Monday Music: Dorie's Playlist, August 28, 2023

This coming Sunday, we’re going to be encountering the fantastic, the horrifying, the mysterium tremendum et fascinans in a huge way. First of all, we witness Moses’s encounter with the burning bush (“Fire on High”). I can only imagine how disoriented and fearful he felt during that encounter (“Am I Dreaming”), and what it may have been like for him to describe that experience to his camp (“Meet Me in the Woods”). In our New Testament reading, we hear some sage advice from Paul, exhorting us all to act as Christ would act (“Divisionary (Do the Right Thing)”). In our Gospel, we get another dramatic scene between Jesus and Peter, where Jesus reveals exactly what being the Messiah will mean personally (“Release”) and for the larger community (“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”). Peter is notably disturbed by this revelation, and I imagine it’s two-fold: it’s both gruesome and bleak to begin with, and it’s also happening to his friend and teacher—someone he can’t imagine living without (“You Can’t Always Get What You Want”).

I’m struck this week by how grounding Paul’s instructions are—as much as I love the dramatic elements of the Hebrew Bible and the Gospel, it can be challenging to know exactly what to do with that, and how to apply it to our everyday lives. I’m also struck by how, in these stories, the events that transpire are pretty amazing and also pretty horrifying. I definitely identify with Peter and Moses in these stories: if I were them, I’d absolutely feel overwhelmed, unworthy, and very disturbed by what was coming to pass. And yet, all we can do is what we can do—we put one foot in front of the other, sometimes with trepidation and reluctance, and trusting that our fantastic and tremendous God will be walking alongside us.

Check out the lectionary readings here, and listen along to the playlist below!

Monday Music - Dorie's Playlist August 21, 2023

We’re trying something new with our Monday Music posts! Our curate, Dorie, will be offering a weekly playlist inspired by the upcoming Sunday’s readings from the lectionary, along with a brief reflection. If you enjoy thinking about Scripture in creative ways, have an undying love for indie pop ballads, or just want to have more impromptu dance parties with your philosophical musings, then this is for you!

Here’s what Dorie has to say this week:

Coming up on Sunday, we are tasked with holding the promise of a prophet in the midst of a systematic genocide, Paul's admonitions to live into our own flourishing, and a messianic secret that has inspired both confusion and joy.  While we start out with the brutal slaughter of the Hebrew people (“Butchered Tongue” and “O Death”) and the grim realities of economic and social exploitation (“Something to Hope For” and “Working Man”), we also get to bear witness to the bravery of a number of women—midwives Shiphrah and Puah, Moses’ mother Jochebed, Moses’ sister Miriam, and Pharaoh’s daughter—to ensure that life, even just one, continues (“Samurai Cop (O Joy Begin)”, “Water”, and “River”). Paul encourages us to lean into our own gifts for the good of the entire community (“Ngamila”), and Jesus reveals that he is the Messiah, which has historically caused deep confusion, especially among scholars (“Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”), but also shows how deep his trust was with his disciples, and how much they cared for one another (“Damage Gets Done”). I'm struck by hope in the readings this week--the hard-won promises that arise from brutal circumstance that serve to remind us that even in the midst of evil and terror, God is still here with us, and that we too can arise from despondent places.  Even when the world is confusing and difficult, we have the immense capacity to be surprised by joy.  May we all continue to find those moments as we navigate the ups and downs of our week!

Here are the lectionary readings, to read about what she’s talking about!

Taking Faith Home

WEEKLY MILESTONES

Take a moment to tell or think about a recent mountain high and/or valley low in your life.

CARING CONVERSATIONS

Discuss in your home, small group, or use for personal reflections:
 When you have a conflict with someone, are you able to see the situation from the other person’s perspective? Explain.
 What makes it difficult to be a fair judge of other people’s thoughts and actions?

Taking Faith Home

DEVOTIONS

Read: 1 Kings 3:5-12.

Humans have proven throughout the ages that they can explain away any thoughts and

actions. Our own sense of truth and justice can be hurtful and unfair. We know how we can try

to fool ourselves and others. Solomon also knew this, so he prayed to God for “understanding

to discern what is right” (1 Kings 3:11b). The Hebrew literally says, “to hear justice.” That is, to

let Solomon’s mind perceive and hear real justice on behalf of others. This is a daring prayer

that puts others before his—and our own—interests. Our imperfect sense of justice and truth

needs the humility of Solomon to recognize that God’s truth stands out from our own. A good

example is when the disciples heard the many parables of Jesus. Perhaps the greater wisdom

would have been to acknowledge that they really did not understand them (Matthew 13:51).

Discuss: When have you prayed for wisdom and understanding?

Pray: God of justice and truth, give us a humble heart that we may see and judge people

with mercy and understanding that dares to love others through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Download this week’s Taking Faith Home now!

Social Justice Saturday: Taking Time for the Soul

There is a story of sherpas who guide people to the Himalayan summit. They encourage, push and pace their climbers, but then they will suddenly st op climbing and put down their equipment. Puzzled Westerners, accustomed to pushing onward until the goal is reached, will ask: “Why have we stopped?” The sherpas reply: “We’ve come very far today; we need to give our souls time to catch up with us.”

Reflective Questions:

When and where do I stop to rest?

When I stop, what does my Soul say to me about my life and work at this time?

Social Justice Saturday: "Inclusion, protection and celebration of all": A statement from the bishops

“This week in 2015, in its landmark Obergefell ruling, the Supreme Court established fundamental marriage equality for LGBTQ persons throughout the nation.  We greeted that decision with joy, recognizing as it did that equal treatment under the law is not only a democratic principle, but also one that recognizes the inherent, God-given goodness of every human being, and supports societal structures which enshrine our communal recognition of that goodness…”

Read the Full Statement on the MA Diocese Website.