Daily Thoughts - 01/16/2015

Daily Thoughts: I have always liked the story in today's Gospel and the reason is because it is not just one person's faith at work. The story says, "When Jesus saw their faith...." It was the faith of the group of friends, of the community, that makes all the difference. It was the hard work and faith of the friends of the paralytic. It was the faith of the man, himself, that probably motivated his friends. All of them worked together so that this healing moment was possible.

I often refer to the parishes I go to or the people who make one of my retreats as a community of faith and I truly believe that they are. I am always happy to be in their presence because I believe there is a great power in a community gathered together for a Sunday mass, a daily mass, a prayer service or a retreat. I believe that it takes a community of faith to get us through life.

Sure we need our personal faith. Sure we need a personal relationship with God, but we also need a community because as good as we might be there are times when we cannot do it alone. We need people to pick us up, to carry us. We need people to help us find a way in, to find a way to God. We need people who believe in us and in the journey we are on. We need people who know God just as we do.

Jesus affirms the small community of faithful friends in the Gospel today. They make it possible for their friend to be healed and to be forgiven. What great friends the paralytic man had, do we have friends like him? Are we faith filled friends willing to pick a friend up and make sure they can get to God?

Have a joyful and faith filled Friday evening everyone!

Daily Prayer: O God, grants us to the gift of being true friends in faith today and always. Helps us to bring to you, no matter what the obstacles, all in need so that they and we might encounter your healing, forgiving and loving presence. Bless us with a community of faith who will help your grace to remain alive in our hearts! Amen!

A Runner's Thoughts: Remember a run can be a tremendous help to quieting the mind so God can be present!

Daily Blessing: Friday evening greetings and blessings to all. As I mentioned yesterday today was our all-day taping session for The Sunday Mass at St. Francis de Sales Church on 96^th Street near Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. It is our first taping at our new site so it was a long day as we got use to our new home. But we made it through all 6 masses and people were pleased with how things turn out for the most part. Thanks for all your prayers these last few days. They were greatly appreciated!

May your Friday evening and night be a good one and I hope it leads you into a relaxing weekend. May God bless you tonight with rest, peace and generous helping of God’s love through the gift of family, friends or quiet solitude. May God bless you with a restful evening and a peaceful night so that you can rise refreshed to live a new day! Friday evening blessings to all! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 01/15/2015

Daily Thoughts: In today’s Gospel (Mark 1: 40-45) Jesus encounters a person with leprosy and the following exchange takes place. "If you wish, you can make me clean. Jesus was moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched the leper and said to him, I do will it. Be made clean. And the leprosy left him immediately."

In my reflections on this Gospel I think the key elements of this story are the person's faith in Jesus and the willingness of Jesus to heal and to touch. Maybe the most important element is Jesus' touch, his willingness to be connected with someone who is unclean by the standards of culture, society and religion.

Today whether we are talking about our culture, society or even our church the usual response is to disconnect ourselves from someone defined as unclean. Yet, Jesus sought to be connected. He did not want to push them away from the community but to bring them into the community.

Jesus reaches out to one who has been pushed out of the community. It is a profound moment; it is a challenge to all of us who proclaim we believe. Do we wish – do we will – that all belong to the community no matter what? Jesus does and he was willing to step across a boundary to make sure that it happens. Are we?

Perhaps it is a commitment to prayer that will help us to, wish it and will it. It is through prayer, our conversation with God, that we will find the strength to walk with Jesus across the boundaries imposed and bring others to the community, to friendship with God!

Give a little time to God today – say a prayer – talk with God. Have a great Thursday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, help us today so that we will not be people with hardened hearts but people with compassionate hearts. Help us to be people willing to reach out across the boundaries of life that all might have the opportunity to be part of you community of faith. Enliven us that we will always hear your word with an open mind and an open heart! Amen!

A Runner's Thoughts: Think of every run as an opportunity to be born again. Let each run refresh your body and renew your spirit and bring you into God's Presence once again!

Daily Blessing: Happy Thursday everyone! In my life this has been a rather quick week. A play on Monday, rehearsal for our new TV Mass taping site and tomorrow our first taping of The Sunday Mass at St. Francis de Sales. In the past days I have been in Manhattan five days. I am getting to be a pretty good commuter!

I think tomorrow is going to be a very long day. Changing sites for The Sunday Mass has its challenges and we are going to be dealing with those challenges all day tomorrow. I am sure in the end things will go great but please keep us in your prayers as we make this transition.

