Making a Joyful Noise through Lent 04/05/2014

Making a Joyful Noise through Lent – 04/05/2014

“The joy of the Gospel is such that it cannot be taken away from us by anyone or anything (cf. John 16:22). The evils of our world – and those of the Church – must not be excuses for diminishing our commitment and our fervour. Let us look upon them as challenges which can help us to grow. With the eyes of faith, we can see the light which the Holy Spirit always radiates in the midst of darkness, never forgetting that “where sin increased, grace has abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20). Our faith is challenged to discern how wine can come from water and how wheat can grow in the midst of weeds.” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel)

The words of Pope Francis today remind us that like Jesus we will be challenged every step of the way through our journey of faith, but that we cannot give up. That in the midst of our struggles God’s grace is always there ready to help us. Pope Francis asks us to be the joyful noise of the Gospel wherever we go bring our joy to whoever we meet.

In our scriptures today (Jeremiah 11: 18-20 and John 7: 40-53) we are reminded that Jesus really never had a chance with the religious leadership of his time, prophets, like Jeremiah, never fared well no matter where they came from but the thought that Jesus came from Galilee sealed the deal. The religious leadership had made their judgment and nothing was going to change it, not even one of their own, Nicodemus calling for justice.

Jesus throughout his ministry cautioned about making judgments. He healed, taught, forgave, showed compassion and asked us to love even our enemies. His parables always reflected ways to live and not to live. They always reflected a relationship with God so that people could understand the presence of God in their life. He showed compassion to all and forgave sinners. All of this was too much for the religious leadership of his time. Jesus' way did not fit into their view of the world, their way of living in the world. They were prejudice in the case of place, they didn't like Galilee but at other time their prejudice took on different forms. The prejudices that we allow to make a home in us can often be the very thoughts and actions that judge us!

Jesus and Jeremiah became the trusting lambs led to the slaughter. They never had a chance because their message was of God not the world. Their actions, their teachings, their lives give us examples of how to trust and hope in God's love. They help us to look at life through the eyes of faith not the eyes of prejudice.

As we enter this day let us be aware of how we often judge people without listening to their story, without knowing who they really are. Let us trust in the presence of God that every person can bring to us. Let us be people of justice, truth, compassion and love. Let us be open to finding God's presence, God's goodness everywhere.

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

Daily Lenten Prayer: Compassionate God, make us channels of your faith, hope, love and peace. Grace us with hearts open to your loving presence in all that we meet. Help us with your wisdom so that we might let go of our judgments, our prejudices, and our condemnations. May we be people with generous hearts always rich in a harvest of compassion, mercy and love. Amen!

A Runners' Thoughts: 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: Happy Saturday everyone! I hope your Saturday morning has started off sunny and well. The sun is out here in Pelham and after a cloudy, gloomy, rainy day yesterday the sun is a nice way to start off a new day. I have to admit with all the travel it has been a long Lent and I can feel myself getting tired yet there are miles to go, missions to give before I take a break so please pray that I maintain the mission spirit and energy so that I can be my best everywhere I go!

I head out later this morning to St. Mary’s Parish in Barnesville, MD. It is interesting in the fact that they do not have a Saturday evening mass so I will not begin my preaching until Sunday morning but I still need to head out today because of the distance.  Once again if you are in the Barnesville, MD area stop in and celebrate with us this week. The mission service will be at 9: 00 am and at 7:30 pm Monday through Wednesday. The 9:00 am mission service begins with mass and after mass the mission talk. Please keep the faith community at St. Mary’s and their preacher in your prayers this week!

My prayer of blessing today is that God will bless us all with the energy, the spirit and the enthusiasm to continue this journey of Lent and this journey of life. That God will bless us with a joy for life, for other people and for ourselves. And that whatever we do, wherever we go, whoever we meet will be touched by the joy that we bring! Have a great Saturday everyone. I hope you will get some time to rest and relax. I also hope you will be spending time with people you love. Remember to give God a little time this weekend! Peace...Fr. Paul

Making a Joyful Noise through Lent 04/04/2014

Making a Joyful Noise through Lent – 04/04/2014

“There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter….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”.” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel)

I could have used yesterday quote from Pope Francis and I almost did. In this last 10 days of Lent leading us up to Holy Week the Scripture seem focused on the same issues. Yet, I chose to combine these two sections from Pope Francis above because I think they address the issues that Jesus faces with the religious leadership, issues that sometimes we place before Jesus.

Pope Francis calls us to be joy filled people. He knows that it isn’t always easy to be joyful and that joy takes on different expressions. But it might be good for us to ask ourselves, “What excuses do we often give for not being a joyful person?  Are we a person who lives like Lent without Easter?

There seems to be much more tension between Jesus and the people in John's Gospel (John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30) than in the other three. Certainly in these waning days of Lent as we read John's Gospel we are made aware of the struggle most likely between Jesus and the religious leadership.

The leadership seems to be drawing upon tradition and Jesus seems focuses on the moment, the work that needs to be done. The leadership seems to be living out the words that we hear in the reading from the Book Wisdom (Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22) today about the wicked ones. They don't like what Jesus is saying. His words are challenging and demanding in a way that is difficult for people who have settled into a routine of life. Who have found a comfort zone that they do not want disturbed.

Are not we all like these religious leaders at times. We find a comfort zone, a routine to life and then we become angry when someone or something comes along and disturbs us, challenges us. It is particularly difficult when we somehow know that the person, the challenge, is right but we just do not want to change. We want to stay in our comfort zone and so we begin to find things wrong with the person, the place or the situation. If we can convince ourselves that we are right and they are wrong then all will be well.

The religious leaders try to do that today in the Gospel, the wicked ones try to do that in the Book of Wisdom and certainly from time to time we try to do it in our own lives. We cannot change the religious leaders of Jesus' time; we cannot change the wicked ones from the Book of Wisdom. These examples are history and told to us today so that we might not repeat their actions. Yes, our challenge is always to recognize God in our midst even if it means letting go of our comfort zone, even if it means changing our perspective, even if it means finding the truth in another.

We pray today Lord Jesus, be close to us because we do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from your mouth! We live on the gift of your presence and the hope that it brings to life.

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

Daily Lenten Prayer: St. Augustine tells us that understanding is the reward given by faith so we should not try to understand in order to believe, but we should believe in order to understand. So we pray to you our loving God for the grace that will help us to always believe. Enliven us when we are weak with the strength to believe in your healing way and so that we may always live a holy way of life. Grant us the wisdom to recognize your presence in our lives that comes from within us and others. Be always near to us that when necessary we may take comfort in your love! Amen!

A Runner's Thoughts: Remember the little miracles of God that we encounter during a run are not because we finish but are because we find the courage to begin!

Daily Blessing: Happy Friday everyone! Sorry my reflections are a little late today but when I got home last night there was a pile of paperwork that needed addressed. That is one of the problems being on the road a lot there is always work waiting for you when you return home.

As I said yesterday my mission in St. Lawrence, Texas ended very nicely on Wednesday evening. We had a good crowd for the closing as we did for the whole mission. The youth choir sang and there was a wonderful down home in Texas spirit that hopefully will help all of us to continue our journey of faith. I am working to clean off my desk today so that I can head out again tomorrow for a mission at St. May’s Parish in Barnesville, MD. If you are in the Washington, Barnesville, Fredrick, Maryland area why not stop in and join us. I will be preaching all the masses Saturday and Sunday and then the mission will be Monday through Wednesday in the morning at 9:00 am and in the evening at 7:30 pm.

I hope everyone has had a good week. If not I hope you will have an easy Friday that will lead you into a relaxing and restful weekend. We are entering the 13 days of Lent which will bring us to the wonderful days of the Triduum and Easter. I will truly be praying for all of you during these days in a special way.

My prayer of blessing today is a simple one that all of us have a graced filled Friday, one that leads us into a weekend of rest and peace. May we all be blessed with richness of what matters to God and touched with the presence of God in all we do today and in whomever we meet! Have a peaceful Friday and a restful weekend. Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Making a Joyful Noise through Lent 04/03/2014

Making a Joyful Noise though Lent – 04/03/2014

“The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. This is a very real danger for believers too. Many fall prey to it, and end up resentful, angry and listless. That is no way to live a dignified and fulfilled life; it is not God’s will for us, nor is it the life in the Spirit which has its source in the heart of the risen Christ.” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel)

The words of Pope Francis today echo the theme of our scriptures today. Where is our focus? What do we let get in the way of the presence of God in our live? What becomes our molten calf? We must remain focused on the presence and gift of God in our life!

The readings (Exodus 32:7-14 and John 5:31-47) seem to have a common theme: the inclination for us to trade what God offers us for something of less value and splendor. At times I have heard the term “laudable exchange” used in reference to giving up the things of earth for the things of heaven. Our scriptures warn us that often we do just the opposite.

In the Exodus reading today the people get focused on a molten calf as a god they think will help them. They have bought into the world around them. No matter what God has done for them they think a calf statue can do better. They have given up on the living God and replaced him with a god they made with their own hands. These are the very people who have seen wondrous tings from God, these are the very people who were free by their journey through the Red Sea at the hand of God. Yet, somehow they miss the fact that God loves them and cares for them. They seem to think that God is distant and they wanted something that they can see and touch. Let we often do they made a god to suit their specifications, to do what they think needs to be done. The outcome of all this stupidity is that they truly anger God.

The pslam for today’s mass (Psalm 106:19-20, 21-22, 23) points out their folly. “They exchanged their glory for the image of a grass-eating bullock.” They exchanged the glory of God for the glory of a human man calf. We are reminded that the only glory that we humans will ever have is the glory that comes from God, the glory that essentially is God. We have been created in the image and likeness of this glorious God and what a disrespect of God when we exchange that our love for God for some creation of our own hands.

The gospel today is a very dense section of John and it is difficult to do it justice with my little reflection. The religious leaders reject Jesus and exchange his testimony, his life, for that of others. For a time they like John the Baptist but grow tired of him. If others come tooting their own horns, they listen to them. They are able to accept anybody and everybody but Jesus. They love Moses, or so they say. A question one might ask would be if they were alive at the time of Moses would they have followed Moses are been right in there helping to make a god out of pieces of gold?

There is truth in the term “laudable exchange” to give up the things of this earth and embrace God. During Lent we do certain things in the hope that doing without will keep us focused on God. We sometimes do positive things or spend a little extra time in prayer with the same hope. These are wonderful practices however,  we must constantly remind ourselves that what we do doing Lent should help us to focus on God. If we remain focused on these things, then how am I any different than the people in the days of Moses who exchanged a thing God?

Let us be focused today on God, let us lift our eyes to and see the thing that are of God today!

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

Daily Lenten Prayer: Compassionate God, At times our hearts get out of focus. When this happens everything becomes an effort, life is difficult and we struggle to be faithful. In these moments remind me of Your Son’s words “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God” Do not let us be afraid and thus give in to life’s troubles and create our own molten calf. Rather help us, stay close to you, by reaching out to others, doing something creative with passion, and always living the fullness of life. Enliven us always in Your Holy Spirit of hope, so that we may live life with Passion together. And may the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in my heart! Amen.

A Runner’s Thoughts: You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement. (Steve Prefontaine)

Daily Blessing: Happy Thursday everyone! At this moment I am sitting in Midland, Texas Airport waiting for my flight to Houston and then on to New York. So far everything is going smoothly. I hope the same is true for you!

We had a very spirited closing to the mission last night. Before the closing mass I spent about 45 minutes with the youth of the parish and even though it took a while I got some good questions and we had a lively conversation. St. Lawrence is a unique place with fine faith filled people. They will be in my prayers always. If you could offer a little prayer for rain in West Texas there will be many people who will appreciate it!

My prayer of blessing today is that all of us remain focused on our faith, on our relationship with and on all the wonderful things God has done for us. May we never give in to hopelessness and look elsewhere to a god the world creates. Many blessing to all today, success in your endeavors, safety in your travels and many experiences of God’s presence throughout the day! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Making a Joyful Noise through Lent 04/02/2014

Making a Joyful Noise through Lent – 04/02/2014

“If we are to share our lives with others and generously give of ourselves, we also have to realize that every person is worthy of our giving. Not for their physical appearance, their abilities, their language, their way of thinking, or for any satisfaction that we might receive, but rather because they are God’s handiwork, his creation. God created that person in his image, and he or she reflects something of God’s glory. Every human being is the object of God’s infinite tenderness, and he himself is present in their lives. Jesus offered his precious blood on the cross for that person. Appearances notwithstanding, every person is immensely holy and deserves our love. Consequently, if I can help at least one person to have a better life, that already justifies the offering of my life. It is a wonderful thing to be God’s faithful people. We achieve fulfilment when we break down walls and our heart is filled with faces and names!” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel)

These are wonderful words from Pope Francis today. In a couple of my mission talks I touch on the very image that Pope Francis touches on. I certainly do not do it is eloquent as Pope Francis but I think I get the message across. We are all created in the image and likeness of God that makes us unique, special and important. I love Pope Francis’ last line above, “We achieve fulfilment when we break down the walls and our heart is filled with faces and names.” If we are looking for intimacy with God, if we are looking for God, the gift, the presence of God - God is all around us!

