Daily Thoughts - 07/26/2013

Daily Thoughts: Two things to think about as you journey through your day… “The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty -- it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.”
― Mother Teresa, A Simple Path: Mother Teresa

“When I first found out I had cancer, I didn't know what to pray for. I didn't know if I should pray for healing or life or death. Then I found peace in praying for what my folks call, 'God's perfect will.' As it evolved, my prayer has become, 'Lord, let me live until I die.' By that I mean I want to live, love, and serve fully until death comes. If that prayer is answered, how long really doesn't matter. Whether it's just a few months or a few years is really immaterial.”

― Sister Thea Bowman

Happy Feast of Sts. Ann and Joachim everyone!

Daily Prayer: Give us, O Lord, a steadfast heart, which no unworthy affection may drag downwards; give us an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out; give us an upright heart, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow upon us also, O Lord our God, understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen! (Prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas)

Runner’s Thought: “It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the journey, not in the destination. We have a better chance of seeing where we are when we stop trying to get somewhere else. We can enjoy every moment of movement, as long as where we are is as good as where we'd like to be. That's not to say that you need to be satisfied forever with where you are today. But you need to honor what you've accomplished, rather than thinking of what's left to be done.” ― John Bingham

Happy Friday everyone and Happy Feast of Sts. Ann and Joachim! It is a busy day here at St. Ann’s. I was hearing confessions at 4:00 am this morning and the masses and service are many throughout the day with the closing at 7:30 pm. I will keep you all in my prayers as we each live this day trying to celebrate what the day offers us. Have a great day and may God bless your journey through this day and always! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/25/2013

Daily Thoughts: I have to say that today’s first reading on this Feast of St. James from St. Paul (2Cor. 4:7-15) is one of my all-time favorites. Paul uses the image of “earthen vessels” to talk about himself and us in terms of our relationship with God. Paul says we hold the treasure of our faith, the presence of God, in earthen vessels, in other words in us. Now some say Paul us talking about large water jugs, others say he was referring to terracotta lamps, either way it is a striking image. Within the fragility of this human condition we carry the gift of God.

What a wonderful way to think about ourselves. I have often thought about reading this little passage from St. Paul each morning upon getting up, what a way to enter a new day knowing that I carry within me the presence of God. Knowing that I am not perfect, that I am cracked, chipped, scratched, in other words I am human yet I have this wonderful gift within me.

Paul goes on to say life is tough however because of the gift we have within us things will be ok. We will get through the trials and tribulations of life because of the power of God, the friendship of God.

So as we journey through this day let us be reminded that we are earthen vessels, fragile, imperfect, at times struggling but we are also blessed with a great gift within us, the presence, the grace, the love of God. And when we face the struggles, difficulties and challenges that life throws at us the power of this gift within us will see us through.

Happy Feast of St. James everyone!

Daily Prayer:

Loving God we pray;

We hold a treasure - Not made of gold - In earthen vessels, wealth untold
One treasure only, the Lord, the Christ - In earthen vessels.

Light has shown in our darkness - God has shown in our hearts
With the light of the glory - Of Jesus the Lord.

We hold a treasure - Not made of gold - In earthen vessels, wealth untold
One treasure only, the Lord, the Christ - In earthen vessels.

He has chosen the lowly - Who are small in this world
In his weakness His Glory -In Jesus the Lord

We hold a treasure - Not made of gold - In earthen vessels, wealth untold
One treasure only, the Lord, the Christ - In earthen vessels.

Loving God help us to believe and live these words today and always! Amen!

(Words from Earthen Vessels by John Foley, S.J.)

Runner’s Thought: As prayerful runners let us not run with a sense of expectation that something significant will happen spiritually. Let us run only asking that our run be in the presence of God and that we will run with a heightened awareness of God’s presence. If we run this way occasionally insights will come our way and we might feel a special closeness to God, but usually we will simply know that we are not running alone and we will carry with us the sense of a shared journey long after we have finished our run! (Adapted from Running the Spiritual Path by Roger Joslin)

Happy Thursday everyone and Happy Feast of St. James especially to all those with the name James! I hope your day has started off well and that it will be blessed in a special way as you journey through it. If you are finding life a struggle today please know as always you are in my prayers and I will say a special prayer that it gets at least a little better as the day goes on.

The weather certainly has changed here in northeastern Pennsylvania, we were in the 60’s most of yesterday and this morning it started out in the 50’s. I am not complaining! It looks to be a beautiful day on this the ninth day of the novena here at St. Ann’s. We will be finishing up tomorrow with the feast day and I will be heading back to New York tomorrow night as I have a long run scheduled in Central Park on Saturday morning. It has been a wonderful novena, very spirit filled yet it will be nice to finish tomorrow. I hope you are enjoying good weather wherever you are and that today will be one to enjoy!

Have a great day and believe in the treasure that you carry within you and that you are! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/24/2013

Daily Thoughts: “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, [humankind] will have discovered fire.” (Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.) This is one of my favorite quotes and I thought of it today in terms of the Gospel (Matt. 13:1-9). Perhaps in a different way Jesus is saying to us that when we can get past all the things that seem to get in the way of our relationship with God we will discover love, the good soil. The things of the world are enticing but it is God’s love that makes all the difference!

Daily Prayer:

Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, understanding, and my entire will.

Antiphon - Give me only Your love and Your grace, that's enough for me.

Your love and Your grace, are enough for me.

Take, Lord, receive all I have and possess. You have given all to me, now I return it. (Antiphon)

Take, Lord, receive, all is Yours now. Dispose of it, wholly according to Your will. (Antiphon) – (Song by John Foley, S.J. based on prayer by Saint Ignatius of Loyola)

Runner’s Thought:  Bart Yasso of Runner’s World says, “Never limit where running can take you. I mean that geographically, spiritually, and of course, physically.” And I say especially spiritually!

Happy Wednesday Everyone! I hope your “Hump Day” has started off well and that you will find the rest of the week downhill so to speak.

Well yesterday was an interesting day getting to see the new royal baby and all the excitement at World Youth Day. Though the evening before was a little scary with the Pope’s car taking the wrong route.

The novena here at St. Ann’s continues to go well. The weather has certainly changed as we are in the low 70’s today and there are lots of clouds. Your prayer intentions are part of my prayer today.

I hope your week is going well and that you are encountering interesting things in your own life. We all cannot be celebrities or travel around the world but all of our lives are important and special. All of our lives give us the chance to encounter God and bring God to others, all of our lives are a gift!

May your life be blessed today and as you live out this day may you come to know that you are loved and that you bring the love and grace of God to others. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/23/2013

Daily Thoughts: At first hearing we might be taken aback by today’s Gospel (Matt.12:46-50), how could Jesus be so rude to his family? Why would he not go out and at least speak to Mary?  It seems disrespectful. It seems to go against everything Jesus teaches. What about the commandment, “Honor your father and mother?”

We can look at this Gospel story through these questions or we can see it another way. Perhaps Jesus was not being rude or disrespectful; perhaps he was just taking the opportunity to expand our understanding of family. Perhaps he was taking the opportunity to help us understand better what it means to be community, to be church, to be family, to be the Body of Christ!

As people who believe we are not in this journey alone, we traveling as community, as church, as family, as the Body of Christ. Jesus is just reminding us that we are connected and we can draw upon the strength of the many to help us in those moments of doubt, struggle and challenge. Believing in, valuing and living out our relationship with God makes us part of a great family of believers and in our first reading (Exodus 14:21-15:1) we see how well God takes care of his family.

As we journey through this day let us trust in the presence of a family of faith that means we are never alone, that we are always loved by God.

Daily Prayer: Loving God we have often abandoned you but you never abandon us. Your loving hands are always outstretched toward us, even when we stubbornly look the other way and your gentle voice constantly calls us, even when we persistently fuse to listen. Touch us today, call us today, bless us today and be with us today so that we may know that we are never alone, that you are always with us and you will never leave us. Help us to walk by faith and proclaim it by the life we live. Amen!