I hope your week is going well and that your life is a little less chaotic than mine. I pray that you feel supported by God and have encountered the presence of God throughout your journey of life this week. As always I pray for God’s blessings upon all of us today that whether busy or not we may find the gift of God’s touch in our lives; the touch of healing if we need it, but most importantly the touch of  joy, hope and love to carry us through the day. Have a great day everyone. Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 01/14/2015

Daily Thoughts: My though for today is drawn from today’s readings, (Gospel Mark 1: 29-29), our constant need for healing. Healing and casting out demons seem to be the work of the day for Jesus. I was thinking of another line in the Gospel as I read today’s passage during my prayer time this morning. The line I thought of was, "The poor you will always have with you" (Matthew 26:11 and Mark 14:7). I thought Jesus could have easily said, "The sick and demons you will always have with you!"

There is always healing that needs to be done, people struggling physically, emotionally and spiritually. Sometimes when I am day dreaming I wish Jesus would walk into our midst and begin to heal or that he would give me the temporary power to heal because there are some many people who could use it!

And demons, they seem to be everywhere these days, if only Jesus were here to cast them out what a different place the world could be. It amazes me that the demons always seem to know Jesus and yet often the people in his presence don't.

Yet, there is another Gospel passage that also comes to mind, "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his [or her] heart, but believes that what he [or she] says is going to happen, it will be granted him [or her]." (Mark 11:23) In other words the power to heal and cast out demons is within our grasp we just need to believe and not doubt.

So remember as you go through this day, God just might be calling so be listening and the "force," the power, the presence of Jesus is always with us to heal and to cast out demons we just need to believe!

I have a great Wednesday everyone!

Daily Prayer: O God, we are a struggling people, we want to believe, we want to hear and respond to your call. Help us to be your servant who listens and grace us with faith so that in our moments of unbelief we might truly bring your healing presence to all who need it in this world. Amen!

A Runner's Thoughts: As you run today remember that running is something that only you can do, no one can do it for you.  So make it part of your faith take God with you!

Daily Blessing: Happy Hump Day everyone! I hope you have settled into the journey of this week and that things are going well. I will be headed into Manhattan this afternoon as we will be having a rehearsal for the Sunday Mass in our new sight St. Francis de Sales. We have our first taping there on Friday and we need to see how things will be set-up and work at this new site. There is sadness in leaving St. Malachy’s. It was an intimate and beautiful place to celebrate the Sunday Mass but St. Francis de Sales is also a beautiful church and once we get settled their it too should be a wonderful place to continue the ministry of the Sunday Mass!

My simple prayer of blessing today is that God will bless all our endeavors, all our interactions, all of our challenges, all of our travels, all of our meetings, all of our ordinary tasks, all of our relationships, all whom we love and us. May we bring the gift of God to our world today! Have a great day everyone! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 01/13/2015

Daily Thoughts: That day in Capernaum, which we hear about in today's Gospel, (Mark 1: 21-28), Jesus taught as one having authority, in fact he taught every day that way. Perhaps that is the problem today that often those teaching really do not teach with authority. They think they do but they don't.

Authority comes from living an authentic life. We cannot say one thing and then do another and expect to have authority. We cannot say life is important and then only value life at the time of birth. We cannot say children, women and men are created in the image and likeness of God and then protect people who hurt them. We cannot talk about freedom and then limit it for certain people. We cannot talk about shepherding and service then live as one who is privileged and entitled. We cannot say human life is most important and then treat inanimate objects with more reverence than people. We cannot say community is important and then restrict the participation of the community.

In the Gospel we are reminded that Jesus lived an authentic life. A life focused on others, a life of authority! We long for teaching with authority today but everywhere we turn it seems to be missing. Jesus knew what he was talking about. He knew that people were more important than things. He knew that boundaries could be crossed if it meant life. He knew that people were more important than ritual, dress and mystery.  Jesus offered all who listened to him the chance to allow God to change and shape their hearts into a new way of life. If we listen to Jesus and follow his way we will come to know true authority, we will come to live an authentic life!

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Daily Prayer: O God, your gift of courage is one of the greatest favors you have given us. It would be wrong for us to behave like cowards or to fear anything except not being true to you. So once again grant us the courage to live authentic lives that reflect your greatest gift to us, Love! Bestow on us this day your kindness and peace that we might bring them to all we meet! Amen!

(Adapted in part from the words of St. Teresa of Avila)

A Runner's Thoughts: I have two thoughts for you today – As you run today take with you whatever image of God that is most important to you and allow that image to accompany you on your run. – And as you run today look for goodness in everyone you encounter. Look for goodness in yourself!

Daily Blessing: Tuesday greetings to everyone. I hope your Tuesday has started off well and if not I pray that it will get better as the day goes on. We seem to have settled into, at least for the moment, uneventful winter days. Yet, I know these moderate temperatures will not go on forever and there will still be challenges ahead, however it is nice to just be in winter for a few moments! I hope you are making it through these winter days and finding a little calm and peace at the moment.

I had an enjoyable evening last night in Manhattan at the stage reading of Sweetened Water a play by our very own Fr. Edward Beck, C.P. It is a fine play and there seemed to be very good feedback from the all most 200 people who were there.  Who knows you might be hearing about this play on Broadway in the not too distant future. Kudos to Fr. Edward!

I have to say that my journey into Manhattan last night was a much more enjoyable evening than sitting in front of the TV for the newest Super Bowl or should I say the College Super Bowl.  I guess I should say congrats to The Ohio State University! I was much happier when college football ended on New Year’s Day but then what do I know!

My prayer of blessing for us today is a simple litany asking God help us along the way – Loving God, we pray for your blessing today in the midst of our busy life. If we find ourselves under the weather touch us with your healing presence. If we are busy guide us to a moment of peace. If we are frustrated grace us with an acknowledgement of the gift that you are. If we find ourselves angry today help us to let it go. If we find ourselves alone embrace us so that we know that are not. O God, bless us with what we need to live our life this day! Have a great Tuesday everyone. Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 01/12/2015

Daily Thoughts: We have closed the Christmas Season with yesterday's celebration of the Baptism of the Lord and today we enter into Ordinary Time. We get a chance to take a breath and relax a little before entering the Season of Lent or do we?

Sometimes I think when it comes to our relationship with God, there is no relaxing, there is no taking a breath, it is always full steam ahead. There is always a new challenge, a new way to live life. We certainly see that in the Gospel today!

The fishermen from Galilee get no chance to rest, a new life awaits them. They think they are settled into the ordinary life but Jesus has something else planned for them. They think this is just another ordinary day but Jesus makes it special.

In the Gospel today, (Mark 1: 14-20), we witness the beginning of some wonderful friendships. Simon, soon to be called Peter, his brother Andrew, James and his brother John, the two sons of Zebedee, all begin the journey of friendship, discipleship, with Jesus today. They each receives a simple invitation to "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of [people]."  To follow Jesus and if they do he will change their life. The change is not simple going for fishers of fish to fishers of people; the change is becoming a friend of Jesus, which always changes life.

Each morning we arise, whether in ordinary or special time we are offered the same invitation to friendship with Jesus that Simon, Andrew, James and John are offered. We are offered the same opportunity to change our life. The question is like Simon, Andrew, James and John are we willing to accept it?

Have a great Monday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, grant us the grace to recognize you today as you pass by and the wisdom to say yes to your invitation to follow. May your invitation lead to friendship with you, newness of life and your gift of love. Help us with the strength to accept the challenge of conversion of heart and to believe in the Good News and proclaim it to all we meet by the living of life! Amen!

A Runner's Thoughts: Make your run today a time of prayer, let go of the music, let go problems to be solved, let go of the decisions to be made and let God!

Daily Blessing: Greetings everyone, welcome to the first week of Ordinary Time! The Christmas Season is officially over at least liturgically. Hope you had a good weekend and that your team or teams won in various sports over the weekend. I hope your favorite actress, actor, television show and movie won a Golden Globe last night. And if you are a college football fanatic may your team win tonight!

I would also like to send a shout out to my wonderful sister, Bernadette today because she is celebrating her birthday. Best wishes Bernadette and may this day and everyday be rich in God’s blessings!

I pray that you are rested and ready for all this new week will bring into your life. If not I hope today will not be too difficult for you so that you can get your feet on the ground for the rest of the week. My prayers are with all who struggling with the flu and winter colds at this time may you find good health quickly. I pray for God’s blessings upon all of us that we will have a great day and week! May God grace us with his presence this day and may we be alert and aware of God’s presence as we live this day. May God’s blessing make this day one that is rich in the presence and friendship of God. Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul