Daily Thoughts - 06/15/2013

Daily Thoughts: Just some random thoughts by others to think about as you wander through today…

“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves and not to twist them to fit our own image.” ― Thomas Merton

"There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win." - Elie Wiesel

"Youth is a gift of nature, but age is a work of art." - Stanislaw Jerzy Lee

"One advantage of talking to yourself is that you know at least somebody is listening." - Franklin P. Jones - And I say, "Maybe!"

Have a great day everyone! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 06/14/2013

Daily Thought: I have always like the image that St. Paul uses in the first reading today (2Corinthians 4:7-15), “earthen vessels.” The St. Louis Jesuit song by the same name introduced me to the image many, many years ago, but it has been my ministry and the living of life that has made the image “earthen vessels” so important and lasting.

I remember during the Holy Year in honor of St. Paul I was reading an article by a scripture scholar who said the Paul was not very imaginative with his examples and images. Back then and now I would disagree with that scholar. When you look over Paul’s letters and consider the images he used in order to make his point often they are images that come out of everyday life. They are images that every person listening would be able to relate to. Paul spoke to the common person and in doing so tried to make his ideas, his words understandable through the images of everyday life.

Everyone would have known what an earthen vessel was. The probably saw them and used them daily. A simple earthen container with weathered by life with chips, cracks and flaws. Fragile pieces of pottery formed out of the clay of the earth by skilled and loving hands.  Yet, Paul takes these simple objects of everyday life and turns them into wonderful images of our relationship with God. We are the earthen vessels, formed by the Great Potter’s hand out of the clay of the earth. We have our faults, failings, our chips and cracks but within us is a great treasure, the presence of God.

What a hopeful and wonderful way to think of ourselves. Yes, we are fragile, yes we have our faults and failing, yes we are chipped and flawed but because of God’s presence, God’s grace, God’s love we are never alone. As Paul puts it, “We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”  We carry within the dying of Jesus and the life of Jesus. We carry within us the profound love of God.

May we carry within us, may we live, this special gift today in these earthen vessels to the glory of God!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, we thank you for the good news that we carry within us your loving presence. Help us to live today through your Spirit of love. Help us to grow a real and living faith so that we may come to know your living presence and loving power. God, grace us, your earthen vessels, with the wisdom to trust and hope that the surpassing power by which we live is from you. Amen!

Runner’s Thought: Samuel Shoemaker once said, “Prayer may not change things for you, but it for sure changes you for things.” Perhaps the same thing is true about running and what might happen if we put the two together! So make your run a prayer.

TGIF everyone! I hope the day has started off well for you, if not please know my prayers are with you. May the second half of today be better and brighter. We still find ourselves cool and wet here in Pelham. Sky might be getting a little brighter but maybe that is me just being optimistic. I hope you weathered the storms yesterday if they came by you. I hope you are ready for a relaxing weekend.

As always I pray that God blesses you today, in your work, your ministry, your travels, your experiences, your relationships and your living of life. Remember the gift you carry with you – trust, hope, laugh, smile, love, and live today and always. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 06/13/2013

Daily Thought: I ran across a quote by David Benner the author of Healing Emotional Wounds, “Forgiveness…is letting go – letting go of the anger, letting go of the right to retaliate, and letting go of the right to savour any of the emotional consequences of the hurt." I have always reflected with people who were struggling with forgiveness that forgiveness is about letting go. It is about moving beyond the hurt. Yet often people think that forgiveness means forgetting.

The wisdom in Brenner’s reflection is that he is not saying that we forget that we let go of the experience itself but that we let go of the human effects of being hurt that can often paralyze us. Perhaps said another way we need to let go so we can get beyond being a victim.

I think this is what Jesus is getting at in the God today (Matthew 5:20-26). In order for the commandment of love, which we reflected on yesterday, to fully be part of our life we have to let go of the anger, retaliation and the victimization that being hurt can often bring about.

Jesus talks about taking the high road. Jesus speaks about being the bigger person. Jesus teaches us the importance and power of love. However, there is one thing we always need to remember none of this is easy and sometimes taking the high road, being the bigger person, living by love can open us up to be hurt once again. It can also mean being rejected.  The commandment of love requires that we be forgiving people, to seek forgiveness and to offer forgiveness whether it is successful or not.

So we pray for the strength and the grace to be people willing to seek forgiveness and be forgiving!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, you know the ways that we treat people that we do not like. You know that we judge them, we avoid them, we gossip about them, we hassle them. However wanting to be your people of faith, your people of love, we do not want to be this way, to treat people this way anymore. So we ask you for the grace and strength to learn how to be forgiving people today and always. We want to learn how to forgive and also how to ask for forgiveness when we struggle and fail. Help us God to be a forgiving people just as you are forgiving! We pray this today and always the Jesus Christ, your Son and our friend. Amen!

Runner’s Thought: Running can be so symbolic of life and faith. In running like in life we have to drive ourselves to overcome the obstacles. At times we feel that we just cannot do it. But then we find an inner strength, an inner presence and realize that we are capable of so much more than we thought. And like in faith when we run we often realize that we are not alone. That God runs with us!

Happy Thursday everyone! We are back to the wet weather here in Pelham. It seems we are only capable of enjoying a day or two of the sun before find ourselves in the midst cool, gray, wetness! I hope things are brighter where you are today. If not join me in looking for and bringing the brightness of joy and hope into life in whatever way we can. Even if it means we just smile a little more!

Have a great day everyone and may God’s blessings and love be upon you, wherever you go, whatever you do and upon whomever you meet! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 06/12/2013

Daily Thought: After reading today’s Gospel (Matthew 5:17-19) one might ask the question, “What law is Jesus speaking about?” At first glance we might be tempted to say that Jesus was about abolishing the law rather than fulfilling it. His life and ministry often seemed to challenge Jewish law rather than support it or fulfill it.

