Daily Thoughts: “Woe to
you….” These statements seem out of character for Jesus, who usually uses positive
statement to challenge us. Yet, I guess every once in a while we need to hear
what not to do. The challenge of today’s Gospel is on what we see as important.
The scribes and Pharisees made it a habit of placing importance on the
accidentals of life rather than the essentials. In other words they placed importance
on the unimportant.
Through his challenge to the
scribes and Pharisees today Jesus asks us to stop and think about how we are
living out our faith. Is it a faith grounded in unimportant things or is it a
faith ground in a relationship with God? We can think that God is the center
but then we make actions, rituals, words and customs far more important than
living out our relationship with God. We make things more important than
people. We make ritual and places more important than prayer and actions.
Woe to us if we don’t love.
Woe to us if we don’t care for those in need. Woe to us if we first don’t find
God in others and ourselves. Woe to us if rituals, places and the repetition of
words become more important than people. Yes, I guess every once in a while we
have to be challenged by the negative that seems to take hold of our lives.
Have a great day everyone and
try to make a joyful noise through life today!
Daily Prayer:
Today, dear Lord, three
things we pray
To see you more clearly
Love you more dearly
Follow you more nearly, today!
Today, dear Lord, three
things we pray
To see you more clearly
Love you more dearly
Follow you more nearly, everyday!
(Adapted from the lyrics of
the Godspell song Day By Day.)
A Runner’s Thoughts: “Non-runners
may not believe how beneficial running can be, but it's true. Running has
rocked people's lives – improving the way they look, the way they feel, the way
they think, and the way they look at life.” (Florence Griffith Joyner and John
Hanc)
Running can also improved the
way we pray and the way we see and understand God in our life!
Daily Blessing: Monday
greetings to all! I hope this finds you well today and rested from a weekend
that was blessed by some down time with family and friends. My weekend was busy
as it should have been but it was certainly life-giving and blessed by God’s
presence. The only negative is that somehow I developed a blister on the bottom
of my foot and it makes walking a rather painful experience but this too shall
pass, I hope!
It seems to be another
beautiful day here in Long Beach though with my blister I am unable to walk the
boardwalk as usual. But the air seems cool, the sun is out and I can hear the
ocean from my room!
I would ask you to keep a longtime
friend of mind, Newell, in your prayers. He is struggling mightily at this time
and it could be his last struggle in this life. Please keep him and his family
in your prayers that they all will be gifted with God’s peace in the midst of
struggle today!
And I pray that God will
bless all of you on this Monday. For some it is the beginning of a new school
year, for others it is the beginning of a new work week, for others it may be
the last week of their vacation and for still others it might be the last day
of this life. May God’s blessing be upon you wherever you find yourself. May
God bless you with the grace you need to live this day and in living this day
may you bring God’s presence to all you meet! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr.
Paul
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