Daily Thoughts - 01/31/2014

Daily Thoughts: As I prepared to celebrate mass this morning I was struck with the thought – My how things have changed! Jesus talks about farming during his time. The farmer goes out and plants the seed but then waits to see what happens. The farmer doesn't know why or how it happens there is a profound trust in God and hope that the seeds planted will produce a wonderful harvest.

Today we know, for the most part, the why and how of farming. There is a lot more science and technology that goes into farming these days yet I cannot help but think there still needs to be trust in God.

The mustard seed is a wonderful image of God's Kingdom. Just think of the birth of a person, that moment when the sperm and egg come together and then nine months or so down the road a person arrives and grows. God's Kingdom is made up of millions upon millions of people and trillions upon trillions of harvests. We sleep, we wake, and we wait. Day in and day out we see the many gifts of God's Kingdom, it is a wonderful harvest and yet like the farmers of Jesus' time we still don't know how it happens.

We don't know everything and the more we accept that the more we will encounter God's Kingdom each and every day we live. So like as scripture tells us let’s not be those who draw back and perish, but let’s be those who have faith, hope and love which help us to possess life!

Have a great day everyone!

Daily Prayer: O God, whose wisdom never fails, protect us from all harm this day and help us to work for all that is good. Bless us with the gift of wonder and awe that we might never forget your wondrous love as we encounter it in ourselves and others. Amen!

Runner's Thought: Transform an ordinary run into a sacred run by bringing to the run a sense of God presence in you!

Daily Blessing: TGIF everyone! I hope your Friday has gotten off to a good start and that your day will go smoothly. Just think by this time on Monday the Super Bowl will be over and we will not have to endure any further expert analysis, profound predictions or stupid questions. I always try to look for the bright side of things!

I offer a simple prayer of blessing today that all of us will be blessed with the grace of God’s presence in our journey through this day. May all we do be touched by God’s Spirit. May all we meet be touched by God’s love and at the end of the day may we all find ourselves at home with the people we most love. Blessings to all on a well-deserved Friday and may your evening be relaxing and restful. May you have a peaceful night and rise refreshed to meet a new day! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 01/30/2014

Daily Thoughts: As I was preparing for my ministry over the next few months last night I ran across a section from the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 10:23-25) that gave me pause for thought. "Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy. We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works... [and] encourage one another." Our life needs to be about hope and encouragement not judgment, finger pointing, hate and exclusion. We believe and we hold on to that belief because we have hope in God presence in our life and in our world after all that is God's promise to us!

Then as I read today’s Gospel (Mark 4: 21-25) I think Jesus puts what I read last night in Hebrews a little differently. In his wonderful image of a lamp the question is asked, do we hide it, the light or do we put it on a stand and let it fill the whole room? The light, the gift of God needs to be placed on a stand. It needs to be made visible by the way we live our life, by the way we treat others and by the way we trust the promises of God!

Remember as Jesus tells us today, "The measure with which you measure will be measured out to [us]." So let's be the light on the stand in the middle of the room today. Let's be the one who rouses everyone else to love and good works. Let's be the one who trusts in the promises of God and thus bring the gift of hope to all we meet this day!

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, you have promised to remain forever with us, may we always trust in this promise and allow it to be the light of hope that guides our every action today and always. May we always be your light on the stand in the middle of the room that through our good works and the hopeful living of our life we may bring your loving presence to the all we meet. Amen!

Runner's Thought: Remember if we have the desire to run with God, then the specifics of the techniques used do not matter very much just keep hold of the desire and God will be with you!

Daily Blessing: I hope you are all having a productive Thursday. Remember the weekend is not far away and if you are a sports fan the Super Bowl is upon us. It looks like the NFL is going to luck out with the temperatures in the 40’s and 30’s for the game and no precipitation. I still think having the game in a cold weather site with no dome is dumb but they didn’t ask me so life goes on. 

I am spending this week preparing for a long run of ministry beginning next week with a retreat to the brothers and priests at our monastery in Jamaica, New York. I will be on the road from next Monday until the Thursday before Palm Sunday. So please know you will be in my prayers throughout my ministry on the road. I ask that you keep me and the many faith communities that I will be visiting and celebrating with in your prayers. 

As you wonder through this day keep the energy high and don't let the everyday struggles get you down. I pray today that God will bless us all with much hope, strong faith and many measures of love! Enjoy the day, stay warm, be safe and above all may God bless your day! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

PS A special shout out to Joan and Jurek on your birthdays today. Have a great day!

Daily Thoughts - 01/29/2014

Daily Thoughts: The Gospel (Mark 4: 1-20) reminds us that we have work to do. Jesus has given us the gift, but what do we do with the gift? Do we plant it and let it grow into a wonderful harvest of life that brings us to God or does the gift get wasted?

I have often used the parable of the Sower and the Seed in my preaching and the way I look at it is that in life there are four different kinds of soil, three of which do not allow the seed of God's Word, Grace and Presence to grow and one that does. I often image our hearts as the field, the soil and so a good question to ask is what condition our hearts are in? Is it good soil? Can God's Word, God's Grace, God's Presence grow there? Or is it the foot path, the rocky ground, the patch of weeds and thorns that will not allow God to grow?

Why might our hearts be like to foot path? Because we have been hurt at times in our life and we have hardened, we don't let God or others in? Why might our hearts be rocky ground? Because we are sinners. The rocks, boulders and pebbles are our sins. Why might our hearts be clutters with thorns? Because the thorns are the things of my life that have become more important than God.

So in order to have hearts full of good soil that produces a bountiful harvest we need to loosen up the hard places, move the rocks, boulders and pebbles and do some weeding. Then our hearts and our lives will truly be places where good things grow. Our hearts will be places that will bring to life the gift of Jesus!

Have a great Hump Day everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, strengthen us with the power of your love. Fill our hearts with your unrelenting presence. Help us to work the soil of our hearts by loosening the places that have become hard, by seeking the help of your forgiveness to move the rocks of our sinfulness and by finding the strength to pull the weeds and thorns that are over grown and choking off your presence. May our hearts become the good soil that bears the fruit of your love thirty and sixty and a hundredfold. Amen!

Runner's Thought: Imagine that as you stretch your muscles before you run that you are also stretching your spirit and giving it the flexibility it needs to engage God. Make each stretch a simple prayer!

Daily Blessing: Happy Hump Day everyone - have a great Wednesday may it truly be downhill the rest of the week! I know some of you out there are struggling with flu, winter colds and other things so I will say a special prayer for all struggle with the effects of winter today. If you are under the weather may you get better soon! And to all of us may today be a day truly blessed by God and may we all have a day rich in what matters to us and God! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 01/28/2014

Daily Thoughts: Today's readings are all about God, especially the will of God. In the Second Letter of Samuel (2Sam. 6: 12b-15, 17-19) David has followed the will of God and in today’s reading we hear about David and the people bring the Ark of the Covenant to its new home in the City of David and the ritual if full of festivities and sacrifices. In the gospel (Mark 3: 31-35) Jesus invites us into his family, everyone who does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother. In other words if we live out life as the person God has created us to be we are part of the family!

None of this is easy. Human nature is always calling us to the easiest, quickest, self-centered and most self-indulging way of life. Most of the time our human nature rubs up against God's way, tension is created, struggle ensues. It is almost never easy to do what Jesus would do, to do what God calls us to do, yet if we respond to God's call, God's will, we are part of the family. We have the support, the prayers, the energy, the faith, the hope, the love of others and the most important other is God!

As we journey through life today, as we find ourselves in the midst of struggles between what the world suggests and what God suggests let us remember even though what God suggests might seem harder, not as glamorous, not as self-fulfilling it is the family we walk with that will make all the difference!

Have a great Tuesday everyone and Happy Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas especially to all Dominicans out there!

Daily Prayer: Grant, O Lord our God, that we may never fall away in success or in failure; that we may not be prideful in prosperity nor dejected in adversity. Let us rejoice only in what unites us and sorrow only in what separates us. May we strive to please no one or fear to displease anyone except You. May we see always the things that are eternal and never those that are only temporal. May we shun any joy that is without You and never seek any that is beside You. O Lord, may we delight in any work we do for You and tire of any rest that is apart from You. Loving God, let us direct our hearts towards You, and in our failings, always repent with a purpose of amendment. Amen! (Adapted from a prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas)

Runner's Thought: Remember that if during our runs we have the desire to run and pray then our runs can transform the simplest moments into divine encounters!

Daily Blessing: Yes, it is the feast of the great Dominican theologian and philosopher, St. Thomas Aquinas so I send a special shout out to all Dominican women and men, especially Fr. Don Goergen, OP – Happy Feast Day! 

My prayer of blessing is once again simple I pray today for God’s blessing upon all of us and I pray in the hope everyone will have a great Tuesday. However if our day has started slow, or disorganized, or in a panic, may we not worry and may it all come together by day's end! If our day started with peace and purpose may these two graces see us through to the end of the day! If our day started with struggle and tension may we find moments of peace and calm that sustain us through the day. If our day has started without God, may we let God find us so that we will not walk and work alone! Blessings to all! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 01/27/2014

Daily Thoughts: As I pondered the Gospel (Mark 3: 22-30) early this morning a thought came to mind, though I am not sure it is a theological thought anyone would agree with me on. When I read Jesus' answer to the charge that "He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons,” I thought about our world, our country and our Church. We seem to be a house divided a lot of the time. Certainly we seem to be divided in our country on many levels, especially politically and we are divided in our Church on many levels. Does this mean we are doomed to failure? Is there no hope?

Well I think the answer and hope can be found in the closing sentences of the Gospel, "Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”

That might not sound like a hopeful answer but I think it is. Jesus says it is about the Spirit. I think in our country and in our Church, yes we are divided but we are focused on the same spirit. The divisions in our country are about how to make it better, how to be better Americans, we all want the same thing, the same spirit, and we all want this to be a good country we are divided on how to get there. In our Church we are divided on many issues but we are all focused on the same Spirit, the same God, the same end, eternal life, we are just divided on how to get there.

It is the Spirit that can give us hope in the midst of our struggles, in the midst of our divisions as a nation and a Church. All hope is lost if we lose the Spirit. As Jesus says if we deny the Spirit we cannot be forgiven. Perhaps as a nation and a Church we might stop for moment today and recognize the Spirit we all want and let the Spirit begin to help us bridge our divisions, our differences, our struggles. Let us live today through the Spirit of Hope who does marvelous deeds!

Have a great day everyone!

Daily Prayer: O God of all life, direct our hearts throughout this day in your wonderful Spirit of hope. So that we may always know it is you at the center of all we are, all we want, and all we are meant to be. Keep us always faithful to your everlasting Spirit of Life that we might overcome our differences and become a house united in your Love. Amen!

Runner's Thought: Remember if you run towards God, God runs twice as fast towards you. Thus, to draw closer to God it is only necessary to move in God's direction!

Daily Blessing: Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a good, if not great, weekend. I know that many of us are still dealing with the bitter cold and will be for a few days so as you begin this new work week hopefully the cold will only be a minor frustration for us and warmer temperature will come soon!

I am home for the week with a desk of things to clear before I head back out next week for another retreat for brothers and priests. Today I have spiritual direction and tomorrow a mass for the Sisters of Charity. So I will not be behind my desk all week but I still have a lot of paperwork to take care of. My prayer of blessing today is a simple one but hopeful one that helps all of us begin a new week that will be rich in God’s love. Many blessings on every one's day today may it be filled with many moments of grace, hope and God's love! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul