FORMAT FOR THE SESSION
- Begin with the prayer specific for each session
- Watch the TED talk video
- Watch the reflection video by Fr. John
- Watch video by Matt Maher – YOUR LOVE DEFENDS ME
- Pray over the scripture passage
- Review Personal Reflection Questions
If you have any questions please e-mail Fr. John at [email protected]
SESSION #2 – The Real Reason You Feel So Busy
Opening Prayer – Let Go
Dear God,
It’s difficult to fully let go of our anxiety, or the world around us when we can’t see evidence of all that you’re doing – when we can’t understand or see your purpose or plan. Today, we pause and remind ourselves of our dependency on you, for we know in our hearts that our circumstances and futures are touched by your hands.
Isaiah 55:8 reminds us that our thoughts are not your thoughts – and that our ways are not your ways. When we are struggling to see clearly and make decisions, we are not alone and that inner peace is something only you can supply.
So today Lord, we purposefully, even urgently, say again that we choose to believe in you. We know that it’s often in the most challenging times that you are most at work. Thank you for being the one who gives us the strength to help each other and to see distinctly the choices we face. As we scan our personal horizons, we know that we also must look to you alone for the power and possibility that is our future.
We ask for your guidance so that we might walk fully in your path – a path that you have blessed. We also ask for your face to shine on us – individually, and as a team of colleagues and partners.
Please bring to fulfillment all that you have given us to do in the weeks ahead. Give us a heart of wisdom to hear your voice; and then make our footsteps firm. Please make us strong through your favor and grace.
– Offered by Greg Christopher
DORIE CLARK TED TALK
These days, everyone feels pressed for time. Duke University professor Dorie Clark reveals the hidden reasons behind why we’re all so busy, and why we struggle break out of the cycle of overwhelm. This talk presents a new way to look at the choices we make, and how to create more space in our lives to think.
Dorie Clark is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Long Game, Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing You and Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of the year by Inc. magazine. The New York Times describes her as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives.” A frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, she consults and speaks for clients including Google, Microsoft, and the World Bank.
FR. JOHN VIDEO REFLECTION
Mark 6:31-46 – Gospel Life
He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.
As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.
PERSONAL REFLECTION QUESTIONS
(1) What in your life makes you feel successful or accomplished?
(2) What cares/concerns/struggles in your life cause uncertainty?
(3) Where do you go to find the peace and grace of God in your daily life?
(4) What questions or concerns do you have in your life that you avoid by keeping yourself constantly busy?
(5) What is one thing you will change in your life to find more peace, assurance and hope?