Saturday, January 4, 2014

Daily Thoughts - 01/04/2014



Daily Thoughts: There is a very important question asked in today's Gospel, "What are you looking for?" Jesus asks this question of the two disciples of John who are following him, one of whom we learn later is Andrew, Peter's brother. However, back to the question, "What are you looking for?" It is a question that perhaps each of us should ask ourselves each and every morning before our day begins.

What are we looking for today? Some might answer this question very quickly and confidently, peace, security, love, relationships, family, wealth, power, forgiveness, etc. while for others the answer might be difficult; I don't know; I am not sure; I will never find it!. There are many things we want, some are simple and obtainable while other things are more complex and they often seem out of reach. For the two disciples in the Gospel the answer was simple they want to see where Jesus was staying. perhaps the question and answer for us is equally as simple, deep down all of us want to see God in our life. We want to be in the presence of God as we live our life each day.

With John's recommendation the two disciples sensed something special about Jesus. As people of faith directed by Mary, John, Peter, Paul and many others we sense something special about Jesus, we want to know where he stays. We want to be in his presence.  We might say that is what this New Evangelization, this Year of Faith is all about. It is about putting ourselves in the presence of God as we live each day of our life!

So let's answer the question as we begin this day, "What are we looking for?" Hopefully the answer is Christ, finding the presence of Christ in our lives!

Have a great Saturday everyone and stay warm!

Daily Prayer: O God of the present moment, help us to look for you today in every person we meet, in every place we go, in every situation we encounter and within ourselves. Once we find your presence give us the grace to remain there and the courage to bring others into your presence to meet you.  With your presence bless us with a sincere faith, a lasting hope and a welcoming love...for we are the generation that seeks the face of you our God!  Amen!

Runner's Thought: Running is a lot like life, sometimes it is energizing and sometimes it isn't but it always has meaning!

Daily Blessing: Friends it is a beautiful sunny day here in Pelham the only problem is that it is very cold. While I know there are many other much colder places it is still hard to head out today even though it looks so nice from the TV room window!

I hope all of you are staying warm and enjoying this Saturday morning. The holidays are now just about over. You might say that this is the last weekend in this year’s Christmas/New Year’s season. I think all in all it has been a pretty good one but I have to admit it will be nice to get back into the normal flow of life. This coming week I will be at our retreat house in Jamaica Queens giving a Day of Recollection, Thursday January 9th from 10 – 2. My topic will be “Living With Purpose: a Way to Follow Jesus.”  If you are in the area call the retreat house and make a reservation to join us. It certainly will be nice to go back to the place where I started my ministry many years ago and perhaps I will see some of you there!

Many blessings to get you through the weekend and may you find God in all that you encounter today. I am going to adapt an old Irish Blessing and it is my prayer of blessing for all of you today – “Deep peace of the running wave to you.  Deep peace of the cold and flowing air to you.  Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.  Deep peace of the bright snow to you. Deep peace of the warming sun to you. Deep peace of the shining stars to you.  Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.” Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

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