“Lord,
do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” As I read this
sentence from the Gospel (Luke 9:51-56) today I thought of Congress. I wish we
could call down fire to consume them and start all over again and I am thinking
Jesus might give the request just a little more thought this time! But in the
end we would get with the disciples got a rebuke.
Jesus never confronted violence with
violence, for him there was always another way, a better way. It isn’t always
the easy way but in the end it is better than violence, anger, negativity and
abuse of power. It is the way that will invite, welcome and make God present to
the people around us and to the world. Are there risks to Jesus’ way?
Absolutely! But the risks are worth it.
Jesus shows us in the Gospel today that
meeting rejection with rejection, or hate with hate, or violence with violence
is not the way. When we are treated poorly, when we are disappointed, when we
are attacked, violence, anger, hate are not the way forward. Jesus’ suggestion
is to take a deep breath, and then take our next step in faith. This is the way
all disciple can complete their journey of faith.
In living life this way we can give meaning
to the words we find in first reading for today from Zechariah (Zechariah
8:20-23). If we live as people of faith, then others will grab hold of us and
say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” Isn’t this
Pope Francis’ message on how to be a Christian, a person of faith? It is our
action, our treatment of others. It is our making God present so others can see
and experience God that will change the world.
But Jesus couldn’t you make just one
exception and call down fire to consume Congress! Have a nice day everyone…
Daily Prayer: Lord Jesus we
do believe, help our unbelief! Amen!
Runner’s Thought: “Run in places
you love with people you like. Enjoying your surroundings and training partners
will strengthen your commitment to running and bring out the best in you.” (Deena Kastor) This is
especially true if you run with God!
I’m Back! Happy Tuesday
everyone! Yes, I am back! Did you miss me? In many ways it was a great weekend.
I got to spend some quality time with family. And let me say I am very grateful
to all the family that made it to Columbus, IN this weekend. It was great to be
with you and I am very grateful to my niece and nephew Mindy and Paul for hosting
the weekend. They provide a wonderful place to gather, great food and a
welcoming home. I am also grateful to all the family who traveled and took time
out of their busy schedules just to stand around and watch people running
especially when it took over four and a half hours for one of the people to
make it across the finish line. When family makes that commitment you know you
have an awesome family! So many thanks, Mindy and Paul Hengesbach, Sarah and
Dominick Saguto, Bernadette and John Hengesbach, Rosemarie, Jim, Bridget and
James Fagan! I am truly blessed!
Now as for the runners, Sarah and
Dominick did great in the half marathon and 5k respectively but this old runner
had a very bad day. It was the worst marathon I have ever run time wise (4
hours 41 minutes 55 seconds). And I had to do it with my family there. It was
depressing to say the least! But in many ways that is life. You are not always
at your best but the important thing is that you push on, you finish and live
to run another day! I cannot tell you
what went wrong. I just had a bad day. It was a beautiful marathon course for
the most part, the weather was great though a little on the warm side for
runners and a very smoothly run race with a lot of support. So now I need to
let this one go and move on to the next marathon in Scranton, PA on October 13th.
I hope you all had a good weekend that
you got to enjoy a little rest, relaxation and family/friends time. I did pray
for all of you during my run and I had a little more time at prayer than I
thought I was going to have so you got some extra prayers!
Daily Blessing: Have a great
Tuesday everyone and let all say a prayer that our politicians in Washington get
their act together and do some things that help rather than hinder. There are
many people affected by this shutdown and as often happens the people affected
can least afford it. Doesn’t seem fair or right!
And so I pray today for all affected by
the arrogance and stupidity of Congress that their loss of work and pay will be
short lived. I pray for all of you that you will have a great day filled with
many blesses, much love and feelings of peace. May you all be rich in faith,
hope and love which God has planted with in you. And may the wonderful spirit of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus guide you through the day! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr.
Paul
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