Daily Thoughts and a Blessing - 08/12/2014

Daily Thoughts and a Blessing - 08/12/2014

Morning greetings on this Tuesday everyone! I awoke to sadness this morning hearing the news of Robin William's death. RIP Robin and thanks for your humor, your talent and your gift of joy!

We had a long but great and moving day yesterday. We began our day by traveling to Mount St. Michel where we climb some 200 steps to the monastery on top. The views of the English Channel and the surrounding countryside where awesome. It is certainly a beautiful place. Our journey took the whole morning and while tiring well worth it.

From there we made our way to Bayeux where we saw the Bayeux Tapestry. It is a tapestry that dates back to the Middle Ages and tells the story of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. But before going to see the tapestry we had a little time for lunch and a visit to the Bayeux Cathedral. Now a little background about Bayeux. It was the first French city liberated after D-Day and it was one of the few that was not damaged by a battle as the Germans decided not to make a stand there like in other cities across French, thus the cathedral was not damaged. It is a rather impressive cathedral but what caught my attention was a little side altar dedicated to peace. I lit three candles there yesterday. One for our world, especially the Middle East that peace might be found. The second was for all of you, that you might find peace in your life. (We were not able to have a mass today because of the tight schedule so the candle was my prayer for you today). The third candle was for PK, it was my prayer of peace for you PK.

Our final stop was at the American Military Cemetery at Omaha Beach in Normandy. It was very moving and impressive. Fields of green lined with white crosses and stars of David. We were able to walk down to the beach where I found little personal memorials of remembrance. It was not hard to picture what took place there some 70 years ago. So many lives lost. A place now so peaceful that once was so violent. I could not help but think of my father and what he must have gone through in those years of war.

We made our way from the cemetery to the town of Caen where we rested for the night.  We have just two more days of journey before we head home. Today we head to Lisieux to touch the spirit of St. Therese of Lisieux. I am looking forward to this stop as St. Therese has such a wonderful spirit. So for all of you out there with the name Therese a special prayer will be said today. At mass this morning we will also celebrate the gift of marriage as the married couples in the group will renew their vows. It should be a nice and spirit filled morning!

This afternoon we will make our way to Paris!

Daily Blessing: My prayer for all of you today will continue yesterday's theme of peace. In the spirit of St. Therese I will ask God to bless all of you with much peace. May you be graced as you rise to meet a new day with the peaceful presence of God in your life. May that presence be with you throughout the day and bring to a safe rest tonight. May your day be rich in the gentleness and love of St. Therese and may you find the gifts of faith, hope, love and joy alive in your heart. Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul