Daily Thoughts: Having just
return from a journey to Lourdes I have a lot of thoughts about Mary. She was
very present during my travels the last ten day especially during my time in
Lourdes. While some might wonder why we pray through Mary to Jesus or the
Father, or the Holy Spirit, it became very evident to me while in Lourdes that
Mary has played and continues to play a very important role in our relationship
with God. The richness of her life, her presence and her place in the Body of
Christ, in the Church and in the living of everyday life is very important. She
is a touch stone to the presence of God in our life. I am glad to celebrate the
gift of her love to us today on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.
As we celebrate today I turn to some
words by Benedict our Pope Emeritus in offering you some faith food for the
journey of life today…
“Mary is a woman who loves. How could it
be otherwise? As a believer who in faith thinks with God's thoughts and wills
with God's will, she cannot fail to be a woman who loves. We sense this in her
quiet gestures, as recounted by the infancy narratives in the Gospel. We see it
in the delicacy with which she recognizes the need of the spouses at Cana and
makes it known to Jesus. We see it in the humility with which she recedes into
the background during Jesus' public life, knowing that the Son must establish a
new family and that the Mother's hour will come only with the Cross, which will
be Jesus' true hour (cf. Jn 2:4; 13:1). When the disciples flee, Mary will
remain beneath the Cross (cf. Jn 19:25-27); later, at the hour of Pentecost, it
will be they who gather around her as they wait for the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts
1:14).” (Pope Benedict XVI)
Happy Feast of the Assumption of Mary
everyone and may the spirit of Mary enliven your journey of faith!
Daily Prayer:
Friends as we pause for prayer today let
us turn to Mary and ask for the gift of her spirit to guide our journey through
life…
Dearest Mary who carried Christ in her
womb and accompanied the first steps of the Church, may you help us to place
Christ and his community called church always at the center of our life and our
ministry. O Mary, who was the first and
the most perfect disciple of your Son, may your spirit help us to let ourselves
be loved by Christ and to follow and serve Him in every situation. Loving Mary
who responded to the announcement of the Angel with the most profound humility,
may your spirit help us to recognize our own inadequateness within the treasure
that has been entrusted to us and to always live humbly in the presence of God.
Amen!
A Runner’s Thoughts: Remember – “Last
is just the slowest winner.” (C. Hunter Boyd)
“Runners just do it – they run for the
finish line even if someone else has reached it first.” (Anonymous)
“The body does not want you to do this.
As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too
far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy… It is not age; it is
not diet. It is the will to succeed.” (Jacqueline Gareau)
And so too in the spiritual life…
Daily Blessing: Happy Friday
everyone! It is nice to be back home and enjoying a beautiful morning here in
Pelham, the sun is out, the humidity is low and there is a lot of energy in the
air. It is the kind of day that calls to you, “Get up there is much to do and
see and learn today!” We had many days like this in France and I am glad to be
home and continuing the journey of life. I hope that same is true where you are
today and that you will get a little chance to go out and that a little walk
and smell the flowers. Just don’t stay inside all day because there is much to
see and do and learn wherever you are today!
It was a bit sad to return to all the
violence, anger and unrest around the world and here in the states. I was aware
of the things going on especially in Iraq, Gaza and Missouri while on pilgrimage
but I did not plug into it. I truly pray for peace in all these places!
Well again it is nice to be back home
and sharing with you from the desk of my little office here in Pelham. I did
keep all of in my prayers over the last ten days, lighting candles in each
church, basilica or cathedral I visited. It was truly a blessed journey and one
very much touch by Mary’s presence. So in the spirit of the Feast of the
Assumption I pray that God will bless you with the humble and loving spirit of
Mary’s presence in your life today. That you will be touched by the compassion,
nurturing, loving and joyful spirit of Mary as you journey through this day and
always. May Mary the Mother of Jesus, always bring your struggles, your needs
to her loving Son turning the ordinary water of life into the extraordinary wine
of God’s love!
My prayer for all of you today is that
you too will find the gift of peace through the intercession of Mary as you
journey through life each day. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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