Within our scriptures today there is the thread of intimacy and relationship running through them. In the first reading from Isaiah (Isaiah 49:8-15) we hear Advent like images of how God enters our life and helps us to make the journey home. We hear how much God desires a relationship with us and how far God is willing to go for that relationship. There is the famous image in the reading about the child in the mother’s womb and even if that mother were to forget about the child God will not forget about the child and us.

In the Gospel (John 5:17-30) it is John’s image of the relationship between the Father and the Son. Throughout John’s entire Gospel we constantly hear about the intimate relationship that Jesus has with the Father. If you see Jesus you are looking at the Father. The two are inseparable, they work together. They know each others' thoughts, words and actions. We are invited to have this same kind of relationship with Jesus and the Father.

Intimacy is something we all want, something we all need but it is something many of us find difficult because of what it demands of us. It demands commitment, time, energy and a willingness to be truthful and honest. It demands a willingness to see the good in others and to understand their struggles, their faults and failings. Intimacy means we are willing to stand by the other even when it is not easy, even when it is not popular.

Much talk time and print space has been given to celibacy and chastity in recent years, some of it positive and much of it negative. Being one who has tried to live this vow I know that the most difficult part is intimacy and I am not just talking about physical intimacy. I think we all have a great need, desire, longing for and deep connection with another, a person to share our joys, fears, sadness, struggles, triumphs, feelings and love. We want that soul friend who knows us, understands us, values us, forgives us and loves us no matter what and yet whether celibate or not this friend is hard to find.

Many of the great saints talk about finding this relationship after a long struggle with God. I am not a great saint so my struggle for intimacy goes on. It is a great need in everyone’s life and sometimes it is a life-long search. For me there is always sadness when I see this intimacy devalued or absent. When I see a mother or a father forget their child, either through abuse, neglect or when their life become so self-centered they don’t make the connection. I am also encouraged and hopeful when I see the wonderful gift of intimacy at work in the lives of people, when they don’t forget!

Throughout Lent we have been reminded that living a life of faith demands looking beyond ourselves, it demands being other oriented. Relationships and intimacy are the way we can keep ourselves focus on others, focused on God. Let us live the journey of life today open to the gifts that others can bring to our lives!

Wednesday blessings everyone and don’t forget to make a joyful noise with your life today!

Daily Lenten Prayer: O God, you call us to be in love with you just as you are in love with us. Give us the grace to not be afraid of your gifts of love and mercy in our lives. Help us not to fear your invitation to intimacy and may we never hesitate to share your love with another. Grant us the strength to never forget the tenderness of your joyful loving presence and to trust that you will bring us home. Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: The next time you run, finish your run with a burst of speed no matter how far you have run. As you run all out those last few steps imagine receiving a greeting from God. God embraces you and holds you as you catch your breath. God offers a few good words to welcomes you home.

Daily Blessing: Happy Wednesday, “Hump Day” everyone! I hope this week has been good to you so far, if not there are still three plus days left for things to get better.

We had a very nice mission session last night and tonight is the closing. I will be talking with the youth of the parish this afternoon and then celebrating the closing mass beginning at 7:00 pm. Then early tomorrow it will be off to Midland, Texas and the beginning of my journey back to New York that will not end until tomorrow evening. As always please offer a prayer today for the faith community of St. Lawrence and St. Thomas and if you could add an extra prayer for their preacher it would be greatly appreciated!

My prayer of blessing today goes out to everyone that you may encounter the love of God in some special way today; through the gesture of another person, through an experience of life, through an encounter with God within yourself. May God’s love enliven a well-spring of joy within you that you can share with all you meet today. And may the joy of God be the noise of your life that you share with the world! May today be a day of many blessings today and a day without too much stress! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul