Daily Thoughts - 02/14/2015

Daily Thoughts: Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! A few thoughts about love…

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” (Mother Teresa)

“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.” (Elie Wiesel)

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” (C.S. Lewis)

“The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image.” (Thomas Merton)

“Let us not forget: we are a pilgrim church, subject to misunderstanding, to persecution, but a church that walks serene, because it bears the force of love.” (Archbishop Oscar A. Romero)

The measure of love is to love without measure.” (St. Francis de Sales)

“Always tell of God's love. If necessary, use words. ” (St. Francis of Assisi)

“Agape, the love of each one of us for the other, from the closest to the furthest, is in fact the only way that Jesus has given us to find the way of salvation and of the Beatitudes.”  (Pope Francis)

“Love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18)

“Time is

 Too Slow for those who Wait,

 Too Swift for those who Fear,

 Too Long for those who Grieve,

 Too Short for those who Rejoice;

 But for those who Love,

 Time is not.” (Henry van Dyke)

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Saturday blessings upon all your loves today!

Daily Prayer:

Dear God,

I am so afraid to open my clenched fists!

Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to?

Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands?

Please help me to gradually open my hands

and to discover that I am not what I own,

but what you want to give me.” (Henri J.M. Nouwen)

A Runner’s Thoughts: "It's important to know that at the end of the day it's not the medals you remember. What you remember is the process -- what you learn about yourself by challenging yourself, the experiences you share with other people, the honesty the training demands -- those are things nobody can take away from you whether you finish twelfth or you're an Olympic Champion." (Silken Laumann, Canadian Olympian)

Daily Blessings: Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Our married couples retreat got off to a good start last night. There are 45 couples on retreat. Please offer a prayer for them as you go through you day that their day of retreat will be rich in God’s presence. Also if you don’t mind saying an extra prayer could you offer one for their preacher!

May all of you celebrate with your loved ones today, especially the most important loved ones in your life! As for me I will celebrate with the married couples and I will also remember the many people who have brought the gift of love into my life.

I offer a special prayer of blessing for all of us today and I also remember those who have passed on who were such important teachers of love in our lives. I truly hope and pray that all of us will have a wonderful day gifted and blessed with many moments of love and many people we love! I also pray that God will bless us all in our endeavors today and that life today and every day will be rich with the gift of God’s love, a gift we will find in the world around us, in the people we meet and in ourselves. Have a great Saturday and a great weekend everyone. Don’t forget to get God a little time too! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 02/13/2014

Daily Thoughts: I know many of you probably look at today as just Friday. And you are right in doing so along with most of the rest of the world but in the Passionist world today, the Friday before Ash Wednesday is the Feast of the Solemn Commemoration of the Passion. It is one of the most important and special feast days that we have in the Congregation of the Passion. It is a day when we can truly celebrate the Passion of Jesus Christ which is the lens through which we view and live our lives as Passionists.

The first reading for today takes us almost to the end of the creation story which we have been reading since Monday. In today’s episode the serpent convinces Adam and Eve to eat from the tree is the middle of the garden which God has asked them not to eat from. The serpent convinces them that God has not told them the whole truth. His hook is that if they eat from this tree they will become like gods! Adam and Eve go for it hook, line and sinker. However, they find out that they are not like gods but rather their eyes are opened to the harsh realities of life – struggle, shame, illness and evil. They come to know the shame, hurts, disappointments and sins of life in the world so much so that now they are even ashamed of themselves and they hid from God.

In the Gospel we encounter the beautiful story of Jesus healing the man who could not hear and had a speech impediment. Jesus heals the man because the people have faith in Jesus’ healing powers and bring their friend to Jesus. Jesus’ compassionate act of healing so astonished the community, even though he asks them to say nothing, they cannot stop talking about it.  They proclaimed the Good News that Jesus “does all things well.”

There is such a contrast to these two stories. On the one hand Adam and Eve place their faith in a talking serpent and not in God. They have everything. There is nothing they lack; there is not struggle, disappointment, illness, shame, hurt, death or sin in their lives. They are in paradise! Yet I guess you might say they didn’t have everything. They didn’t have faith! They didn’t trust God.

In the Gospel story a community has faith in Jesus and their friend is healed. This story tells us a lot about Jesus and his journey to Calvary. Because of Adam and Eve’s lack of faith, sin, struggle, illness, shame and death entered the world. But as our faith story tells us that – “God so love the world that he gave us his only Son that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Faith is always the key. As Passionists we celebrate this day with the faith that God truly does love the world and Jesus’ journey to Calvary is the ultimate sign of that love. The choice by Adam and Eve in the garden set in motion God’s greatest act of love for us and on this Friday before Ash Wednesday that is what we remember and celebrate.

Perhaps in a way we, Passionists, are like the deaf man’s friends in our Gospel story today. Our lives are dedicated the remembering the Passion of Jesus Christ which reveals the power of God’s love for the world and through our special vow we bind ourselves to the memory of the Passion of Christ. By our words, our ministries, our living of life and by our faith we strive to bring this gift, this grace of God’s love to every person we meet. Or perhaps stick with the story we seek to bring the struggle to Jesus because he does all things well!

My prayer for you on this special Passionist feast is that as you journey through this day you will not forget that God loves you that you will always be faithful and that the Passion of Jesus Christ will always in your heart!

Have a great Friday everyone and may the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts!

Daily Prayer: Almighty and ever-loving God, look with compassion on our humanness, on all our struggles and weaknesses. Strengthen us for the journey ahead. Give us the wisdom to follow your call. Enliven us with the grace to be repairers and restorers of your love. Help us to be people of hope and to bring that hope to all we meet. Amen!

A Runner's Thoughts: As we run today let us think of our breathing as inhaling God and exhaling extraneous thoughts, ideas and struggles. Let us allow all those thoughts that are buzzing about in our heads to move through our bodies and be expelled through our breath so that God has more space to be within us!

Daily Blessings: Happy Friday everyone! I hope you last work day of the week has started off well. With a bit of sadness I will be leaving my place of respite along the Pacific Ocean. Yes my lazy, surf’s days are over and this morning to head inland a little to Sierra Madre, CA and the Passionist Retreat House located there. I will begin a Married Couples Retreat this evening. There will be 47 married couples so I will ask you to pray for them as they journey through this special weekend with me. I would also ask you to pray for their preacher this weekend too!

My prayer today is for God’s blessings upon all of you wherever you are and in whatever you will encounter today. I pray you stay safe, warm, and have a great day. May you find the richness of God’s presence in your life today and always. Also I pray that the end of this day will bring you to the beginning of a restful and enjoyable weekend. And I pray that the Passion of Jesus Christ will always be in your hearts! Blessings today and always! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 02/12/2015

Daily Thoughts: Where is your heart? This might be the question that we can ponder from our Gospel story today (Mark 7:24-30). In the Gospel even though the woman is a Greek, a Syrophoenican, by birth her heart is with God. In placing her heart with God her daughter is healed.

The focus of today’s Gospel reminds me of a verse in Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 6: 21) “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In other words what we find important, what we place value in, what our focus is in life – there is where we will find your heart.

Perhaps another way to consider our Gospel today is in the words of Thomas Merton - “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.”

The Syrophoenican woman is living for God. She puts God at the center of her life thus that is where her heart is and she is blessed with the healing of her daughter.  Perhaps our questions for today are – What are we living for? What is keeping us from living fully? What is important to us? Where is our heart? Is it with God?

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Daily Prayer: O God of Life, as we stand before the roads that this day presents to us. Enliven us with the wisdom to choose the road of life. As we walk this road less travel keep us ever mindful that we are not alone that you walk with us. Strengthen us for the crosses, the challenges of this road. Grace us with the hope that we will always find your presence, your forgiveness, your mercy, your truth and your love as we make this journey. May we place our hearts with you so that we will always choose the road of life and let it make all the difference in our lives and in the lives of all we meet today and always! Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: Perhaps as we run today we too should choose the road less traveled: the road of awareness as we run, the road of revelation as we run, the road of intention as we run, the road of mindfulness as we run, the road of imagination as we run, the road of prayer as we run. Today let's pick a road we have not traveled lately and let it make a difference in our life today!

Daily Blessing: Happy Thursday everyone! It looks to be another beautiful day here in Southern California. It is my last lazy day before I have to get to work as I will be giving a married couples retreat this weekend. So I am going to try and soak up all the sun, surf and sand that I can!

As I pause in these early hours of a new day in prayer I first want to offer a special prayer for my nephew-in-law Jurek who lost his grandmother last night. While I hope he and his family knows that his grandmother is now at peace it is still an un-peaceful time for all who loved her and will miss her presence. So I pray for Jurek, his mother, his uncle and all in the family that they might find God’s comfort and peace during this time of loss and mourning.

I pray that all of us feel the support of God’s presence with us today no matter where we find ourselves or what this day holds for us. May God bless us with many encounters of his presence as we journey through this day. As always I pray for God’s blessings upon all of us today may we find the gift of God’s touch in our lives; the touch of healing if we need it, but most importantly the touch of love to carry us through the day. Have a great day everyone. Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 02/11/2015

Daily Thoughts: Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Lourdes has always been regarded as a place of peace, a place connected with the sick and struggling.  I, myself, found Lourdes to be a truly remarkable place when I spent two days there last August.

Pausing to honor Mary is always a good thing to do. Today we honor her visit to Lourdes back in the middle of the 19th century to a simple little girl named Bernadette. We also honor the ongoing gift of healing through Mary that has taken place in Lourdes since her appearance. As I have shared with you many times I am always very much aware of the role Mary has played in my own family’s life. My father visited Lourdes during World War II and asked Mary for a special favor. He asked Mary to keep him safe so that he could return home to my mother and begin a family. He dedicated his first female child to Mary and said he would name her Bernadette. My father made it home, my sister’s name is Bernadette and thanks to my mother and father my sister, my brother and I were given the gift of life. Mary is truly a special person.

Our first reading (Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17) focuses us on the story of creation and the beginning of our relationship with Gods.  Our Gospel (Mark 7:14-23) focuses us today, like yesterday on the essentials and the non-essentials. What is essential for a person of faith is how they live from their heart. In other words the essence of a person is what is in their heart.

Thomas Merton once wrote that “You can tell a saint by the way he [or she] sits and stands, by the way he [or she] picks things up and hold them in his [or her] hands.” I think Merton was getting at what Jesus was talking about in the Gospel today that being what we are on the outside is determined from what we hold in our hearts.

Mary certainly lived from her heart and that heart touched St. Bernadette 18 times back in 1858. St. Bernadette took Mary’s gift to her own heart and brought it to the hearts of the world. How each of the women lived is the gift we celebrate today. What they believed, what they held in their hearts is how they lived.

Our challenge today is to be people of the heart. It is to ground our life in our relationship with God. The world around us cannot hurt us if we are grounded in and live by the Spirit of God.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Daily Prayer: O God, through the intercession of Mary, under her title of Our Lady of Lourdes, grace us with the gift of your goodness, your healing and your love. Help us to be people of the Light.  Give us the courage to live this day amidst the craziness that this world often creates. Bless us with the hope that in living life today when evening comes you will help us to say how good it is! Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: Run in a new place today, for new places can stretch our capacity for finding the presence of God as we run!

Daily Blessing: Wednesday greetings and blessings to all! I hope this finds you well and not struggling too much with weather or the stresses of life.

My prayer of blessing is once again simple I pray today for God’s blessing upon all of us and I pray in the hope everyone will have a great Wednesday. However if our day has started slow, or disorganized, or in a panic, may we not worry and may it all come together by day's end! If our day started with peace and purpose may these two graces see us through to the end of the day! If our day started with struggle and tension may we find moments of peace and calm that sustain us through the day. If our day has started without God, may we let God find us so that we will not walk and work alone! And may Mary’s healing and loving presence be a blessing for us today too. Blessings to all! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul