August, 2017 In the Sunday readings this month, we are presented with accounts of the presence of God and are invited to ponder our place in God s sight. In this month s issue of Impact, we ask readers to consider themselves as the beloved of God, called to be attentive to God s grace and to respond to it in their daily living. We pray this attentiveness to who we are and who we are called to be will inspire your community to grow as disciples and good stewards, Leisa Anslinger and Amberly Boerschinger Homily Connections August 6: Peter, James, and John see Jesus transfigured before them. They see him as he truly is, and hear the voice of God declaring This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him. Filled with fear, they fall prostrate. Jesus touches them, saying, Rise, and do not be afraid. In baptism, we are drawn to Christ as God s beloved. There are times in which we sense God s love for us as precious children, yet much of the time, we fail to see our true nature as children of God and hide our authentic self from God and others. Connecting with everyday life: We do not often take time to reflect on the big questions of identity and purpose in life, but today s readings invite us to do exactly this Who are you? Who are you called to be? What might God desire you to do as one who is beloved in God s sight? Share a time in which you or another has had a flash of insight in which this deep personal identity as God s beloved was experienced, and share the impact of such experiences as we live more authentically as God s people in the world. August 13: In today s first reading, Elijah perceives God s presence in the tiny whispering sound, not the wind, earthquake, or fire. Peter recognizes Jesus in the storm. These two men of faith are attentive to God s presence, and though each wavers, remains committed to responding to God s call. Remind your people that Elijah, along with Moses, appeared on the mountain at Jesus transfiguration, the account of which we heard last week. The two represent the law and the prophets, the revelation of God for the people of Israel. We will hear more of Peter at the end of this month; his bold declaration of recognition of Jesus identity will stand in contrast to his wavering faith in today s gospel. Connecting with everyday life: It is sometimes difficult to perceive God s presence in the midst of daily life. Like Elijah, we must be attentive; like Peter, once we recognize Christ, we must respond to his call. Jesus stretches out his hand to us, even when we waver in faith. Think of a personal experi-
ence or that of a parishioner when you (or the other) were called to remain strong in the midst of wavering faith. This could be a good week to highlight the ministries that support people who are sick, grieving, or experience life crises. These ministries are a way of reaching out with Christ s love, just as Jesus stretched out his hand to Peter. August 20: In today s second reading from Romans, we hear, the gifts and call of God are irrevocable. The first reading from Isaiah is a striking reminder that, while we each have received gifts, including the gift of faith, we sometimes walk away from God and faithful living. We also might think of those who have left active practice of faith or who only sporadically attend Mass. This stands in sharp contrast to the woman in today s gospel, who is so bold in her faith that she calls Jesus to re-think his initial response to her cry for healing for her daughter. Connecting with everyday life: One of the most painful things for many in our parishes at this time are children or grandchildren who no longer actively participate in Mass or a life of faith.with over 30% of adults in the U.S. under the age of 30 now unaffiliated, it is very likely that almost everyone in the assembly will know someone who currently does not come to Mass. Today provides a good opportunity to console those whose faith means much to them and whose family members are unaffiliated. Encourage them to pray for their loved ones, and to rely on their faith to give them strength and patience. Suggest that they gently witness to the importance of faith through their words and actions, without preaching or condemning the loved one when they are together. Perhaps tell the story of someone who has returned to faith unexpectedly, or if you know someone in the parish who would be willing, invite them to provide a brief witness before or at the end of Mass. August 27: Today, Peter declares his recognition of Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah of God. Jesus calls him the rock upon whom he will build his church. Next Sunday, Peter responds to the news of Jesus future passion with incredulity, and we hear Jesus say, get behind me, Satan, you are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do. Connecting with everyday life: Who do we say Jesus is? We might quickly respond with Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One of God. The real question that Jesus asks is deeper. What is the impact of faith in Jesus Christ in our lives? This is a powerful question to ask your people to consider. Is Christ an integral part of their life or a side-note? In what aspects of life is faith important? Challenge your people to think about and pray with this gospel in the coming week. Consider emailing parishioners mid-week to continue to invite their reflection on this important message.
At Parish Meetings or in Adult Faith Formation this Month Opening Prayer Lavishly loving God, we praise you for this time together. Open our lives to your loving presence: our minds, that we may think as you think; our eyes and ears to see and hear as you do; our hearts to love as you love; may we know your presence in our lives, and respond in all things as your holy people. We make this prayer as your grateful children, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen. Listen to Sacred Scripture: Mt 17: 1-9 (The Gospel for Sunday, August 6) Read: Who are You? You are the Beloved of God Share: your thoughts, using these questions to guide your reflection: In what ways do you know yourself as God s beloved? What challenges you to live as a child of God in your daily life? Commit: Use Impact this Month to guide your continued prayer and reflection on this essential theme in the coming month. Offer one another a sign of Christ s peace.
Mission in Motion: Making an IMPACT August 2017 Jesus Reveals Himself: Where do We See Him? Mission Mantra Lord, show us your kindness. Psalm 85 Parents and Catechists Minis (0-10) Bullying is a big issue for our young children. I have a 7 and 8-year-old who have already had to deal with their share of bullying. Often times I find that the bully is coming from a place of insecurity either by nature or by circumstances at home. To feel more secure they put on masks and behaviors that make them feel in control of their identity. Even in the best homes, children will put on masks to help them feel in control of their identity. During this month of Jesus revealing himself to his followers and the community, consider teaching your children words to describe themselves. Consider helping them to identify the ways they best relate to other people and the things they like to do, then develop strategies for INVITING others in, instead of separating others out. Real confidence is inclusive, not exclusive and it will improve the dynamics of relationships with anyone they encounter. Check out this great video about the buddy bench being used at schools around the country. Sometimes it is a simple awareness of the needs around us that spurs our compassionate selves into action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivwp4j3f2uy Tweens, Teens and 20s It is easy as a young person to get caught up in the next step - graduation, higher education, jobs, marriage, children, etc. All of these things are beautiful calls from God, but they don t have to happen quickly. Take a step back, resist the temptation to take the next step simply because it s what everybody else is doing. God most definitely has a plan, but make sure that in this busy time you spend time talking to God. Take long walks, get to the adoration chapel, develop life-long interests and friendships. These are the places Jesus will reveal himself and God s plan for you. Be sure to create space in which to see and hear it. In her book Who Does He Say You Are?, Colleen C. Mitchell writes, I do not need a way out. I simply need to remember where my hope lies What if I followed Anna s [Luke 2] example and stopped looking for a way out of dependence on God and into the fulfillment of my own longings?...anna was a woman with the vision to know the different between expectant hope and hope in her own expectations. (Pg. 28) Making space to determine where our expectations are based, in God or in ourselves and society, is important to our spiritual growth as young people. Mission in the Classroom The story of the Transfiguration is a part of our readings this month. Jesus was transformed into a glorious image in which his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. This image was nothing like Peter, James and John had ever seen before. It showed them that Jesus truly was from God. This was an actual demonstration of the fact that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:13-20). Jesus wanted to show the disciples in a visible way, his fully authentic, divine self. How often do we show others our true self? How often are we honest about what we like and who we are?
As a fun activity around which to discuss the Transfiguration, place 3 small scoops (one for each disciple - a melon baller works well if you don t want a large glass) of ice cream and top it with soda to create a cloud like in the story. Then sit around and answer these questions as a group. - Name one thing that most people don t know about you. - Name one thing you wish more people knew about you. - Read the story of the Transfiguration - Describe one time when you felt you really listened to Jesus like the disciples were asked to do in the story. #mission@mealtime My kids love fish. I don t know why they are so appealing, but they will eat just about any form of fish. This is particularly helpful when we go to talk about the story of the loaves and the fishes because it is a very tangible lesson. We make fish sandwiches (loaves and fish) and add our favorite special sauce. Don t tell them I told you, but their special sauce is simply mayo mixed with a squeeze of Siracha (garlicchili sauce) to taste. Every time this scripture comes up we discuss the same thing. As they age, the answers change and the theories develop, some sillier than others, but always leading us back to God s providence and mystery. The question we ask is: how could the miracle of the loaves and fishes have worked? Was is purely an invisible miracle or did it somehow have to do with the type of people and their response to Jesus? Mission in Marriage We must be constantly growing. St. Augustine, along with other faithful witnesses, is clear that if we are not growing closer to something, we are growing away from something. We are not static. As married persons, we are always growing. Sometimes the growth happens together and sometimes as individuals. The key in marriage is to keep the individual growth from causing you to grow apart. Communication is an important element to this, but so is invitation. Tell your spouse about the things you are learning and reading. Talk about what interests you and invite them to join you once in awhile. My husband and I committed to teach each other about one of our interests. He taught me how to shoot trap and I taught him how to make bread. Jesus was not the same person when we meet him in the temple at 12 that he was at 30 when he began his public ministry. He revealed himself as he grew and to the different people he encountered. We must do the same on the journey with our spouses. We must reveal our hearts, our joys, our interests and our sorrows. If you feel like you aren t sure how to continue or restart your revealing romance, consider a marriage retreat like Marriage Encounter or reach out to your pastor for some ideas. Saints in Motion In this month s main page of IMPACT, Leisa mentions using the Ignatian Examen as a tool for attentiveness to Jesus presence in our lives. Here are some quotes from St. Ignatius and a link to various version of the Examen for use in your daily life. - Act as if everything depended on you; trust as if everything depended on God.
- God freely created us so that we might know, love, and serve him in this life and be happy with him forever. God's purpose in creating us is to draw forth from us a response of love and service here on earth, so that we may attain our goal of everlasting happiness with him in heaven. All the things in this world are gifts of God, created for us, to be the means by which we can come to know him better, love him more surely, and serve him more faithfully. As a result, we ought to appreciate and use these gifts of God insofar as they help us toward our goal of loving service and union with God. But insofar as any created things hinder our progress toward our goal, we ought to let them go. - For it is not knowing much, but realising and relishing things interiorly, that contents and satisfies the soul. - Examen: http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen Mission for Me God doesn t make junk. If you take nothing away from this edition of IMPACT, God doesn t make junk. God made you with all your gifts and quirks to do exactly what you are called to do. We each learn and process the Gospel in different ways and we act on our learning in different ways. The many spiritualities and religious expressions within the Catholic Church over the past 2000 years reveals this in both depth and breadth. Don t be afraid to name your giftedness and own it. Learn to work in your gifted areas and build friendships with others on the journey who can complement your giftedness to multiply the work in the Kingdom. These gifts can and will be with you through your whole life develop them! Sometimes we are afraid of our success and this keeps us from developing our God-given gifts. I wonder sometimes if this wasn t what happened to Peter when he tried to walk on water was he perhaps afraid of what it might mean, how he would be accountable, if he was able to walk on water? But Jesus called him to try anyways. Jesus revealed not only himself to Peter in that moment, but aspects of God and Peter himself. Don t be afraid to try. Don t be afraid to develop your gifts. God doesn t make junk. No, God makes us in his own image to use our gifts to bring others closer to him and the promise of God s Kingdom. Media on a Mission Song: Made for This http://vbs.osv.com/totally-catholic-maker-fun-factory Follow the link and click on Music and you ll be able to download the theme song from OSV s Maker Fun Factory called Made for This. Video: Pope Francis TED Talk https://www.ted.com/talks/pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript?language=en Article: 5 Celebrity Catholics and What We Can Learn from Them https://aleteia.org/2017/05/24/5-celebrities-you-may-not-have-known-are-catholic/
Amberly Boerschinger is a wife to Kevin and mother of three small, Packer-loving, mismatched-sock-wearing children - John Ross, Clara and Thomas. She holds a Bachelors degree in Catholic Studies and creative advertising. She is based out of Green Bay, Wisconsin where she has worked in various parishes and various roles. She currently teaches for the Diocese of Green Bay and serves on the core team of the popular event "Girlfriends in God". She specializes in Catholic spirituality and women's ministry. Her most recent project, "Meals, Mass and Mystics" has met with great response and led her to publish a cookbook by the same name "Meals, Mass and Mystics: Cooking with a Catholic Twist". You can find her writing and sharing on social media and on her site www.mealsandmystics.com.
Who are You? You are God s beloved. It may sometimes feel as though you are only a face in the crowd, yet faith tells us something radically different: in Baptism, we are drawn to Christ as God s beloved. We may not often take time to think deeply about ourselves or about the big questions in life. Yet, in truth, our response to the questions of who we are and how we will act in the world directs our daily decisions, actions, and interactions with others. Are you ever afraid to be yourself, in God s presence or with others? We may rely heavily on rote prayers rather than speaking to God from our hearts. In our relationships with others, we may to act as we think they want us to be, rather than being our authentic self with them. Jesus touched the disciples in their fear. He called Peter to walk on water. He responded to the bold woman who sought healing for her daughter. His touch strengthened them in their weakness and made them strong in gospel witness. Whether weak in faith or strong, ready to see ourselves as God s people or hesitant to embrace faith-directed life, Christ calls us to be true to our deepest self, and to live as one who is precious in God s sight. Christ offers us strength and courage to be ourselves and to be bold in faithful living. Let Jesus touch you with the grace to live as God s beloved in the world! Be who you are, and be that perfectly well. St. Francis de Sales The gifts and call of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:29 Each of us has been given particular gifts and talents. These innate qualities uniquely equip us to respond to the daily circumstances of our lives. Jesus does not summon disciples as a faceless crowd but as unique individuals. He knows people s personal histories, their strengths and weaknesses, their destinies; he has a purpose in mind for each one. (SDR, p. 13) Catholic Life and Faith, 2017
Be attentive The Lord told Elijah he would pass by on the mountain. But the Lord was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. Instead, Elijah recognized the Lord s presence in a tiny whispering sound. It is often in the big moments in life that we are most attentive to God birth, death, new beginnings and times of transition. Yet God is with us in the small, everyday moments as well as we fix meals, work or study, enjoy time with family and friends, pause for prayer, challenge ourselves in exercise, relax in the evening hours. Had Elijah not been paying attention, he might have missed the Lord altogether. Life is busy, filled with activity, images, sound, and movement. We may notice God s presence with us in the midst of it all, but only if we are attentive. St. Ignatius taught his followers to examine their experience each day in order to develop greater attentiveness to God and to discern God s will. This practice of the examination of consciousness, or Examen, teaches us to see God in the stuff of our daily lives. Be aware that God is with you. Take a moment to be assured of God s presence. Review your day with gratitude. In what ways were you blessed? Pay attention to your emotions. Our feelings positive or negative often signal aspects of our lives that deserve greater attention. Choose one thing that happened and pray with it. Was there a moment of intense joy, a time when you know you failed, an experience of sadness, remorse, peace, or forgiveness? Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your heart and mind as you reflect on this experience. Look toward tomorrow. If you recognized a time in which you failed, resolve to do better. If you helped another person, promise to do so again in the future. If you sensed God s grace, blessing, or presence, resolve to respond by sharing God s love and mercy with others. Impact this month 1. Start the day with a time of prayer, in which you remind yourself that you are God s beloved. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your actions throughout the day. 2. Recognize your special gifts and talents the things you naturally do well and intentionally use these gifts in your daily live at home, work or school, parish, and world. 3. Pray the Examen at the end of the day. Keep a journal or list of the blessings you recognize and the ways in which you resolve to share your gifts and blessings with others.