However, we might journey back to a conversation Jesus had with a scribe not too long ago (Mark 12:28-34 June 6^th), the scribe asked Jesus, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus’ responds was to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself, these are the two great commandments. Now if we think of this conversation in light of today’s Gospel then we might begin have a real understanding of what law Jesus is talking about.

All of law flows from these two great commandments, love of God and neighbor. Jesus’ life was about fulfilling these commandments, his life, his actions, his teaching and his ministry all centered on living a life in love of God and others. All that Jesus said and did was to bring fulfillment to the great law of love.

Jesus showed us the way to fulfill the law, to change the world. Thus, the challenge for us in today’s Gospel is about how we live our life. Do we live our life in order to help bring fulfillment to the law of love? Do we live life loving God, others and ourselves?

Daily Prayer:  Loving God, May the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, be our touchstone, be our comfort, be our answer to all the dark questions. May the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, be the light of all nights, the sign that you have chosen us, the mysterious and sure sign that we are yours for all eternity. Amen!

Runner’s Thought: As we run today let’s imagine that God is at our side, running along with us. Imagine how God would look with kindness into the faces of all whom the two of us would meet as we run. Imagine how God would find good in everyone we encounter. Thus, as we run today, let us look for good in everyone. Let us look for good within ourselves.  (Adapted from Roger Joslin – Running the Spiritual Path)

I am as happy as a camel on Wednesday! Yes, my friends, it’s Hump Day! I hope everyone’s day has started off well. The sun is out here in Pelham, there is a gentle breeze and I have to say all is well at this moment at least in this little part of the world. Sorry that I didn’t connect with you yesterday but I spent part of the morning at the dentist and the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon dealing with a dying phone. I am now a “Blackberry Man!”

Friends, I pray that you have a great day! Many blessings upon all that you do, upon everyone you meet and upon all whom you love! Most importantly blessing upon you and the gift of love that you are to this world! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 06/10/2013

Daily Thought: I have a couple of thoughts about the Gospel today (Matthew 5: 1-12). The Beatitudes are one of my favorite Gospels but also one of the most challenging Gospels for me. Often times after hearing it proclaimed I am energized yet also humbled. I am ready to encounter the world yet I am also ready to head to the confessional. I want to be a true disciple yet I know I am far from it!

Fr. James Martin, S.J. tweeted today, “Gospel: What does it mean to be poor in spirit?” I must admit I have always struggle with an understanding of this first beatitude. Fr. Martin’s answer, “Poor in Spirit” is to know one’s reliance on God, to understand one’s dependence on God and to grasp one’s humanity. I guess we might say that to be “poor in spirit” is to let go and let God.

The other challenge of the beatitudes is that to live fully any one of the beatitudes, you will almost automatically begin to live them all. Perhaps to put it another way, “You can’t live just one!” In order to be a peacemaker we need to also be meek, merciful, clean of heart, righteous and poor in spirit. In order to be merciful we need to be clean of heart, meek, poor in spirit, righteous and a peacemaker. They go hand in hand.

However living the beatitudes is not easy because they will all make us vulnerable to insult, persecution and the evils of our world. They all open us up to insecurities of the world which can be troubling, harsh, insensitive and hurtful. In other words living the beatitudes can open us up to be stepped on, hurt and not valued as a person. Living the beatitudes almost always put us in tension with the ways of culture, society and the world.

Yet, in the midst of all that Jesus tells us to rejoice and be glad. The challenge of the beatitudes has been going on since the beginning of time. Women and men before us have faced the challenge and their prize, the Kingdom, await us. Perhaps all the beatitudes can really be proclaim and lived in the phrase, “Let go and let God!”

Daily Prayer:

Loving God, we pray today to be one of the “poor in spirit” so we ask that you:

Liberate us from our desires to be wealthy, and our belief that ‘a little bit more’ will make us happy!

Liberate us from our daydreams of self-sufficiency, in which we see ourselves as makers of our own life, controllers of our own destiny, advancers of our own cause, and the only recipient of credit for our accomplishments.

Liberate us from our attempts to buy a sense of worthiness, by our eye-catching good deeds and public acts of service.

Show us a better way – to be your “poor in spirit” so that we might come before you with open hands and open hearts.

Show us the deep connection we between our sisters and our brothers, and the way in which you created us to live in loving trust of each other.

Show us how to be compassionate, merciful, meek, clean of heart and peacemakers. That we might bring these gifts to everyone we meet.

Show us how to hunger and thrust for justice that we might truly be people of life.

Show us the fullness of your kingdom, in which you call us to participate – here and now – not by our own perfection, but by the grace you offer us through Jesus Christ.

Grace us with the strength to look beyond the insults, the negativity, the hurts and the ridicule to the gift of our love that travels with us never letting us face the perils of this way alone. Amen!

Runner’s Thought: Mother Teresa saw Christ in the face of everyone she met, it is possible to conduct a run that models her behavior. So as we run, let’s place a smile on our face and thus offer a blessing to everyone we meet on our run today!

Happy Monday everyone! I trust you had an enjoyable weekend. The weather at least in this neck of the woods was beautiful. The only negative was a sore foot that kept me from running over the weekend. If your weekend didn’t go so well let’s pray that as we begin this new week things will get better!

We seem to be racing through June at least that is the way it feels to me. Sometimes I would just like to slow time down so I can full enjoy the moment. But onward we journey so I guess it is up to me to stop and smell the flowers every once in a while.

Have a great day and please know my prayers go with you. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul