All Saints Day - Daily Thoughts - 11/01/2013

Daily Thought: I say thanks to All the Saints who have touched our lives down through the years. People who shared their faith and perhaps more importantly lived their faith so that we might encounter the presence of God, so that we might grow into the people God created us to be, so that we might believe. They were mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sisters –in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, friends, teachers, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, neighbors, strangers, companions on the journey, ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives of faith.

Pope Francis talks about the saints in our lives this way; “I see the holiness in the patience of the people of God: a woman who is raising children, a man who works to bring home the bread, the sick, the elderly priests who have so many wounds but have a smile on their faces because they served the Lord, the sisters who work hard and live a hidden sanctity. This is for me the common sanctity. I often associate sanctity with patience: not only patience as hypomoné [the New Testament Greek word], taking charge of the events and circumstances of life, but also as a constancy in going forward, day by day. This is the sanctity of the militant church also mentioned by St. Ignatius. This was the sanctity of my parents: my dad, my mom, my grandmother Rosa who loved ​​me so much. In my breviary I have the last will of my grandmother Rosa, and I read it often. For me it is like a prayer. She is a saint who has suffered so much, also spiritually, and yet always went forward with courage.”

 For all those who have touched us with sanctity and helped us to be the people we are today…we say thank you!

Have a great Friday and a blessed Feast of All Saints!

Daily Prayer: Christ has no body but ours, no hands, no feet on earth but ours, ours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world, ours are the feet with which he walks to do good, ours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Ours are the hands, ours are the feet, ours are the eyes, we are his body. Christ has no body now but ours, no hands, no feet on earth but ours, ours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but ours. (Adapted from a prayer by St. Teresa of Avila)

Runner’s Thoughts: Two days to the NYC Marathon and so my words of inspiration and faith are - “You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.” (Steve Prefontaine) And sometime in the journey of faith you wonder why you keep moving forward, why you believe and there are thousands of doctrines, dogma, codes of cannon law, commandments, precepts of the Church that gives you reasons to believe but I always come back to where it started. My faith comes down to the Cross and God’s great love for me!

Daily Blessing: In a little while I will pack my bag and head into Manhattan for the weekend, a little 60^th birthday gift to myself. I have always wanted to spend an overnight or two in Manhattan and this seemed like a good time. I can relax and enjoy the city for a day or two. It means I will not have to get up as early on Sunday morning for the marathon or travel as far to get to a place of rest after the marathon. These little things help believe me.

I will keep all of you in my prayers as I run the streets of NYC on Sunday. Thus that you too will enjoy a simple, peaceful weekend like me I offer a simple and peaceful blessing to all today – May our good and gracious God, bless us all as we celebrate this first weekend in November. May God bless us with gratitude for the gift of life, for those saints in our lives especially those who gave us life. May God bless us with gratitude for the opportunity to celebrate and live life with people we love. May God bless us with gratitude for the many people who touch our lives each day and bring us in touch with the presence and grace of God. May God, continue to bless us with people, places, experiences that give us strength to believe, to be faithful, to have hope and to love. And may God bless us with the grace to keep living the gift that we are! I ask this blessing for all of us through Christ our Savior and Friend. Amen!

Have a great Friday and weekend everyone! Don’t forget to turn your clock back one hour before you go to bed Saturday night! And don’t forget to give God a little time this weekend too! See you are the finish line…Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul