Daily Thoughts: We celebrate
today the Feast of St. Agatha, one of the early martyrs of the Church. What we
know about her is mostly legend. I find it interesting that as we celebrate her
spirit, her faith today we hear in the Gospel (Mark 6: 1-6) about a town that
doesn’t seem to have the same kind of spirit or faith. I guess in different ways
our remembrance of St. Agatha and our Gospel give us much food for thought.
The contrast between our Gospel and our
feast today seems to be about on the one hand a saint, a young woman of the
Third Century who held on to her faith at a time in the Church of great persecution.
She did this rather than giving in to the pressures of her culture and society. Agatha held on to her belief and faith in God
even though it brought her mush suffering and ultimately death at an early age.
On the other hand the people in
Nazareth, Jesus' home town are so closed minded, so sure they know Jesus that
they have very little faith. Their faith is so weak that the wonderful things
Jesus does everywhere else could not happen in their town. They have put Jesus
into a box and they are not open to the unpredictable answers, the
unexplainable surprises and the unrelenting love that Jesus brings!
Our feast and Gospel tells us in
different ways that faith is profoundly important but is not easy, that it is
work and at times has grave consequences. Yet, we need to hang on. We need to keep working at it. We need to not
give up hope because we never know when the grace of God will be in our midst
and we do not want to miss it!
So today let us live out our faith, let
us not fear, because God's kindness is everlasting and God's grace in always
right around the corner! Have a great afternoon everyone!
Daily Prayer: O God of all
strength, help us to hold on to the courage of faith as we live our life. Keep
us from forming opinions about ourselves and others that cause us to miss your
grace, your presence and your love. Keep our hearts open to the many ways you
enter our lives so that in faith you might bring healing and love to our life
and to all those we encounter this day. Amen!
Runner's Thought: Remember it is
possible to begin a meditation run simply by stepping on to the side walk, the
street, the track, the path, a treadmill and putting one foot in front of the
other. In fact, the simplicity of this is one of the great joys of running!
Daily Blessing: Happy Wednesday,
Happy Hump Day everyone! Once again we are at the hump day of the week, thus in
theory it should be all downhill from here! Well perhaps not but we can always hope!
Another sloppy, awful day here in New
York and I am glad that I am in and do not have to travel. My prayers are with
all who are out and about in this weather today, please be safe in your
travels.
My prayer of blessing today is that wherever
you are, whatever this day has brought your way and will bring your way I pray
in the hope you have found and will continue to find many blessings as you live
this day! Enjoy your afternoon, the people you meet, the things you do and the
time you spend being the gift you are! Blessings to all! Please if you get a
chance say a prayer for the Passionists on retreat here in Jamaica, New York
and also a little prayer for their preacher. Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr.
Paul.
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