Hosted by the Faith To Go team in the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, David Tremaine and Charlette Preslar, and joined the each week by a special guest, the Faith To Go Podcast highlights themes from the Sunday Gospel reading for you to take into your faith discussions and reflections throughout the week.
by NPR
Questions:
1) What is going on in your backyard today? What about outside your front door, or around your apartment building?
2) How might bird watching help us notice things we never have before?
3) What is required of us to be able to see and hear all the birds that we never noticed before?
4) What are you curious about when it comes to the birds you see around your house? What other questions come up when you pay attention to small things you never noticed before in the environment where you live?
5) What other areas of your life or your community can you take this kind of curiosity into?
Views and Qs: A Childlike Wonder
Watch this video together and then use the discussion questions below to reflect as a family.
Discussion Questions:
1) When have you felt "stuck" in your life? How did you get unstuck? 2) When and where do you feel the greatest sense of wonder in your life?
3) Do you feel like you have the same level of curiosity and wonder as when you were younger? Why or why not? 4) What do you think it means to "just be" with people? 5) Who are some people, ideas, or situations in the world that you would like to bring curiosity and wonder to today?
Feast and Faith: Cultivating Our Curiosity
For this week's dinner discussion we will focus on Jesus' teaching to his disciples about the hidden mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven.
Prayer -
Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy
Spirit you have bestowed upon us your servants the
forgiveness of sin, and have raised us to the new life of
grace. Sustain us, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give us
inquiring and discerning hearts, the courage to will and to
persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy
and wonder in all your works. Amen.
(Prayer During Baptism from the Book of Common Prayer, pg. 308)
Discussion -
This week are reflecting on Jesus' teaching about the generation of people he was encountering in his mission and the way in which the mysterious truths of the kingdom of heaven are revealed. He emphasizes that these mysteries have been hidden "from the wise and the intelligent" and have been revealed "to infants":
Questions -
1) Do you remember what it was like to be a little child? What do you remember being curious about when you were that young?
2) What do you notice about the way infants and very young children encounter and interact with the world around them?
3) What are some things you used to wonder about and don't wonder about anymore? Why don't you? What would it be like to wonder about them again?
4) Is there anything that is uncomfortable for you to wonder about? How could you open yourself up to wonder about these things? What might happen if you do?
5) Who are the people you disagree with the most? What do you think would happen if you brought the wonder you used to have as a young child to conversations with them?
Final Nugget -
Today there are a lot of people disagreeing about a lot of important things. What would our national and communal discourse be like if we approached had and uncomfortable conversations with a sense of wonder? How can you cultivate this in yourself this week?
Stay and Pray: A Devotion for Families at the Close of the Day Each week we feature a way for your family to reflect and pray together. For families with older children this is an at home liturgy for your family to participate in together. It is a daily devotion for families adapted from The Book of Common Prayer.
Before you begin, take a few moments to decide who will read the scripture reading and who will read the collect and closing.
Read the Psalm and Lord's Prayer in unison.
After a moment of silence, begin with the Psalm.
Psalm 145:8-15
(read in unison)
8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, *
slow to anger and of great kindness.
9 The Lord is loving to everyone *
and his compassion is over all his works.
10 All your works praise you, O Lord, *
and your faithful servants bless you.
11 They make known the glory of your kingdom *
and speak of your power;
12 That the peoples may know of your power *
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; *
your dominion endures throughout all ages.
14 The Lord is faithful in all his words *
and merciful in all his deeds.
15 The Lord upholds all those who fall; *
he lifts up those who are bowed down.
Reading
(read by assigned person)
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Jesus said to the crowd, “To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Prayers for Ourselves and For Others (take this time to each offer one person/event that you would like to hold in prayer as well as one thing you are thankful for)
Dear God, tonight I ask your prayers for.......
and I give you thanks for ..........
Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
(read in unison)
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen
The Collect
(read by assigned person)
O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Share some of your conversations in the comments below: