Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Lord
Give me eyes to see
the beauty in all things.
Allow me to speak
kindness with my words.
Teach me to live
so others might follow.
Let me be a vessel of THE GOOD NEWS!
Amen
Journal/Reflection Questions
Sirach 27:4-7
- What tests your faith? Is it a teaching of the church? A way a person acts? Bad things happening? How do you keep your faith strong in spite of these tests?
- What is the lesson here about how to treat others? How can you put this scripture into practice today? What specific thing(s) do you need to do?
1 Corinthians 15:54-58
- In what ways can a person “labor for the Lord”?
- How do you protect yourself from being infected by negative, corrupt or immoral influence? Is there a way to avoid these things completely? Why or why not? What advice would you give to another person to help keep these things from spreading like a plague?
Luke 6:39-45
- What does this scripture say about the importance of self-care and personal awareness of our words and actions? Be specific. Make a list.
- What specific truth do you hear God speaking to you through this scripture?
General Questions for Journaling
- How do you tell if someone is speaking truth? How would you measure truth in your own words?
- Is there a time when judgment of a person is okay?
- Share a time when your first impression/judgment of a person was completely wrong.
- Have you ever felt you were judged wrongly? How did you handle the situation?
- Where does judgment in general come from? Do people judge out of love? From insecurity? From competitiveness or jealousy?
- Right Judgment is a gift of the Holy Spirit. How does the adjective “right” change your definition of judgment?
- Are there things in your life that weigh you down? Hold you back? Keep you from moving forward?
- What do you hide or bury, keep out of sight of others?
- Share an example of when you found light in a dark situation or something positive from a negative? How did you find it? Did you see it immediately or did it take time to realize?
- Describe the feeling, your emotions, how your body changes when you find a light at the end of a long tunnel of despair.
- Do you believe a person who is infected with negativity can change? Why or why not? What do you believe your role is in that person’s life?
- Take time to draw your tree. Identify the fruit you produce, good and bad. What influences you and how does it affect those around you?
Closing Prayer
Leader: I will give thanks to you all of my days…
ALL: for life given at conception!
Leader: I will give thanks to you all of my days…
ALL: for the sound of the ocean waves!
Leader: I will give thanks to you all of my days…
ALL: for the morning dew glistening in the sunrise!
Leader: I will give thanks to you all of my days…
ALL: for the warm hug of a new friend!
Leader: I will give thanks to you all of my days…
ALL: for a fiery sky at the end of the day!
Leader: I will give thanks to you all of my days…
ALL: for all you give; I will give thanks!
Challenge for the Week: Spend time this week reflecting on your past experiences. When you look back, you can identify those times in your life when you had to deal with something heavy or hard and maybe even had doubts on whether you’d be able to come out on the other side of the situation. Often the world says these experiences leave marks or scars on a person (physically and/or emotionally) but when looking at them from God’s perspective, you have been “refined”. These experiences of trouble, trauma, heartbreak, disappointment and even death are opportunities for you to grow. When you are open and listening to God in these moments, you can learn something about yourself and perhaps even gain insight on others. Revisit some of these times in your life to see if there are opportunities you have missed to reveal something in yourself or open you up to a new perspective on a relationship or a situation. Allow God to refine you!