• Imagine God read all of your emails and text messages this past week, viewed all of the websites you viewed, and listened to the top 25 songs on your playlist. Would they reflect God’s love?
• When was the last time you put your own agenda aside in order to help another person? What was the outcome? Where there any benefits or consequences to your action?

Closing Prayer – Matthew 5:5-6

Leader: Blessed are those who mourn,
ALL: for they shall be consoled.
Leader: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
ALL: for they shall have their fill.

Challenge for the Week: As baptized members of the Body of Christ, we should know our purpose. Too often we follow the easy path or the crowd and don’t take time to talk to God about what direction we should be going. We might look around at our life and wonder, “how did I get here?” We need to take the time to get to know ourselves and “who we are in Christ”, what are our gifts and talents? How can we use these gifts to glorify God? Just like in the Gospel reading, salt is used to flavor and preserve and the purpose of a lamp is to provide light. This week spend time reflecting on what you are called to do as a member of the Body of Christ? What is your purpose? How can you better reflect “whose you are”?