Daily Thoughts: Once again in, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis writes, “I
never tire of repeating those words of Benedict XVI which take us to the very
heart of the Gospel: “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”.
Thanks solely to this encounter – or
renewed encounter – with God’s love, which blossoms into an enriching
friendship, we are liberated from our narrowness and self-absorption. We become
fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond
ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being.”
These words from Pope Francis and Pope
Benedict today touch on the theme of our scriptures. Who are we? What are we
about? Seems to be the question asked in our readings (Genesis 17: 3-9 and John
8: 51-59). Abram is to become the father of a host of nations; his name is even
changed from Abram to Abraham. He is redefined as a person because of his
personal encounter with God. Abraham is now a friend of God.
Jesus does not make himself out to be
just anybody; Jesus is “I AM” and if we believe we have the gift of eternal
life. It is a hard pill for the religious leadership to swallow. Jesus is not
able to break through their stony heart with this personal encounter, in fact
they pick up stones to do away with him. They cannot be liberated from their
narrowness or self-absorption.
Perhaps our challenge today is to renew
ourselves in light of our personal encounter with Christ, to have faith in the
covenant, to believe in Jesus as “I AM,” to trust in our friendship with God.
We are challenged today to let God bring us beyond ourselves to attain the
fullest truth of who we are so that we can live this day a God’s joy filled
friends who share our joy with everyone we meet!
Have a blessed Thursday everyone!
Daily Prayer: Jesus, my faithful
companion, as we live in your hope, we commit ourselves today: to live
deeply, with purpose, to live freely, with detachment, to live wisely, with
humility, to live justly, with compassion, to live lovingly, with fidelity, to
live mindfully, with awareness, to live gratefully, with generosity, to
live hopefully, with enthusiasm and joy,
to live fully, in your love. Help us to hold this vision and to renew
it each day in our hearts, becoming ever more one with you, our truest self. Amen.
A Runner’s Thoughts: “Run when you
can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.” (Dean
Karnazes)
Daily Blessing: Thursday greetings
and blessings to everyone! I hope this finds you well and enjoying the
beginning of a new day. If that is too optimistic for you, I hope this finds
you well and beginning a new day with the hope of a good day or at least a day
that will get better than this moment!
Our mission here at Divine Mercy had a
great ending last evening. As the days before our closing was spirit filled and
energizing. As I have said earlier the faith community here at Divine Mercy is very
spirit filled!
In a little while I will be on the road heading
south making my way back to Pelham however my stay there will be brief as I
need to be at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Manhattan by 7 pm this evening to
finish the mission our community started there on Monday. I am the closing
preacher so I will go from the small town of Peterborough to the big city of
Manhattan. I am hoping the mission has gone well these days at St. Francis de
Sales and that I will bring a faith filled close to it tonight! If you get a
chance please offer a prayer for the faith community at St. Francis de Sales
and their wandering preacher tonight!
My prayer of blessing today is that God will
bless you with a day rich in faith, alive with hope and one that will embrace
you throughout the day with God’s love. May God bless you with safe travels,
with life-giving encounters, with an abundance of energy and with the richness
of people who love you! Have a blessed Thursday everyone! Peace in Christ’s
Passion…Fr. Paul
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