Christ in our Neighborhood

NOTE: Christ in Our Neighborhood is a parish-based program consisting of small Christian communities that gather in the home weekly to prayerfully discuss the upcoming Sunday Mass readings. It’s easy to form a community and you can find out more by searching “Christ in Our Neighborhood at the Diocese of Phoenix website, dphx.org. This coming Sunday, we celebrate Pentecost. The question the Christ in Our Neighborhood commentary asks us is: In what way are you Christ to those around you? In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus breathes on the Apostles and gives them the power to absolve sins.

NOTE: Christ in Our Neighborhood is a parish-based program consisting of small Christian communities that gather in the home weekly to prayerfully discuss the upcoming Sunday Mass readings. It’s easy to form a community and you can find out more by searching “Christ in Our Neighborhood at the Diocese of Phoenix website, dphx.org. This coming Sunday, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. The question the Christ in Our Neighborhood commentary asks us is: Jesus died for you, knowing you might never love Him back. When do you die to self for others, knowing they may not ever appreciate your selflessness? How many parents, throughout the centuries, have risen in the middle of the night to feed or console a child; have worked at a dead-end job to pay the bills; have eaten the burnt toast; have worked through pain and grief and hardship, all for the love of their children? This is what parents do. They take on the burdens and the suffering in order to spare their children.

NOTE: Christ in Our Neighborhood is a parish-based program consisting of small Christian communities that gather in the home weekly to prayerfully discuss the upcoming Sunday Mass readings. It’s easy to form a community and you can find out more by searching “Christ in Our Neighborhood at the Diocese of Phoenix website, dphx.org. This coming Sunday, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. The question the Christ in Our Neighborhood commentary asks us is: What does your spiritual odometer look like? On a scale of 1-10, where do you land? Do you feel the need for Eucharist? During the pandemic, when churches were closed during the spring of 2020, it all seemed so surreal. How could all the churches be closed? At the time, we didn’t really know how long they would remain closed. For many of us, the loss was keenly felt.

NOTE: Christ in Our Neighborhood is a parish-based program consisting of small Christian communities that gather in the home weekly to prayerfully discuss the upcoming Sunday Mass readings. It’s easy to form a community and you can find out more by searching “Christ in Our Neighborhood at the Diocese of Phoenix website, dphx.org. This coming Sunday, we celebrate the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. The question the Christ in Our Neighborhood commentary asks us is: Am I aware that I have been sent as part in God’s plan for the salvation of all mankind? What is my part in that plan?

This coming Sunday, we celebrate the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The question the Christ in Our Neighborhood commentary asks us is: Do I truly believe that God who watches over each and every sparrow, who counts every hair on my head, intimately knows and loves me? How do I respond? Many people in our world have never known unconditional love and have no experience with a love that embraces us even in the midst of brokenness. Even for those who have known this kind of love, it can be a challenge to believe that God loves us perfectly, just as we are and that we can’t earn His love. It’s a gift.

This coming Sunday, we celebrate the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The question the Christ in Our Neighborhood commentary asks us is: Are there things you place above God in your life? What difference would it make if you placed God above all else in your life? We may not kneel before golden calves, but we still worship idols if anyone or anything but God takes first place in our hearts. In our human brokenness (concupiscence) we have a tendency toward selfishness and sin. Anytime we choose to do things our way instead of God’s way, we’re making an idol of ourselves.

This coming Sunday, we celebrate the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The question the Christ in Our Neighborhood commentary asks us is: Silently reflect upon your spiritual journey. How were you able to find rest when you found Christ? “I fled Him down the nights and down the days I fled Him down the arches of the years I fled Him down the labyrinthine ways…”

This coming Sunday, we celebrate the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The question the Christ in Our Neighborhood commentary asks us is: How can we work on removing the weeds and thorns of sin that keep us from being the best version of ourselves? Many Catholics have the experience that they confess the same sins over and over again without seeming to make any progress. It’s important to remember that the saints weren’t perfect — they share in the frailties of human nature — but they kept getting up and endeavoring to follow the Lord.

This coming Sunday, we celebrate the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The question the Christ in Our Neighborhood commentary asks us is: Have you experienced the Holy Spirit giving life in you? What can you do to be yeast in your parish, family, or community? St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians lists the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When we have the Holy Spirit active in our lives, we experience these wonderful fruits. When we love those who are difficult, respond patiently when we are sorely tried, and when we share generously, we are living by the Spirit, rather than by the flesh.