16^th Sunday of Ordinary Time

 

Opening Prayer

God of great patience!

May we learn from Your Word

how to be more tolerant of our failings

and the faults of others!

Your Word tells us that when we seek You,

the Holy Spirit fills us with what we lack

so we can be better examples of You!

Lord, make us whole in YOU!

 

Journal/Reflection Questions

Wisdom 12:13, 16-19

• Where do you see your sin in this scripture? Do you condemn others?  Are you unjust?  Do you seek power?  Do you “lord” over others?  Do you hold others prisoner with rules and regulations?
• Is there someone you know who is need of justice or mercy? How does this scripture encourage you to act out to help them find it?

 Romans 8:26-27

• What does this scripture tell you about the nature of the Spirit?
• Can you recall a time when the Holy Spirit came to your aid? What was the situation?  How did you know it was the Holy Spirit who helped you?

 Matthew 13:24-43

• How does this scripture challenge or affirm your understanding of love?
• Share an example of how removing weeds from a person’s life, it could cause more harm to them than good?

 

General Questions for Journaling

• Share an example of God’s humility.
• What do you have hope for right now?
• Do you believe the world is basically good or basically bad? Why?
• Do you identify yourself by your actions or by your emotions? What words would you use to identify yourself (not by your role or job but as a person)?
• Where can you see kindness right now? Is it difficult or easy to find?
• What does it mean to repent? How can you repent?  Is there a limit?
• Is there someone whom you need to seek forgiveness because you have been unkind or unjust to them?
• When did you first learn how to pray?
• How has your prayer life developed over time? What has changed over the years?  Create a timeline to show the progress of your prayer life.
• When have you stood up for someone who couldn’t stand up for themselves? What was the situation and what inspired you to step in?
• Are there people in your life or in the community whom need you to stand up for / with them? What is a specific action step you can take to do so?
• How are the mustard seed and yeast similar? How are they different?
• A mustard seed and yeast are described as a metaphor for heaven. What other relatable image(s) would you use to describe heaven?

 

Closing Prayer

Leader:  Father, search my heart…

ALL:  for goodness and kindness.

Leader:  Father, search my heart…

 ALL:  for a sense of longing.

Leader:  Father, search my heart…

ALL:  for acceptance and mercy.

Leader:  Father, search my heart…

ALL:  for compassion for others.

Leader:  Father, search my heart…

ALL:  for love and forgiveness.

Leader:  Father, search my heart…

ALL:  for the strength to endure.

Leader:  Father, search my heart…

ALL:  and find it full of you!

 

Challenge for the Week:  This scripture suggests we “try and try again.”  When we fail, we turn to God to repent and then continue to press on.  This is difficult to do when we are faced with adversity.  Good athletes practice for hours to perfect their skills to become better.  Take a lesson from them and choose a new practice to help you get rid of the weeds in your life and be diligent about it.  Make a decision to create a new/good habit.  Don’t focus on trying to get of a bad one, simply plant a good one and cultivate it.  Put all of your focus on the new habit.  Don’t feel guilty if you mess up or skip a day, repent and try again!  Keep putting forth the effort to grow and in time the consistent attention will form the new habit so much that it will weed out the bad one!