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.
from NPR
Questions:
1) What are some of the inequalities highlighted in this piece?
2) Who are some of the people groups most affected by these inequalities?
3) What are some of the suggested changes for our communities moving forward?
4) Where do you see similar inequalities in your community? Why do you think they exist? Who do they affect?
5) Can you think of any ways you could respond to these inequalities in your community moving forward?
Views and Qs: Radical Welcome
Watch this video together and then use the discussion questions below to reflect as a family.
Discussion Questions:
1) What is radical welcome? 2) How is radical welcome different from or similar to how you think about hospitality, or welcoming people into groups or organizations to which you belong?
3) What does it mean that radical welcome includes being changed by the people that join the community or group? 4) How could you practice radical welcome in your communities or groups? 5) What are some of the barriers to participation in these groups to which you belong? How could radical welcome lessen those barriers?
Feast and Faith: Who Is Invited?
For this week's dinner discussion we will focus on Jesus' parable of the wedding banquet.
Prayer -
O heavenly Father, who has filled the world with beauty:
Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works;
that, rejoicing in your whole creation, we may learn to serve
you with gladness; for the sake of him through whom all
things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Discussion -
This week we are reflecting on the Jesus' parable comparing the Kingdom of Heaven to a great wedding banquet, and the way the "king" in the story extends the invitation to this wedding feast to a wider and wider group of people as the story unfolds:
Questions -
1) Can you name some organizations, communities, or groups that you belong to (e.g. school, church, sports team, business, etc.)?
2) Who is invited to be part of these organizations, communities, or groups, either exlicitly or implicitly? Who does not seem to be invited to be part of these groups, either explicitly or implicitly? Why?
3) Where in your community do you see people not be invited to take part in certain groups or activities? Is there a reason?
4) When have you felt "uninvited?" What were the circumstances? What was the outcome of that situation?
5) How can we build stronger communities through greater invitation? What would it be like if everyone was invited to participate in all facets of our communal life?
Final Nugget -
Jesus is inviting us in this time to take a look at the groups to which we belong, and examine who is represented in these various groups. Do you see some people not getting invited into certain spaces? How can you actively work for greater invitation in your communal spaces today?.
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 106:1-6,19-23
(read in unison)
1 Hallelujah!
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, *
for his mercy endures for ever.
2 Who can declare the mighty acts of the Lord *
or show forth all his praise?
3 Happy are those who act with justice *
and always do what is right!
4 Remember me, O Lord, with the favor you have for your people, *
and visit me with your saving help;
5 That I may see the prosperity of your elect
and be glad with the gladness of your people, *
that I may glory with your inheritance.
6 We have sinned as our forebears did; *
we have done wrong and dealt wickedly.
19 Israel made a bull-calf at Horeb *
and worshiped a molten image;
20 And so they exchanged their Glory *
for the image of an ox that feeds on grass.
21 They forgot God their Savior, *
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 Wonderful deeds in the land of Ham, *
and fearful things at the Red Sea.
23 So he would have destroyed them,
had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, *
to turn away his wrath from consuming them.
Reading
(read by assigned person)
Matthew 22:1-14
Once more Jesus spoke to the people in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
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)
Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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