Making a Joyful Noise through Lent 03/22/2014

Making a Joyful Noise through Lent – 03/22/2014

“God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy.”

(Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel)

Pope Francis’ words today seem to echo the point of Jesus’ parable in Luke’s Gospel today. The younger son does not give up on the father’s forgiveness but the older son does. A more important question is do we?

The story of the Forgiving Father (Luke 15: 1-3, 11-31) is what we are asked to reflect on today. I have used this parable many times, often when I am preparing young people for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. For me the first half of the story about the younger son and his return home is a great image for the sacrament. All the elements of the sacrament are there, recognition of sinfulness, the journey to the sacrament, saying we are sorry and forgiveness.

The second half of the story about the older brother reflects another side of sinfulness. We often only think of sinfulness as bad things that we do. We think of the Ten Commandments. However, sin can be what we don't do. Sin can be standing in judgment, self-righteousness, pride, envy, jealousy and anger especially when we think we are right. Sin can be refusing to be part of the family, part of the faith community. Sin can be thinking only of ourselves and playing the victim card.

I have always felt this story presented the two sides of sin and often for many of us the older brother is where we usually find ourselves. The hopeful sign in the story is that the father is in the whole story. He is where ever we are. Always willing to forgive, always willing to welcome us home, always willing to come out and welcome us into the family, into the celebration. All we have to do is not give up and let go of what we have done or failed to do and accept his forgiveness, his love!

Have a great Saturday everyone and don’t forget to make a joyful noise with your life today!

Daily Lenten Prayer: Compassionate God; grace us with the strength to make the journey home to you. Give us the wisdom to see our faults, our failings, our struggles and to accept your forgiveness. Fill us with a hope that helps us to see past our disappointments, that helps us to let go of our pride, our envy, our jealousy, our resentment, our anger so that we may always be a part of the family, a part of the celebration. Embrace us with your presence so that we may always believe that you are our kind, merciful and loving God. Grace us with a joy that will always bring us home. Amen!

Runner's Thought: As you run look for good in the world that you pass by, look for good in the people you encounter, sense the good in you and know you do not run alone, God runs with you!

Daily Blessing: Happy Saturday everyone! This afternoon I will head to Yorktown Heights, NY and St. Patrick’s Parish where I will begin a mission tonight. If you want the particulars check my web site calendar, you can find all the information there. (preacherman.org) If you are nearby why not joins us. As always I ask your prayers for the faith community at St. Patrick’s this week and their preacher. You can be assured that I will keep you in my prayers.

I pray this morning that God will bless your Saturday and your weekend. I hope you are having a good beginning to your Saturday and that this weekend will be kind to you. May God bless you with some distance from the busyness of the work week and if that is not possible may you at least be blessed with a few moments of calm sometime this weekend. Enjoy your weekend with family, friends, or whomever you meet. Blessings upon all your endeavors and upon you and your loved ones! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Making a Joyful Noise through Lent 03/21/2014

Making a Joyful Noise through Lent – 03/21/2014

“Before all else, the Gospel invites us to respond to the God of love who saves us, to see God in others and to go forth from ourselves to seek the good of others.” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel)

Pope Francis is always asking us to look beyond ourselves to others and as our scriptures point out that is not always easy. But if we are going to be people of joy then we have to let go of our envy, jealousy and self-centeredness and trust in what God thinks is best for us!

Our scriptures for today present us with two issues that we often face in life. They are jealousy and holding on to what we think is best and not what God thinks is best.

Certainly the familiar story of Joseph (Genesis 37: 3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a) and his brothers reminds us of what jealousy, what envy can do to us. How they can make us think and act toward others. Perhaps like the religious leaders of Jesus' time Joseph's brothers reflect only on the narrowness of their life rather than seeing the bigger picture. Rather than trusting in their father's love.

I think it is only human to want to be recognized, to want to be valued, to want to be loved. The story tells us that Israel loved his sons but that he had a special affection for Joseph because he was the last and the son of Israel's old age. How often do we hear the saying, "Mon and dad liked you best!" It happens, or it seems to happen. Mothers and fathers often have a special feeling for one of their children but it never means that they do not love the others. Yet, that human emotion of wanting attention, of wanting a special love can overwhelm us and make us do stupid things.

Thinking we know best is equally as troublesome. The religious leaders get a lesson in what they have done wrong from Jesus today (Matthew 21: 33-43, 45-46). How they have ignored God's way and walked down their own path. How they have ignored the presence of God in their life in order to hold on to their own power, authority and way of life. God is in their midst yet they fail to see. They fail to respond. They fail to grow!

