Look To that old song, "Turn, turn, turn," one might add that there is a time for crouching

and a time for reaching. (In case you don't know, that song comes from the biblical book of Ecclesiastes). Sometimes, we have lots of energy to dedicate to helping others. We might enjoy coaching a soccer team, or leading a Cub Scout pack. Or we might take on a volunteer project of some kind. Perhaps it is our desire to accomplish something that leads us to undertake a project or service. Perhaps it is the joy we get from seeing others blossom under our leadership. In any case, even when we are doing something for others, we ourselves are fed emotionally or spiritually. But sometimes, those activities or projects cease to feed us anymore, they simply leave us exhausted. Or it may be that ours or others' sickness, and our need to care for ourselves or others, requires that we step back and rest. We need a certain emptiness in our schedule, so that our minds will be free of the burden of so many responsibilities. It may also be that if we have suffered an emotional hurt, that we need to make fewer commitments to fewer people, so that we can focus for awhile on our own emotional health. 1. When have you discerned that a work or service you were doing no longer fed you as it did before? Can you describe the difference in how you felt? 2. When, in your life, or the life of this parish community, has some emotional damage forced a withdrawal of some kind? Book: Luke 4:16-30 In proclaiming the "year of the Lord's favor," Jesus was reminding his Jewish hearers of the "Year of Jubilee." Every 50 years, land was to be returned to its ancestral owners, so that those families who had lost their land would get it back. And all Israelites who had been sold into slavery because of their debts were to be freed and their debts forgiven. Jesus is proclaiming a year of jubilee, surely good news to the Jews listening to him. They are tired, and groaning under the oppressive taxation and fear of Roman power But who is this guy to be making such "gracious" proclamations? And then, Jesus makes it clear that such a jubilee isn't just for the chosen people. It is also for the Gentiles, from Sidon, from Syria, and now Rome. The nations who have harassed and oppressed Israel are now to share in the release and healing that was supposed to be Israel's exclusive blessing. A people groaning under many burdens are now called to share the blessings of God. This they cannot do. 1. How many different reactions of the Nazarenes to Jesus's message can you see in this story? Which one do you think you might be most likely to feel? Took Who are we called to serve, and how much energy do we have to serve? Those are questions that inevitably arise when we are deciding whether to undertake a service of some kind. Sometimes our service needs to focus on our family, because that is where the need is greatest, and that is all we can do. Sometimes, we may feel a twinge in our hearts toward certain groups of people. Or some groups of people may be so unfamiliar to us that the thought of helping them may challenge us to the core of our hearts. And sometimes, we may feel daunted by the obstacles we can see to helping someone. But Jesus's proclamation challenges us to look for those whom God gives us to serve, and to trust that he will give us the resources and energy we need when we respond in faith. 1. To whom are you called to proclaim grace and good news? What do you need to be fed and equipped for this service?