<TW>Weekend of 08 and 09 September 2007
- From: "Fr. Pat Umberger" <frpat@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Fr. Pat Umberger" <frpat@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2007 13:47:23 -0500
.=: T H I S W E E K E N D :=.
from Father Pat Umberger
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J O I N S I S T E R J O S E L D A A N D M E
A great Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - 04-15 November 2007!
Several seats remain.
$2714 from Minneapolis or $2599 from JFK in New York!
Land only price (meet us in the Holy Land) is $1926.
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T H E Y E L L O W B U S E S A R E C O M I N G ! ! ! !
The Yellow Buses are coming! Don't you enjoy the time of the year when huge
yellow pencils marked "Back to School" hang in department stores ... and
aisles full of happy children shopping for assignment notebooks and yellow
pencils? I do! (-:
Actually, it's very important to be ready for school. Many of us can
remember the sinking feeling of being way behind, of taking a test we
weren't prepared to take. This year we can make a resolution to stay caught
up. Certainly, we need to remember that God is with us as we prepare for a
new school year as well.
I've put together a special "Back to School" page at the Web Site. There's
a blessing we'll use in our parishes the weekend before school starts.
There's also a blessing for parents or grandparents and kids to pray
together. That can be done on the first day of school ... or, even better,
before school every day!
I've also put together three special pages ... for KIDS, TEENS and PARENTS
They're filled with helpful links. Faith links, fun links, and links to
help with homework.
You can find it all at our web site. Just follow the link from
www.frpat.com
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.=: V O L U M E 2 0 0 7 , Number 09-09 :=.
.=: T H I S W E E K E N D ' S S C R I P T U R E S :=.
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
Weekend of 08 and 09 September 2007
Follow this link for this weekend's Scriptures:
www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
.=: R E F L E C T I O N Q U E S T I O N S :=.
"Who can know God's counsel, or who can conceive what the LORD intends?"
"In every age O Lord, you have been our refuge." Let's consider the
different "ages" in our lives. When have we turned to God as our refuge.
Let's consider too, human history. When can we imagine that people turned
to God for refuge? Why in these times?
"Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while, that you might have
him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother,
beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord.
So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me." Who are the
people in our own lives or in our own world that we could be tempted to see
more as slaves than brothers? What if we were asked to welcome them as we
would welcome the Lord himself? Is this what we're being asked to do?
"If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and
children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my
disciple." How could our love for our own family be a barrier to our love
for God?
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my
disciple." What are the crosses we sometimes need to carry? Can we carry
those crosses as disciples?
"Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and
calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion?" What is
it that we need in order to attain the Kingdom of God?
"In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple." What are the things we tend to cling to ... that
might keep us farther from God? What stops us from living as disciples?
How are these readings challenging? Comforting?
(c)MMVII Fr. Pat Umberger. These Reflection Questions are found each week
at the Web Site www.frpat.com. Feel free to link to this page or reproduce
them for parish use as long as this credit remains.
.=: S P I R I T U A L R E F L E C T I O N :=.
Many of us have packed for a trip. It's amazing the things we can bring
along. The list is limited only by the amount of space we have. If we have
a large motor home, we can fill it up. We can do the same with an SUV, a
car or even the baggage restrictions imposed by the airline. Sometimes we
can be tempted to fill up all the space we're entitled to. When we arrive at
our destinations we can spend a great deal of time carrying and arranging
the things we've brought. We might even have to leave some things at our
destination in order to have room to bring a few things home.
As we become more experienced, we take less. Over the years I've made a
list of the things I'd actually use on a trip of about two weeks. I find
that it can all fit comfortably in a roll-on case that will fit in the
overhead compartment of an airplane. If I had less space, I could trim the
list even more. To be honest, I could get along with a passport, plane
ticket and some traveler's cheques. It certainly is easier to travel
"light!"
We can carry baggage in our lives as well. We can allow ourselves to be
tied to our possessions. It's tempting for some of us to watch our
investments with such interest that we're distracted from the important
things in life. We can become so involved in the lives of others that we
find ourselves spinning our wheels and not living a life of our own. We can
commit our time to extra work and responsibilities so we have a hard time
spending time with God.
Once, as school began, a young man expressed sorrow that he wouldn't see me
again until Spring. I asked is he was moving? He said, "No, but I'm going
to play hockey this winter." I asked, "When did hockey become more
important to you than God?" He asked the Mass schedule and found that, if
he got up earlier, he could make it to Mass all winter. He did!
In our lives we can become overwhelmed. We can spend lots of time and
energy at managing our investments and acquiring and maintaining our
possessions. We can others to distract us from what is really important. We
can get caught up in other interests too, that take the time we could better
spend with God and with those who are important to us in our lives.
This weekend's Scriptures can be a good reminder to us. In our second
reading, we're asked to let go of the baggage of our prejudices and be
willing to treat someone we have seen as a "slave" as our "brother." We are
called to wear the world as a loose garment. God's call needs to be heard
above the call of even possessions and family members. It's a gentle yet
persistent call. We need to be quiet enough to hear it, and free enough to
respond.
This week we can look at the commitments we have made ... to work, to
possessions, to those around us. We can consider the things that will
really matter in the end. We can step back and listen to the gentle yet
persistent voice of God. We can let go of some of the things we cling to in
order to follow God's call. As we hear in our Gospel, " ... anyone of you
who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple." We can
free ourselves of things that hold us back, so we can pick up the crosses we
need to carry and follow Jesus. We can teach our children and those around
us to do the same, by the example we set. Have a good week!
(c)MMVII Fr. Pat Umberger. This Spiritual Reflection is found each week at
the Web Site www.frpat.com. Feel free to link to this page or reproduce them
for parish use as long as this credit remains.
__________________________________________________
<TW>This Weekend is free, and comes from:
Father Pat Umberger, a priest of the Diocese of La Crosse
in Wisconsin U.S.A.
Web Site: www.frpat.com
Evangelization (reaching out): www.cmonback.com
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