Daily Thoughts - 12/20/2014

Daily Thoughts: In these last days until Christmas we are reminded over and over how the Christmas story came to be. We hear about Joseph’s dream and today the Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel. Each story is a snap shot of the greater story of God’s human presence in the world. In today’s Gospel (Luke 1:26-38) we are reminded that Mary was truly a believer. Even though she did not know the full extent of her “yes” she proclaimed it anyway. She trusted in God. She had faith and she staked her life in the promise of God something Ahaz, in our first reading (Isaiah 7:10-14) was unwilling to do.

Not having a clear vision of the road ahead is not always an easy way to live. It demands trust, it demands faith, and it demands a sense of hope in all that one does. Mary certain defines this way of living. She did not know the implications of her “yes” but she had trust, faith and lived by an unrelenting hope.

Several times this Advent I have used this quote by Calvin Miller. It is from his book The Christ of Christmas: Readings for Advent. I find it a wonderful way to think of the gift of Mary in our life and so I share it with you again today – “We must look to Mary's example to know how to deal with the glorious impossibilities of God. Look how she turned the world upside down by making one simple statement.”

Mary’s one simple statement was “yes” to God. Today we remember another moment from the Christmas story. It is a moment that reminds us that if we trust, if we believe, if we live by hope we will encounter God most often when we least expect it but always when we are most in need!

Have a great day everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, in the spirit of your handmaid, our mother Mary, we pray - Behold your servants, O God – May what you ask of us be lived out by us according to your word, your invitation, your will. Today God, we say “yes” to you! Amen. (Adapted from Mary’s Prayer to the angel Gabriel)

A Runner’s Thoughts:  “I run because it's my passion, and not just a sport. Every time I walk out the door, I know why I'm going where I'm going and I'm already focused on that special place where I find my peace and solitude. Running, to me, is more than just a physical exercise... it's a consistent reward for victory!” (Sasha Azevedo, actress) I think this quote from Sasha Azevedo not only helps us to understand running but also faith. We believe not because we were born into a religion, a faith community but because we have a passion for our relationship with God. When we wake up in the morning we might not know where we are going or what the day will bring but because we believe, because we have faith we are ready to face the day. Throughout our journey we look for places of solitude and peace, perhaps when we run. We also look for places of love and community. Faith is more than just an obligation…it is our breath, our way of life!

Daily Blessing: Happy Saturday everyone! I am a little late today with my postings because I had a funeral this morning for a Sister of Charity who died this week and who was very supportive of me when I would celebrate mass at the Convent of Mount St. Vincent. Sr. Maria Therese was a very fine woman and her baptismal name was Rita, which made her special in my book. I was honored to celebrate her mass of resurrection this morning and I trust God welcomed her home as a good and faithful servant to share his joy!

Yes, the last weekend before Christmas. I hope this finds you not too busy with last minute shopping or preparations. For those who will be traveling during these next few days please be safe and if you can give yourselves a little extra time. I know that in certain parts of the country there is a chance for bad weather over the next week.  We here in Pelham will get some rain and milder temperatures before Christmas that least that is what the weather people are saying. I hope over the next week you all will be able to get where you are going and settle in for a blessed and holy Christmas celebration with people you love.

Because tomorrow is Sunday we will miss beautiful story of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth that is usually read on December 21^st. So for today’s Daily Blessing I will call upon the spirits Mary and Elizabeth to focus us and remind us throughout this day that God is always with us. Loving God bless us all this day with the echoes of Elizabeth’s words to Mary, “How does it happen that the mother of my Lord, should come to me?” Make these words our own today God for by your blessing of creation we all carry around in us the gift of your presence. May the story of Mary and Elizabeth remind us of your presence in our lives and give us the strength to give your gift to everyone we encounter today and always. May God bless us all today. Have a great Saturday everyone! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 12/19/2014

Daily Thoughts: I had a little sadness in pondering the readings today. Two stories of hope about women who were unable to have children and God blessed them, especially Elizabeth in her advanced years. We have two wonderful stories today alive with the theme that anything is possible with God.

My sadness comes from thinking about all the women who would love to have children but cannot. Perhaps they do not struggle with cultural shame like Samson's mother and Elizabeth, women of their time who were married and without children bore a heavy burden of embarrassment and shame, but I think women of today do struggle with a personal sadness, a personal burden, a personal loss, a personal grief.

My own sadness comes from the fact that so many women today who don't want children look to end their pregnancy when so many others would give anything for the chance to bring a child into the world. Perhaps it would be a wonderful miracle from God, the making of something impossible, possible if all who do not want children and become pregnant would just carry the child to birth and offer the child to those who cannot have children but truly want them. What a beautiful story, what a wonderful story of hope that would be.

Through the intercession of Samson's mother and Elizabeth today I pray for all women who want to be mothers and all women who do not want to be mother that they might help each other make the life of children possible!

Have a great Friday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, graciously reveal your love to the world today. May we embrace with integrity of faith the gift of your life and help make the impossible, possible. We continue to pray for families in grief; for little ones whose lives were too short; for teachers, administrators and responders who put others first; for a community that must find a way to live; for all of us who seek a world of lasting peace! God be with us today! Amen!

A Runner's Thoughts: Make your run today about life, about the impossible becoming possible, about taking advantage of God's presence in your life!

Daily Blessing: TGIF everyone! It has been a busy week with cold temperatures, Christmas cards, countless trips to the post office to mail Christmas gifts, lots of traffic and long lines. I hope you are surviving this last week until Christmas. I hope today finds you not too stressed and enjoying a day gifted by the sun, and perhaps even with warming temperatures, though that might be a little much to ask for because I think a storm is on its way for next week!

Most of my ministry responsibilities are done for the year except for a funeral tomorrow and various weekend masses from now to the first of the year and anything else that might come up in the next 10 days or so. I hope that this weekend will give you a chance to get things done and thus be ready to celebrate the gift of Christmas at home or wherever you will travel to. May this Christmas truly be a blessed and holy one for all!

It is in the spirit of the “O Antiphons” that I offer my daily blessing – O Root of Jesse's stem, bless us this day with the confidence, the faith, the trust and the hope to always respond with a “yes” to your invitation to live life. Help us to be people of joy, of peace and of commitment. Grace us with the strength to move beyond negativity of this world and see the possible in the impossible. Protected us today, in our travels, our endeavors, in our busyness and gifted us with many experiences of your love. Loving God, bless us all this day and always. Amen. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 12/18/2014

Daily Thoughts: The point of Advent and of Christmas in many ways comes down to being reminded that “God is with us!”  Sure we might say that is the point of every day, but during Advent and Christmas – Emmanuel – become a special focus, a special refrain. The great Dominican mystic Meister Eckhart gave a Christmas homily in which he said that Christ is born three times. Christ was first born over 2,000 years ago. Second, Christ will be born at some point in the future when he comes again and thirdly Christ is born every day in our hearts.

Yes, each day we have the opportunity to give birth to Christ. We have opportunity to bring to the world like Mary and Joseph, Emmanuel, God with us! We do it by following in Mary and Joseph’s footsteps, by say yes to God’s invitation to be part of this journey of faith called life. We do it by living our lives to the fullest, by sharing the image and likeness of God in which we have been created with the world. We do it by trusting in God’s love and by living in hope.

My friends today is a new day so let us give birth to Emmanuel today through the hopeful living of our lives. Have a great day everyone!

Daily Prayer: O God of Eternal Love, fill our hearts with the light of your Holy Spirit so that we might not be afraid of your word, your invitation to live. Give us the humility to hold fast to your will and thus allow Christ to be born with in us today and every day.  We also continue to pray for families in grief; for little ones whose lives were too short; for teachers, administrators and responders who put others first; for a community that must find a way to live; for all of us who seek a world of lasting peace! For we believe nothing is impossible for You our loving God! Amen!

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

Daily Blessing: Thursday blessings to all today. I hope your Christmas busyness is done so that you will be able to enjoy the days ahead! Before I offer a blessing for today I would just like to say Happy Birthday to my oldest niece and goddaughter, Alice. May she have a wonderful day and a year filled with many new experiences and blessing!

And my prayer of blessing for all today is this – O Sacred Lord and Loving God, through the gift of your presence during this new day in our lives help us as we walk amid passing things to always love the things of heaven and hold fast to what endures. Bless us all with your gift of hope that we may bring your presence to whomever we meet and to every place we go! Amen! Blessings to all today, travel safely and enjoy the gift of this day. Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 12/17/2014

Daily Thoughts: In today’s Gospel (Matthew 1: 1-17), we are reminded that Jesus was part of the great human family. A family made up of saints and sinners and everything in between. It might seem tedious to read this long list of names many of whom we know nothing about and some that seem very familiar. I use to get so nervous when Matthew’s or Luke’s genealogy would appear as the Gospel, but over the years I began to feel comfortable with it and now I even look forward to proclaiming this Gospel. I guess I have grown familiar with the case of characters!

Isn’t that what life is about growing accustom to life. Seeing people and things differently, telling the stories that reminds us who we are and from where we have come. Remembering the characters good and bad that have made up our lives and molded us into the people we are today.

When we read or hear the genealogy of Christ whether from Matthew or Luke we are reminded that even though Jesus is God, he is also human, also part of this great human family and the characters, the women and men, who believed, who struggled, said yes and sometimes no, who embraced a relationship with God and sometimes didn’t, who lived life making it possible for Jesus to come into this world to embrace us with his love.

Here’s to the characters in all of our lives. Here’s to the characters of the human family. Here’s to Joseph and Mary the last in the story today who said yes that we might celebrate Jesus the Christ!

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving Jesus, you often held up a child and told us that children are worthy of blessing in your Kingdom and an example to us of how to grow in wonder and awe of people, places and things. Help us to return to the heart of a child so that we might proclaim your Kingdom with minds and hearts full of wonder and awe! Amen. (Adapted from a prayer by Fr. Michael Greene, C.P.)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “If you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it'll spread over into the rest of your life. It'll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”  (Bruce Lee) For Mary and Joseph there were no limits. Like running there are no limits in our faith. We must always remember nothing is impossible with God. Perhaps in life, in our journey of faith and in running we need to always remember this.

Daily Blessing: Happy Wednesday, Hump Day everyone! We might say that today is “Hump Day” for December in a little over one week we will be celebrating Christmas So today we begin the downhill roll to Christmas and the New Year!

The sun is out and they say it will be with us for the next couple of day and 50 is the target temperature for today! It is always nice to see the sun. It makes winter a little more tolerable. I hope your day has begun well and that it will be a good day throughout.

In the spirit of our readings today I pray that God will bless us with a spirit of wisdom today so that we can understand the “dream” that God has for us and that we will be blessed with the grace to live out that dream! May God gift us with compassion and generosity today so that we might bring Emmanuel, God with us, wherever we go and to whomever we meet. May we always be a family, a Church, a faith community bound together by a dream of justice, forgiveness, reconciliation and love. Blessing to all today and always! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 12/16/2014

Daily Thoughts: “To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us - and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.

Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.” (Thomas Merton)

I thought of this quote from Thomas Merton as I read our readings today. Zephaniah (3: 1-2, 9-13) reminds that no matter much we think of ourselves, there is someone greater in the life than humanity. And in our Gospel (Matthew 21: 28-32) Jesus confronts us with the question, what is more important the words we speak or the actions through which we live?

Merton reminds us that it comes down to being grateful. If we are grateful for our live, for the people we encounter, for everything that is around us then we know something, someone is greater. If we have gratitude then we are open to the wonder and grace of God. If we are grateful then our actions will always be a positive response to what we are ask to do and whom we are ask to be.

Thus the key word for our journey through this day and every day is gratitude. May we truly be grateful for life today because that will make all the difference!

Have a great day filled with joy and gratitude everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, creator of all the times and seasons of our lives. Grace us with a faith this day that is grounded in the characters of our lives who have made it possible for us to be the women and men we are today. Gift us with the wisdom to remember the stories of our life and help us to life the story of today and make you presence once again. Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: “Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic.” (Tim Noakes) Thankfully our spirits run on faith, hope and the presence of God!

Daily Blessing: Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope all of you are having a good day. We are encountering a grey winter day here in Pelham today. It is not real cold just that damp cold that gets into your bones. Wherever you are I hope you are finding a little warmth and joy today!

I pray for God’s blessing on all of us today. May God enliven our spirits and enable us to bring the Good News in word and deed wherever we go and to whomever we meet. May we travel safe, live this day in God presence and rest this night in God’s peace. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul