The Gospel today is filled with ways we are called to be disciples. Jesus truly “raises the bar” as he takes the commandment “thou shall not kill” and warns that everyone who is angry with their brother or sister will be called to judgment. I guess what Jesus is saying is just because we haven’t physically murdered anyone, we shouldn’t think we are home free. We can still hurt and slowly “kill” people with our attitudes, actions and our words. How many times has a child been hurt by the criticism of a parent or a spouse been crushed by a stinging remark from their beloved? How often have we hurt one another with self-righteous attitudes or our judgments? We have all fallen short in our relationships but in a few weeks (March 1st) we will begin the season of Lent and have time to go deeper into our hearts for the grace to do better with our lives. It can be a time to dig deeper into our faith, to heal some struggles from our past and to reconcile ourselves with one another.
My hope is to set up faith sharing groups that will meet weekly during Lent. You can either meet at Nativity or you and your group can meet at someone’s house. I know we’ve done this with the RENEW experience and I hear it was a great success. So, my hope is that during these weeks of Lent, we will be renewed and come closer together. The most important thing is that the group be consistent and all members must remain faithful to their commitment to meet. Another hope would be that is would stretch us so that we open ourselves to people in the parish whom we may not know very well. Lastly, my hope is that welcome to this group allowing ourselves to be vulnerable to one another. We have all been on a faith journey. The twists and turns, ups and downs, joys and sorrows have been our sacred scripture. God has been walking with us through all of the moments and the fact that we’ve made it to this point is all about God’s grace. Each of our stories is sacred and will inspire others in our group if we have the courage to share them.
Our faith sharing could just be something we tried during Lent 2017 or this can be a powerful encounter with God and one another. We have no idea what God a can do if we’re open to His grace. Let’s allow God to work on all of us this Lenten season!
My hope is to set up faith sharing groups that will meet weekly during Lent. You can either meet at Nativity or you and your group can meet at someone’s house. I know we’ve done this with the RENEW experience and I hear it was a great success. So, my hope is that during these weeks of Lent, we will be renewed and come closer together. The most important thing is that the group be consistent and all members must remain faithful to their commitment to meet. Another hope would be that is would stretch us so that we open ourselves to people in the parish whom we may not know very well. Lastly, my hope is that welcome to this group allowing ourselves to be vulnerable to one another. We have all been on a faith journey. The twists and turns, ups and downs, joys and sorrows have been our sacred scripture. God has been walking with us through all of the moments and the fact that we’ve made it to this point is all about God’s grace. Each of our stories is sacred and will inspire others in our group if we have the courage to share them.
Our faith sharing could just be something we tried during Lent 2017 or this can be a powerful encounter with God and one another. We have no idea what God a can do if we’re open to His grace. Let’s allow God to work on all of us this Lenten season!