Daily Thoughts: I am going to divide my thoughts for today
into two sections. First I would like to reflect on why June 18th has
special meaning for me and then I would like to touch on the Gospel for today.
First June 18th – my thoughts
today center around two quotes from Thomas Merton. The first is from his book,
New Seeds of Contemplation and the second is from the book, Thoughts in
Solitude.
“Our vocation is not simply to be, but
to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity,
our own destiny....To work out our identity in God.” (New Seeds of
Contemplation)
“Ask me not where I live or what I like
to eat . . . Ask me what I am living for and what I think is keeping me from
living fully that.” (Thoughts in Solitude)
I picked these two quotes today because
it is the 29th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood and I
am hoping that over my life time especially these last 29 years I have worked
with God to find my identity and that I am truly living for Jesus even though
at times my humanness, my struggles, my faults and failing get in the way of my
friendship with God and in my service to others.
As I celebrate this day, I turn to my
good friend, St. Paul, for guidance and strength in the hope that I will always
live every aspect of my life in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness,
and in the love of God as it is found in our Lord Jesus Christ. And that I will
always excel in the gracious act of love that God has given to me by making
sure my love for God and others is always genuine.
As I celebrate today I pray for all who
have touch my life especially during the last 29 years! Thank you all for
helping me be the man of faith, the Passionist and priest I am today even in
the midst of my faults and failings. May I always serve you out of God’s love.
Now on to today’s Gospel. Today’s
readings 29 years ago were not on June 18th they were on the
following day Thursday June 19th. I remember the 19th 29
years ago very clearly. It was the morning after my ordination day. All of my
family had gather in New York and after the ordination spent the night at our
Passionist retreat house in Jamaica, NY which is where the ordination took
place. At 10 am on that Thursday morning I was going to celebrate my very first
mass ever with my family. I would celebrate my official first mass on Saturday
evening but this morning would be my actual first mass. I had not looked at the
readings because of all the busyness leading up to my ordination day.
So early this morning 29 years ago, June
19, 1986, I awakened and wandered down the hall to the retreat house chapel to
look at the readings and prepared for my first mass. When I got to the Gospel I
could not believe what I read. It was today’s Gospel from Matthew about Jesus
teaching his disciples to pray, specifically to pray the Our Father. I put the
book down and tears welled up in my eyes and I just sat there for about an hour
unable to prepare any more.
For you see the Our Father was one of
the last prayers I prayed with my father before he died some four years before.
It was a December night in 1982, I was in my father’s hospital room late that
night and as I was about to leave he asked me to pray with him. I was more than
happy to do so and I asked him what prayer he wanted to pray and he said, “The
Our Father.” I began to say the words and notice that my dad was not praying so
I stopped and asked what was wrong. Dad said, “I don’t remember the words.” His
illness had begun to affect his mind. So I said, “No problem” and suggested
that I say a few words of the prayer and that he repeat them after me. Do you
know how hard it is to say the Our Father when you have to stop and think about
what you are saying? Well, we got through the prayer and dad became very
peaceful and for the most part remained peaceful over the last few weeks of his
life. I have always remembered that moment.
I had wanted my dad to see me ordained
but that was not to be but on that Thursday morning 29 years I realized that he
was with me and had been with me all along. I have never prayed the Our Father
at mass, during the rosary or at any other time and not thought about that
moment. What power there is in this simple prayer, what a gift this simple
prayer is to all who pray it.
I would invite you at some moment today
to pause and slowly, deliberately pray the Our Father. Listen to the words.
Realize what God offers you through the words of this simple prayer and what
God asks of you.
By the way thanks Dad! Have a great
Thursday everyone!
Daily Prayer: Our Father, Who
art in heaven hallowed be Thy Name; Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on
earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our
trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
A Runner’s Thoughts: Let us remember
always when we run to search for God in the ordinary. Each run is a pilgrimage,
not to Rome, Jerusalem or some other place we consider holy or important, but
it is a pilgrimage nonetheless. Our run may be nothing more than a trip around
the neighborhood or on our favorite running route but if our intention is to
converse with God, then we are a pilgrim. It is the very ordinariness of the
run that enables it to become a central part of our life. With each run we
embark on a pilgrimage of the ordinary where we will always have the chance to
find God! (Adapted from Roger Joslin)
Daily Blessing: Thursday
greetings and blessings to everyone! I am greeting ready to begin the fourth
day of retreat for the priests of the Jefferson City Diocese. In a moment I
will head down to breakfast and then I have the morning conference and at 11:00
am I will preach at mass so it will be a busy morning and day for that matter.
Please keep the priests who are on retreat in your prayers today and if you
could say an extra prayer for the preacher it would be greatly appreciated!
I would like to send a shout out to my
brother, Jim, on this his birthday! Happy Birthday, Bro, many blessings today
and always. I will see you probably a week from today and we will celebrate
then!
I hope your day has started off well. It
looks like another cloudy, humid day here in St. Louis and I would guess we
will get some rain along the way. Perhaps the sun is out where you are. Whatever
the weather I hope your day is filled with the presence of God and your journey
through it is guided by God’s grace.
On this anniversary day of mine I pray
you will have a great day and that you know that all of you continue to be in
my prayers. May God’s blessings today be upon your work, your travel, your
encounters with others, your struggling moments, your smiling moments and upon
all that you do and all whom you meet…Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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