Daily Thought: There is a
verse in St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians that I often ponder. “My
grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (2
Corinthians 12:1-10). Over the years I have come to realize just how true this
statement is. God’s grace is enough and power is much more powerful when it
comes out of weakness.
We spend a good portion of our life
seeking some sort of power; the power of love, the power of fame, the power of
important, the power of success, the power of accomplishment,, the power of
wealth, the power of comfort, the power of self. There are many powers that we
seek, yet it is only when we realize that we are powerless that the true power,
the power of God is recognized.
It is at the moments of our life when we
let go and let God that we are truly powerful people. It is at the moments of
our life when we trust in the grace of God that we are truly powerful people.
Now this is not an easy answer to come
to, sometimes it takes a life time. Just look at St. Paul’s life. It took an
experience of the Risen Christ along the road to Damascus for Paul to begin to
understand real power in his life.
Often for us, it is not a profound
experience of the Risen Christ but the ordinary struggles, challenges and
sorrows of life that can help us come to the source of real power. It is coming
to the realization that we cannot serve two masters as Jesus points out in the
Gospel (Matthew 6:24-34). It is making the conscious choice to put God at the
center of our life. It is trusting in the reality that when we are weak we are
strong. It is not worrying about tomorrow but living today!
Have a great day everyone and don't forget to make a joyful noise with your life today!
Have a great day everyone and don't forget to make a joyful noise with your life today!
Daily Prayer: Take, Lord, and
receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my entire will, all I
have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything
is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace. That
is enough for me. (A prayer by St. Ignatius Loyola)
A Runner’s Thoughts: Running can be a
time for finding out who we really are, it is time on the road, the sidewalk,
the trial with no one to measure our distance but ourselves. Running can be finding out our true character
as we run lap after lap. It can be not giving up when exhausted and journeying
to the finish. Running can help us to trust in ourselves and know somehow that
God’s grace is enough for us.
Daily Blessing: Saturday
greetings to all and happy first day of summer! I hope your Saturday has
started off well? It is a cloudy day here in Hawthorn Woods as it has been off
and on for the last few days. Summer has arrived in all its beauty and all its unpredictable
weather.
I was sitting out in my brother’s
backyard the other afternoon, just enjoying the day and my thoughts went back
to my days in Riverdale. I realized if I were there I might have been sitting
on the roof enjoying the beauty of the Great River. It saddened me for a moment
but then I was glad to have the memory still alive within me and I was also
glad to be with my brother and his family.
Well friends I hope this first day of
summer is a good one for you. In a few hours I will be heading north into
Wisconsin as I travel to Manitowoc, WI where I will make my home for the next
two weeks as I give retreats to the Franciscan Sisters of Charity. I am looking
forward to my time there. Please pray for the sisters who will be on retreat
and for their preacher.
I pray that God will bless your day
today. May you be gifted and blessed with smiles, laughter, family, friends,
fun and peace today! And be safe out there if you are traveling! Have a great day and may you be blessed with
God’s joy in whatever you do and wherever you go. May God’s joy be found in the
people you meet today and within you! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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