Daily Thoughts - 02/27/2014

Daily Thoughts: “A Christian can never be sad! Never give way to discouragement! Ours is not a joy born of having many possessions, but from having encountered a Person: Jesus, in our midst; it is born from knowing that with him we are never alone, even at difficult moments, even when our life’s journey comes up against problems and obstacles that seem insurmountable, and there are so many of them! And in this moment, the enemy, the devil, comes, often disguised as an angel, and slyly speaks his word to us. Do not listen to him! Let us follow Jesus!” (Pope Francis)

Today in the Passionist Community we celebrate the feast of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. St. Gabriel is a well-known saint especially in Italy where that is a great shrine church in his honor in Teramo. At the canonization of Saint Gabriel, in 1920, Pope Benedict XV declared him a patron saint of Catholic youth, of students, and of those studying for the priesthood. In 1959, Pope John XXIII named him the patron of the Abruzzi region, where he spent the last two years of his life. St. Gabriel’s life as a Passionist was short, he died at the age of 24 but his impact on the Passionists and the Church has lasted to the present moment.

We might say that St. Gabriel in the 24 years of his life lived as Pope Francis asks us to live today, he lived as a person of joy because he had encountered a Person: Jesus. St. Gabriel knew that living with Jesus meant that he was never alone and that even in the difficult moments of life, even those that seemed insurmountable Jesus was always with him. Even when tuberculosis claimed his life it did not claim his spirit that was claimed by God!

We celebrate St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows today but we also celebrate our own journey of faith and we pray and hope that St. Gabriel’s spirit will enliven our own spirits so that we even in the midst of the struggles of life will know that we are never alone because we walk with the Person: Jesus!

Have a great day everyone and happy feast day to all Passionists!

Daily Prayer: My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart for that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the  right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.      I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (From Thomas Merton --- Thoughts in Solitude)

Runner’s Thoughts: “It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the journey, not in the destination. We have a better chance of seeing where we are when we stop trying to get somewhere else. We can enjoy every moment of movement, as long as where we are is as good as where we'd like to be. That's not to say that you need to be satisfied forever with where you are today. But you need to honor what you've accomplished, rather than thinking of what's left to be done.” ― John Bingham

Daily Blessing: Happy Thursday everyone! It looks like a new winter storm is brewing and we will be hit sometime early next week. Just when you hoped the worst was over and we might move towards spring. Well I guess there is nothing that we can do but stay warm and hope the weather people are wrong!

I hope your day is going well and moving quickly. I hope it is filled with many good experiences and a people. If it is not then trust in who you are and that even though life and people might seem like a struggle you are making the day a good day for anyone who encounters you!

My friends may God’s blessing be with you today and always. May the richness of who you are as a person created in the image and likeness of God touch the lives of all you meet. May you bring God’s presence to every experience and each moment of this day. May the world you journey through be a better place because of you today. And at the end of the day may you smile with the tired satisfaction that because of you today was a good day! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 02/26/2014

Daily Thoughts: Faith is staking your life on the promises of God! “They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic... “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”  He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone.”” (Mark 2: 3-5,11)

Faith moves mountains and mole hills, faith heals, faith changes life. We are people of faith, we are a community of faith called, Church, called the Body of Christ. So let’s be people of faith, who stake our lives on the promises of God. Let’s be good family, good friends, good people of faith and bring those in need of healing, in need of anything to God, to Jesus, to the Holy Spirit. Even if we have to open up the roof to get them in let’s show Jesus today that we have faith and because of that faith we need our friends, our family healed!

In faith I am bringing my niece, Mindy and my nephew Paul to Jesus today for healing. Who are you bringing? Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Prayer: Loving God, we do believe, help our unbelief! Amen!

Runner’s Thoughts: It's important to know that at the end of the day it's not medals or where we finished that we should remember. What we need to remember is the process, the journey – what we learn about ourselves, about our relationship with God by challenging ourselves, the experiences we share with other people, the honesty that training, that prayer demands – these are things to remember because nobody can take them away from us whether we finish last or first.

Daily Blessing: My prayer of blessing today is a prayer asking for healing. O God, I pray today bringing before you all who need your healing touch. Grant my friends, my family and all who ask for my prayers, comfort in their struggles. If they are afraid give them courage. If they are afflicted, ill, struggling, depressed, confused, frustrated give them patience. If they are dejected afford them hope. If they feel alone assure them of your presence and my prayers and the prayers of many. Bless them with your healing. Amen! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Make a Joyful Noise this Lent!

Dear Friends in the Passion,

Pope Francis has given us a lot of joy over the last year – his infectious smile, his comforting words and his compassion. Last November he issued an apostolic exhortation entitled, Evangelii Gaudium – The Joy of the Gospel. It is a wonderful document that talks about the great joy we have as Christians and that we need to share it. It is a long document, some two hundred pages yet it is readable and understandable.

In many ways, Pope Francis as made a big impact on my life, he has energized me and at the same time challenged me to be a better person of faith, a better Passionist and a better priest. So I have decided to take his advice and share the Joy of the Gospel with everyone I meet. This Lent I am going to take a little journey through his apostolic exhortation.  Each day I will try and find a little nugget of joy within the pages of the Pope Francis’ document and share it with you. Some days it might energize you and some days it might challenge you, but hopefully every day of Lent it will bring a little joy into your life.

There are many resources out there online and in book form to help your journey of Lent but I think taking the 40 days of Lent to reflect on the words of Pope Francis in The Joy of the Gospel is a unique and interesting way to make the journey of Lent.

So why not join me. I will try to be faithful to posting each day giving you a thought by Pope Francis, my own thoughts about what he said and a prayer to complete your meditation for the day. You will be able to find these Lenten musings on this blog (http://preacher-on-the-run.blogspot.com/) or on my web site (www.preacherman.org).

So let’s go on joyful journey this Lent with the words and thoughts of Pope Francis and let’s share a joy noise with everyone we meet!

Peace in Christ Passion…Fr. Paul