What can we take away from our readings today perhaps that they are an opportunity to reflect on our own lives? How often do we look around and feel sorry for ourselves because God seems to love others more than us? How often does the presence of others make us uncomfortable even jealous because we think they have something we do not? Yet, we are all blessed by God, we are all created in the image and likeness of God. We all have a place, a purpose and meaning here in this world. God loves us all. The question is can we recognized, accept and live out that love. Can we believe and trust in God's love for us?

Finally are we willing to accept and buy into God's way or does it always have to be our way. In the midst of living life are we willing to see God's presence and grow in the presence? Can we recognize God when he is standing in our midst or do we have a better idea?

Have a great Friday everyone and don’t forget to make a joyful noise with your life today!

Daily Lenten Prayer: Almighty and ever living God, strengthen us on our journey through life today. Help us to be open to you presence in the many different ways you might walk into our life. Give us the wisdom to recognize you and the trust to follow your way. Bless us with the hope and joy that all things that come from you are gifts of your love. Forgive us for our moments of selfishness and envy. Enliven our hearts so that we will always be your joy and love in the world. Amen!

Runner's Thought: As we run today let us think of the impossible made possible through hard work, dedication and the prayer that we allow our runs to become.

Daily Blessing: Happy Friday everyone! I am sorry that I am a little late today but I have been working on a project lately and I was trying to get its first step finished this morning!

I hope your end of the work week is a good one and that you are looking forward to a great weekend with a little rest and relaxation! If things are busy today I hope it is a good busy. If not I hope you can make it through today and that tomorrow will be better.

My prayer of blessing this afternoon is a simple one that all continue to be blessed by God so that we can truly make a joyful noise on our journey through Lent and life. I pray that in some way we all will feel and experience God's blessing, God’s joy and God's love today! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Making a Joyful Noise through Lent 03/20/2014

Making a Joyful Noise through Lent – 03/20/2014

“Sometimes we are tempted to find excuses and complain, acting as if we could only be happy if a thousand conditions were met. To some extent this is because our “technological society has succeeded in multiplying occasions of pleasure, yet has found it very difficult to engender joy”. I can say that the most beautiful and natural expressions of joy which I have seen in my life were in poor people who had little to hold on to. I also think of the real joy shown by others who, even amid pressing professional obligations, were able to preserve, in detachment and simplicity, a heart full of faith. In their own way, all these instances of joy flow from the infinite love of God, who has revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ.” (Pope Francis – Evangelii Gaudium – The Joy of the Gospel)

Pope Francis goes on to quote Pope Benedict, “Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction”. In other words being a Christian is how we live, how we encounter the world around us. Our challenge is to find God in our day to day experience, in the people we encounter and in the world around us. Our scriptures today reminds us not to look pass the next person we meet because they may be the very one who helps us to encounter God’s joy!

In our scriptures today we continue the theme that has been with us for the last few days; it is the theme of looking beyond ourselves. We have in the Gospel (Luke 16: 19-31) today the famous story of the rich man and Lazarus the poor man who sits at the rich man door. Lazarus is covered in sores. At first glance we might it seems to be the rich man wealth that is the problem and I am sure that many preachers have taken that approach in preaching about this Gospel. However, at closer inspection it is not wealth that is the problem it is the rich man's way of life, it is how he lives. It is how he uses his wealth. He fails to see Lazarus at his door and if he does see him he ignores him.

In the Gospels when Jesus talks about wealth it is never to condemn the person just because they have wealth it is always about what we do with it. Do we hoard it? Do we only care for ourselves? Or do we see the world and the needs of the world? Do we let our wealth work for the betterment of others? Do we help those in need with our wealth?  This not only pertains to money and possessions, it is also about the gifts and talents that we have that can not only help us but others. Once again like the last few days this is about service, it is about being humble because all that we have comes from God and needs to be shared!

In the first reading from Jeremiah (Jeremiah 17: 5-10) we are reminded that one of the important values of our life is trust, specifically trust in God. This value can help with the above challenge of service. If we trust in God, if we make God part of our life then our riches, our gifts, our talents, our resources are much easier to share, because we know that God is with us.

Once again our challenge is to think outside the box. Conventional wise says store up treasures for ourselves, make sure our life is comfortable, eat, drink, rest, be merry. But as people of faith God demands our lives. We are to be disciples, we are to be servants, we are to make what we have work for the good of others. We are to be people whose trust and hope is in God. We are to be rich in what matters to God. Remember "the Lord, alone probes the mind and tests the heart, and rewards everyone according to her or his ways, according to the merits of her or his deeds." Let us be people who trust and hope in God. Let us be people rich in the presence of God!

Have a great Thursday everyone and don’t forget to make a joyful noise with your life today!

Daily Lenten Prayer: Loving God, direct our hearts this day to be your servants in all we do. Enliven us with the fire of your Spirit of Love. Grace us with a steadfast faith, a spirited hope so that all we do will be effective in helping ourselves and others experience your joyful presence. You are the Heart of Love, you are the Heart of Joy and we want to place all our trust in you. We know that we are not perfect, we struggle with our weaknesses but we place our hope in you to bring about the richness of life this day from your goodness. Amen!

Runner's Thoughts: Run without fear today, breathe, run and permit the spirit of God's loving presence to be in each stride you take!

Daily Blessing: Happy Thursday everyone and happy spring, though the second happy is a little hard to find these days!  Someday it will be warm it is just going to take patience and perseverance. However with the changing of seasons today we do get a little closer to the beauty and warmth of spring. I am certainly looking forward to all the new life that spring offers us!

The mission at OLPH Parish in Pelham Manor, NY end nicely last night. It was a wonderful three days and evenings and I think many good things happen. I thank you for all your prayers this week. I have a little break now before I head to St. Patrick’s Parish in Yorktown Height, NY on Saturday to begin a mission there. 

I pray for God’s blessing on everyone today that we will have a peaceful Thursday without too many struggles or problems. That today will be rich in presence of God especially in the people we encounter through this day. Blessings upon everyone today, have a great day and enjoy this first day of spring! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Making a Joyful Noise through Lent 03/19/2014

Making a Joyful Noise through Lent – 03/19/2014

“I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.” (Pope Francis – Evangelii Gaudium – The Joy of the Gospel)

These are perhaps odd words from Pope Francis to use on this Feast of St. Joseph, yet I think they are words which reflect the life of Joseph. He was a laborer and he faced many challenges in his life especially when God came calling. St. Joseph was a person of life, an ordinary person who through faith did extraordinary things. St. Joseph is a wonderful image of the kind of Church Pope Francis wants, a compassionate, loving and joy filled Church.

Today we celebrate St. Joseph a person we know very little about but what we know can be an inspiration for all of us. He was a simple man skilled in the use of his hands to shape, form and build. He was an ordinary man place in an extraordinary situation. He was a faith filled man who staked his life on the promises of God.

St. Joseph wanders into our life through a few verses of scripture and leaves a lasting impression. In every situation we find him he pursues the right thing to do. He is righteous man who cares about the people around him. He is a loving man who protects those he loves. He is a hope filled man who places his trust in his relationship with God.

Yes, in his ordinariness St. Joseph stands as an example for all of us and we live our lives of faith. He is a model of quiet faithfulness. He is the hopefulness that fathers bring to a family. He is an example of loving attention to God’s presence. He is the humble father who reminds us of the gift of family life and the challenge of living for others!

As we celebrate St. Joseph today as the husband of Mary let us honor his faithfulness, his hopefulness and his love by letting him be an example that helps us to live our life of faith caring for those around us.

Happy St. Joseph’s Day to all, many blessing and don’t forget to make a joyful noise with your life today!

Daily Lenten Prayer: Loving God, we honor your faithful servant, St. Joseph today. Help us with your grace to be your faith filled servants too. Enable us to be compassionate like Joseph to those around us. Give us the wisdom of Joseph so that we to will see your plan in every aspect of our lives. Gift us with a love like Joseph so that we to can make a different with our lives. Touch us with the joy of Joseph so that we will always find the gift of God’s presence in everything we do. Good St. Joseph pray for us and watch over us. Help us to always find the value of family life no matter how difficult the world makes it. Amen!

Runner’s Thoughts: Running can become a tool that helps us deal with the difficulties that we face. It can be a time to release the negative energies in our life. It can be a time to let go and let God!

Daily Blessing: Happy St. Joseph’s Day everyone! I hope all of you have gotten off to a good start today and may your day to be blessed with many good things and many encounters with God’s grace. If it hasn’t been a good start to the day hang in there I am praying that your day will only get better.

We had a nice second day of the mission here at OLPH and I was able to get into Manhattan and be part of the taping of the Sunday Mass yesterday too! Your continued prayers for the faith community here and their preacher as always are greatly appreciated.

I would once again ask your prayers for my niece and nephew, Mindy and Paul as they struggle with health issues. It has been a difficult couple of months for them and they could use the power of our faith and prayers!

Through the intercession of St. Joseph may God bless us all today with the gifts of faithfulness, hopefulness and loving care for others. May God bless us with the strength to stake our lives on the promises of God like Joseph. Again, everyone have a faith filled day with many blessings and much peace. As always you are in my prayers. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul