Daily Thoughts: “Not to us, O
Lord, but to your name give the glory.” The refrain from today responsorial
psalm seems to be the focus of our readings today. This journey of faith is not
about us, it is about the glory of God.
We certainly see this in the drama of
our first reading (Acts 14:5-18). Paul and Barnabas go from nearly being stoned
to being honored as gods. Yet as they both point out it is not their work it is
the work of God. The man who hasn’t worked from birth is healed not because of
Paul and Barnabas but because he has faith. His faith in God enables Paul and
Barnabas to lead him to healing. They bring God to the moment so that healing
can take place. It is not about Paul, Barnabas or the man who is healed it is
about the glory of God.
The same focus can be found in our
Gospel today too, (John 14: 21-26), Jesus speaks about his relationship with
the Father and how it can be life-giving in our lives, for this to happen our
focus has to be on God. We have to buy into the relationship with the Father
that Jesus is offering us. We need to have faith in God and faith also in
Jesus. If our life is about the glory of God and not stuck in selfishness then
the grace, blessing and presence of God will abound in us.
In a world were so much focus can be
placed upon self, our scriptures today ask us to place our trust, our faith and
our hope in God. We are challenged to not make life about us, but about the
glory of God!
Have a great Monday everyone and don’t
forget to make a joyful noise with your life today!
Daily Prayer: Grant us today,
Lord, the wisdom to know what is worth knowing, to love what is worth loving,
to praise what delights you most, to value what is precious in your sight, to
walk away from what is not of you. Do not let us judge by what we see, nor pass
judgment by what we hear, but help us to choose rightly between things that
differ and above all to search out and do what pleases you. Help us to make
this day and our life about praising you. Amen!
A Runner’s Thoughts: “Our toughness
is made up of equal parts persistence and experience. We don't so much outrun our
opponents as outlast and outsmart them, and the toughest opponent of all is the
one inside our head.” (Adapted from the
words of Joe Henderson)
Daily Blessing: Monday
blessings to all! I write to you from Harrisburg, PA where I have been since
Saturday. I find myself right downtown just a block from the state capital
building. The Cathedral Parish of St. Patrick’s is a beautiful church with a
small but very faith filled community. The masses over the weekend went very
well and I had a first, at the 9:30 am mass I had a person stand beside me and
sign my homily. The pastor also signed the whole mass. It was a wonderful experience
to be a part of a mass that let everyone participate.
Today and tomorrow we celebrate the
annual Eucharistic Devotion here in the parish. I will be celebrating the noon
mass today and preaching the vespers service tonight. Tomorrow the bishop will
preside at the vespers service and I will preach so I guess I should be on my
best behavior and make sure I am using approved theology!
It has been nice to re-connect with the
Harrisburg area. I spent one very wonderful year here back at the end of the
1960s. While the area has changed greatly over last 44 years since I lived
here, I do have fond memories of that year and it is just nice being back. I
also had the chance to re-connect with some retreatants from Riverdale, a fine
group of women who made the journey from Harrisburg to Riverdale every year for
retreat. They now travel west each year to our retreat house in Pittsburgh. They
had a little gathering for me yesterday and it was nice to be with them once
again!
Well as you can see my life remains busy,
this is good, because for the most part it keeps me out of trouble. I hope your
life is not as busy and that you are enjoying the beauty of spring through the
gifts of sun, warmth and colors.
I pray for God’s blessing upon all of you
today. May your day be blessed with the richness of God’s presence, hope, joy
and love. May you find the energy to make a joyful noise for God with your life
today! Peace in Christ’s Passion and Joy in the Risen Lord…Fr. Paul
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