BGUAW
Yes
It is possible to live life resisting the hand we have been dealt. In saying Yes to God, I am not suggesting our being passive, choosing to be a “victim” in ways over which we actually have the power and dignity to make changes. I am saying that our life is a gift from God. Saying Yes to God is foundational in our stewarding the life God has given to us.
Br. Curtis Almquist, SSJE
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Turn
Jesus invites radical change, contrary to familial, social, and cultural norms. Where are you resisting conflict, going with the flow, maintaining norms? Perhaps seeking wealth and hoarding it for self-preservation. Perhaps staying silent about injustice, including poverty, racism, and the climate emergency. Jesus says: You can determine what is right. You can repent and turn around.
Br. Luke Ditewig, SSJE
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Friendship
Friendship with Jesus is implicitly the call to share the same friendship and trust with all of Jesus’ friends after his example: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Br. Jonathan Maury, SSJE
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Leave
The call of Jesus, whether subtle and gradual or sudden and dramatic, is life-changing. It resonates deep inside and stretches us toward new possibilities of becoming. But it can also be very disruptive, as we reckon with what we are being called to leave behind. What places, roles, habits, or self-understandings does the call of Jesus now ask you to leave behind?
Br. Keith Nelson, SSJE
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Proclamation
It is with the proclamation of the word of God, by Moses, by Ezra, by the disciples, by Jesus, by us, that God’s people are made whole. We experience it as we gather around the altar to hear God’s word and receive holy gifts. We are made holy by hearing again the word of God proclaimed.
Br. James Koester, SSJE
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Communicate
To be a servant of God is to communicate what you think you know to be true, but also to be ready to be wrong. To have the humility to course-correct.
Br. Jack Crowley, SSJE
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Kinship
We need St. Francis’ witness today to remind us of the preciousness of the earth on which we live, and of the sacredness of every plant, every animal, and every person that calls it home. Francis modeled for us a kinship with all created things and vehemently challenged our notion of ourselves as owners with license to use its resources in whatever way we wish.
Br. David Vryhof, SSJE
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Gift
See how the creation that surrounds us does not clutch at its life, but rather lives and gives its life. Letting go is an important life practice. I love an ancient word in the church’s vocabulary: oblation, from the Latin meaning an offering, a gift. We live the gift of our lives as an oblation, offering back to God the custody God has temporarily entrusted to us.
Br. Curtis Almquist, SSJE
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Knowing
In knowing ourselves we discover that we have already been fully seen, known, and loved by God. We participate in God’s knowing – we are invited to see ourselves with God’s eyes as “marvelously made” and as one of God’s wonderful works. Who we are is who God has created us to be.
Br. Lain Wilson, SSJE
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Behold
As you pray, what wonder of creation catches your attention? Stop, stay, and gaze at it. Behold this treasure, which was, like you, created and called good.
Br. Luke Ditewig, SSJE
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