The Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer

Jesus

You come to us, when we call on you.

You are at our side, each time we turn around.

Never do we have to seek to find you;

You are there.

You don’t turn your back on us;

even when we turn our back on you.

Teach us through your Word

to be a constant presence to others!

Journal/Reflection Questions

Numbers 11:25-29

• Have you ever experienced the Holy Spirit speaking through you?
• Can you identify the message God is sending to the people in this scripture? What do you think Moses is thinking or feeling?

James 5:1-6

• What does this scripture say about what the world says is “fair” and what God says is “fair”?
• What does this scripture say about earning a good wage?

Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

• How do you speak out in the name of Jesus? What is the response when you do?
• Where do you see God revealed in a typical day, week, month, year?

 

General Questions for Journaling

• Where do you see the Holy Spirit working?
• Can you determine where it is truly the Holy Spirit and where it is someone “acting” as though the Spirit is speaking through them? How can you tell the difference?
• Identify the gifts you find in other faiths, including the one which you practice. What good things are happening?
• Have you ever tried to make something fair? What was the situation?  Did it work?
• Is it okay to take from the rich to help the poor or is it just as wrong as the rich withholding from those who need help?
• Is there a specific injustice you see in the world and feel called to do something about? What is stopping you?
• Have you ever been in an “exclusive” club or organization? A sorority or fraternity?  Hold a membership card where you receive benefits for being a member?  How does it make you feel when you receive the special benefits from being a member?  What would you do or feel if someone who didn’t do what you did still received the benefits without paying their “dues”?

Closing Prayer

Leader:  We come into this world with the blemish of original sin

ALL:  May you come and wash it away, Jesus!

Leader:  We grow to learn the power of money and fame

ALL:  May you come and wash it away, Jesus!

Leader:  We determine right from wrong based on what we read and see through the media

ALL:  May you come and wash it away, Jesus!

Leader:  We listen to the lies of those who say we are not enough

ALL:  May you come and wash it away, Jesus!

Leader: You give us all we need, let us surrender to your truth

ALL:  May we turn to you refreshed and clean!

 

Challenge for the Week:   How often do we pass judgment on another person simply because they worship or pray in the same way as we do?  What right do we have to judge if a person is good and holy based on the church they attend?  We do not have any right to judge another.  We need to ignore those human instincts to compare and look with the eyes of Jesus to the focus or the truth of what others do.  If they are working toward peace and justice, who cares if they are Jewish or Islam or another Christian denomination?  Just because someone doesn’t worship at the same location in the same way, doesn’t mean they are not serving the same God.  Sure we might have a few or even a lot of differences but when we are working toward the same goal of salvation, does it really matter?  Take time this week and start to break down any walls that have been built between you and another person or a group of people.  Let God’s truth come and tear those walls down so only love remains.