Runner’s Thought: As we let us imagine that God is at our side, running along with us. Imagine how God might look with kindness into the faces of all whom the two of us might meet as we run. Imagine how God would find good in everyone we encountered. Let’s us look for good in everyone we meet today. Let us look for good in ourselves today. Have a great run!

Tuesday greetings from Scranton, Pa to everyone! I hope your day has started off well. Mine got an early start, 5:15 am to be exact. One of my Passionist brothers who is staying across the street entered the residence here at St. Ann’s before 5:30 am when the security alarm deactivates and then could not turn it off so you might say the whole house got an early start this morning!

We had a rainy day yesterday which moved the evening masses and service inside. Today looks like it will be hit and miss with the rain, lots of clouds and some sun we will keep our fingers crossed.

Wherever you are I hope your day goes well. I will pray during my duties at the novena here at St. Ann’s today that your day will be touch by God’s presence through the things you do and the people you meet. May you be blessed with the grace of God’s love and may you share it with everyone you meet. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/22/2013

Daily Thoughts: St. Mary Magdalene is at times referred to as the Apostle to the Apostles. She is the first proclaimer of the resurrection a story we read today from John’s Gospel. The interesting thing about Mary’s encounter with Jesus is that at first she does not recognize him. You might think that after following Jesus for so long it would be hard not to recognize him.

Now some might say it was because of his resurrected body but I think it was because Mary did not expect to see Jesus alive.  Have you ever been in a situation when you did not expect to see someone? When the person surprises us with their presence there always seems to be a moment when we don’t recognize them. They haven’t changes, they are the same person but our eyes and brain just were not expecting them. It doesn’t make sense once we realize our mistake and we wonder how we did not recognize her or him but yet it happened.

The element of surprise catches us off guard. Perhaps today that is a good way to think about the presence of God in our life. We have a God of surprises and at any moment of our day God can walk into our midst. Are we ready? Or will we miss the moment because we are not expecting God to be there?

Through the intersession of St. Mary Magdalene may we be open today to be surprised by God!

Daily Prayer: God of surprises, we thank you for the gift of your presence in our life today. We thank you for the way you bring us to new life in ways that surprise us, liberate us, celebrate us and give us hope.

We ask you to be presence in our life today; helping us to show that here and now, you are at work bringing healing, wholeness, and justice and that by the grace of your Holy Spirit of love, we your people may share in the surprising work of your presence today.

God surprise us today with your hope and love that we may be your faith filled people who proclaim the Good News to a world that does expect to encounter your love. Surprise us today, God! Amen!

Runner’s Thought: Remember running is an opportunity to search for God amid the commonplace, humdrum and ordinary activities that most often occupy our life. That is ultimately the point of meditative running – we are trying to find a way to mix the mundane with the mystical, to blend the sacred with the profane, to find heaven on earth. If running is sacred time to us then we have the opportunity to encounter the gift of God while we run! (Adapted from Roger Joslin – Running the Spiritual Path)

Happy Monday everyone! It was a busy weekend for me. The novena here at St. Ann’s is in high gear. Please know that I have brought all of the intentions that you have sent to me to my prayers at the novena each day. If there are any new intentions that you would like to add please let me know.

The days are long and I make them a little long by running in the evening after the last service and so my day doesn’t end until around 10 pm. I don’t often run at night so this is quite a different experience for me. I was glad the heat broke yesterday last night’s run was so much more enjoyable. I didn’t even mind the brief rain shower near the end of the run. It felt good and I was wet with sweat anyway.

I hope you had a good weekend and that it afforded you a little rest and relaxation. I hope the heat broke where you are too. May this new week be one of many graces and blessings for you and those you love. May God surprise you today so that you will know you are always loved and that you always make the world a better place by the gift of your presence! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul