Daily Thoughts - 07/04/2015

Daily Thoughts: The Gospel I will use for today’s mass is the beginning of the fifth chapter of Matthew. It is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes. It seems fitting to use this Gospel as we celebrate the 4^th of July.The Beatitudes remind us of the qualities that make up a great nation qualities we at times seem to be far from these day!

The Beatitudes are one of my favorite Gospels but also one of the most challenging Gospels for me. Often times after hearing it proclaimed I am energized yet also humbled. I am ready to encounter the world yet I am also ready to head to the confessional. I want to be a true disciple yet I know I am far from it!

Fr. James Martin, S.J. once tweeted about this Gospel, “What does it mean to be poor in spirit?” I must admit I have always struggle with an understanding of this first beatitude. Fr. Martin’s answer, “Poor in Spirit” is to know one’s reliance on God, to understand one’s dependence on God and to grasp one’s humanity. I guess we might say that to be “poor in spirit” is to let go and let God.

The other challenge of the beatitudes is that to live fully any one of the beatitudes, you will almost automatically begin to live them all. Perhaps to put it another way, “You can’t live just one!” In order to be a peacemaker we need to also be meek, merciful, clean of heart, righteous and poor in spirit. In order to be merciful we need to be clean of heart, meek, poor in spirit, righteous and a peacemaker. They go hand in hand.

However living the beatitudes is not easy because they will all make us vulnerable to insult, persecution and the evils of our world. They all open us up to insecurities of the world which can be troubling, harsh, insensitive and hurtful. In other words living the beatitudes can open us up to be stepped on, hurt and not valued as a person. Living the beatitudes almost always put us in tension with the ways of culture, society and the world.

Yet, in the midst of all that Jesus tells us to rejoice and be glad. The challenge of the beatitudes has been going on since the beginning of time. Women and men before us have faced the challenge and their prize, the Kingdom, await us. Perhaps all the beatitudes can really be proclaim and lived in the phrase, “Let go and let God!”

Have a blessed Fourth of July everyone, please be safe and don’t forget to make a joyful noise with your life today!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, bless our beautiful land with its wonderful variety of people, races, cultures, and languages. May we be a nation, a people, of laughter and joy, of justice and reconciliation, of peace and unity, of compassion, caring and sharing. We pray this prayer for a true patriotism in the powerful name of Jesus our Lord. Amen (Adapted from a prayer by Archbishop Desmond Tutu)

A Runner’s Thoughts: As we run today let us listen to ourselves, let us run with hope and joy, let us make each step an offering of our heart in which the imprint of God in our life is made present.

Daily Blessing: Saturday greetings and blessings and Happy 4th of July everyone! Have a wonderful day with family and/or friends, with good food, good drink, good fun and a little time to be thankful for all the gifts you have around you.

This is our last morning of retreat here in Manitowoc. In about an hour I will celebrate the closing mass of the retreat and then head out on my long journey back to New York. Please keep the sisters on retreat in your prayers this morning and if you have a chance say a little prayer for the traveling preacher it would be greatly appreciated!

My prayer of bless for you today is that God may bless you today with a day that will help you to look at the positive in life not the negative. May God bless you with a vision of hope and not despair, with the grace to believe that the impossible can become of the possible. May God bless you with the time today to look around you with wonder and amazement and not cynicism and negativity!

Party, celebrate and drive safe today. Enjoy the fireworks if they are near you. And know that were ever you are, whatever you are doing and whomever you are with – you are in my prayers today and always! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/03/2015

Daily Thoughts: I have always felt that over the centuries, St. Thomas the Apostle has gotten a bad rap. If we look at the Gospel stories especially those situated around the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus it seems that everyone doubts and everyone needs to see, taste, touch, hear or smell Jesus before they believe!

Perhaps St. John includes this little story about Thomas just to remind us that everyone doubts and everyone need the sacramental experience of Jesus to keep us going on the right path. In celebrating St. Thomas today we are reminded that there is no cheap grace. Faith is a struggle, doubt is around every corner, with reason to wonder and question often making an appearance. We only prevail; we only remain faithful because of grace, grace that was born out of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ. It is not cheap grace but grace grounded in the marks of struggle and love.

I have a favorite quote by Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ that I visit often; “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, [humankind] will have discovered fire.”  Perhaps our story of Thomas today reminds us of what we all want to discover and when we touch, taste, smell, see or hear it we too can say, “My Lord and my God!”

Today let us not be unbelieving but by the grace of God let us believe! Have a great Friday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Breathe in us, O Holy Spirit, that our thoughts may all be holy. Act is us, O Holy Spirit, that our works too may be holy. Move our hearts, O Holy Spirit, so that we love only what is holy; Strengthen us, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard us, O Holy Spirit, that we always may be holy. Amen! (Adapted from a prayer by St. Augustine of Hippo)

A Runner’s Thoughts: Today accept your run for what it is, remembering that this is a spiritual practice that, like any discipline, requires persistence through experiences of success and seeming failure. (Adapted from Roger Joslin – Running the Spiritual Path)

Daily Blessing: Happy Friday everyone and blessing to all! While this is only the 3^rd of July I am sure many of you are off because this is the legal day off for the 4^th being that it lands on a Saturday so happy early 4^th of July to everyone. We thank God for the blessings of a short work week and for this time of rest, relaxation and celebration. Perhaps some of you have been are off for the week or maybe you taking an extra day or two around this holiday weekend however your week and weekend is shaking out I hope it is a good one.

It is a beautiful morning here in Manitowoc. The air was cool and fresh as I was about my morning run. The sun was up early and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I hope your day has started off beautiful too!

Even though many of you are off I am still at work. This is the last full day of retreat for the sisters however our schedule will be a little different today because of the funeral of the sister who died three nights ago. We will have our morning conference and then the funeral mass. The afternoon and evening will be as usual so once again I would ask your prayers for the sisters on retreat and for their preacher. I will be finishing up tomorrow morning and then I will begin the journey back east. So rather than celebrating on the 4^th I will be traveling!

A special shout out today to Mary O'Donoghue on her birthday, “Happy Birthday Mary,” many blessings today and always! Have a great day sorry I will be missing your party.

Have a great day today with many blessings in whatever you will be doing, working, relaxing, having fun or even traveling. I pray that God will be with you throughout your day today and bless you with the richness of his presence and love. If you have to travel this weekend please do so safely! Blessings today and always and may this holiday weekend be filled with family, friends and fun! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/02/2015

Daily Thoughts: “When God is going to do something wonderful, [God] always starts with a hardship; when God is going to do something amazing, [God] starts with an impossibility.” (Anne Lamott, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith)

In some ways I think both our readings today speak to Anne Lamott’s thoughts about God. The story of Abraham told by God to sacrifice his son Isaac, (Gen. 22: 1b-19) has always been an intriguing one. I was thinking this morning of all the parents I have encountered in my life and I would have to stay 99% of them would have found God’s request troubling if not impossible. But as Lamott says, if God is going to do something amazing and or wonderful God starts with hardship and the impossible. It was certainly a hardship for Abraham and maybe if you think about it from a parent’s perspective it was an impossibility. Yet, that is where God started and from Abraham’s faithfulness and trust something wonderful and amazing unfolded.

We might look at the Gospel (Matt. 9:1-8) in the same way. Jesus seemly, at least for the scribes, starts with an impossibility, forgiving sins which lead to another impossibility the healing of a paralytic. Yet from these two seemly impossible actions the hardship of sinfulness and a physical disability are taken away, in other words something amazing and wonderful takes place.

The key to both of our stories is faith and faithfulness, Abraham’s faith, the paralytic and his friends’ faith and God’s faithfulness. Perhaps was we journey through this day all parents should give pause to look at their children and realize by having them God has tested your faithfulness, may the hardships and the impossibilities of watching them grow be the very faith and hopefulness of amazement and wonder.

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Search us today, O God, and know our hearts; test us and know our thoughts and action. See if there are any wicked ways in us. If there are forgive us. If there are heal us. May we always be truly faithful so that you can lead us down the path of wonder and amazement. Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: Let’s make our run today be footprints around God’s world!

Daily Blessing: Happy Thursday everyone and blessing to all! It is a beautiful sunny and cool morning here in northeastern Wisconsin. It is the kind of day that is worth getting out of bed early for. I hope your day is starting off well and that it will be a day of positive energy and many blessings!

May God bless you day with much grace and may you find joy in whatever you will be doing, working, relaxing, having fun or even traveling. I pray that God will be with you throughout this day and bless you with the richness of his presence and love. If you will be traveling at some point in the next few days please do so safely! Blessings today and always and may these days of holiday be filled with family, friends and fun! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/01/2015

Daily Thoughts: In the Gospel today we learn that the saving power of God can at times be overwhelming, so much so that we might ask God to leave. Jesus frees the two Gadarenes who have been plagued by demons, yet when the town hears about this healing they ask Jesus to move on. I guess the saving power of God was a little too much for them!

Perhaps it can be a little too much for us at time also because often the saving power of God asks us to change, to live our life differently. We might say Jesus doesn’t heal and forgive and then expect life to go on as usual. Jesus’ saving power is life changing for those who received and for those who see it.

Archbishop Oscar Romero puts it this way, “Those who want to bear the marks of the Spirit and the fire that baptizes with must take the risk of renouncing everything and seeking only God’s reign and justice.” In other words, if we wish to receive and encounter the saving power of God then we always need to seek good not just for ourselves but for others. Our focus, our commitment, must be about the love of God and it must be a lifelong focus and commitment!

Our challenge today and always is to accept the grace of God in as much as humanly possible and be up to the difficulties, the struggles, the trials that might arrive. If we put all our efforts into responding properly to Christ’s presence in our lives life, great things will happen, the impossible will become possible!

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Eternal and loving God, it is so easy for us to worship ourselves, to do things so that others see and think highly of us. If we live our life this way, forgive us. If we trust in our possessions, in our things, in our actions that are seen and in the glory that they bring us rather than in you, forgive us. Heal the fear, the doubt and the insecurity that may create faith in the wrong things. Restore a wholesome perspective that put you at the center. We pray that through your grace you will help us to live life around the lasting values of humble prayer, cheerful service and our hope in you, our loving God. Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: Let us run today with a spirit of gratefulness. Before we begin our run, let us declare our intention to look upon all we encounter with the freshness of the unexpected. Let us run with a sense of miraculous expectation and allow a feeling of gratitude for the extraordinary and the ordinary to flow through our being. (Adapted from Roger Joslin – Running The Spiritual Path)

Daily Blessing: Who could be happier than a camel on Wednesday? Yes friends, it is Hump Day!  And hopefully we are at least as happy as a camel today. Also welcome to the first day of July! Here in Manitowoc the day has started out cloudy and rainy but I live in the hope that the sun will return at some point. I hope wherever you are the day has started off well, if not I truly pray that it will get better and that you will come to enjoy the gift of this day, because your presence makes this day a gift!

In my ministry of prayer I pray for God’s blessings upon your journey through this day. May this day be rich in experience, in people, in smiles, in laughter, in fun, in love, in strength and in God’s grace and peace. Remember seek good and avoid evil and the saving power of God will be with you!  Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 06/30/2015

Daily Thoughts: Calming the storm. We have all been there; things are going along just fine. Sure there are a few bumps in the road but that is to be expected in the living of life but we have got things under control. Then it happens, all hell breaks loose and we are hanging on for dear life. All our planning, all our preparations, all our good intentions seem to go right out the window. We are now hanging on by our finger tips any moment life will come crashing down on us. We followed our plan. We did the right things. Why is this happening to us? Our life is simply out of control and we are doomed!

“Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Why are we terrified? Have we lost faith? Have we lost faith in God, faith in others, faith in ourselves? Have we forgotten all the hard work we have put into life? Are we unwilling to trust ourselves any more just because a storm has entered our life? Are we really that fragile? Have we forgotten to trust who has brought us to this moment?

Storms in life are fearful moments. They seem to take control, if we really ever had it, away from us. They bring to the surface all kinds of doubt from the dark reaches of our hearts. They scare us and sometimes make us think the worst. They take us out of our comfort zone. Yet, we are reminded today that no matter what, we never face the storms of life alone. Paraphrasing the words of Thomas Merton’s famous prayer, “We should not fear because God is always with us and will never leave us to face our storms alone.”

On this lazy summer day whether we find ourselves in the midst of a calm day, looking at a horizon full of storm clouds or right in the middle of an all-out storm, let us have faith in God, faith in those important in our life and faith in ourselves so that no matter what this day brings our faith will see us through.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Daily Prayer: My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude)

A Runner’s Thoughts: I have two thoughts for you today… Remember that if we are meditative runners, if we are runners at prayer then with each run we are fortunate to have found a way to refreshes not only our bodies but also our spirits. You might say with each run we give ourselves the change to be born again in friendship with God! (Adapted from Roger Joslin – Running the Spiritual Path)  “You only ever grow as a human being if you're outside your comfort zone.” (Percy Cerutty)

Daily Blessing: Tuesday greetings and blessings to all! We find ourselves journeying through the last day of June. It seems like only yesterday that we were battling ice, snow and the cold of winter, but life keeps moving and today we find ourselves in the midst of summer.

Things are well here in Manitowoc today. It was a bit misty this morning around 6:15 am during my run but the sun is now trying to peek through the clouds and I am hoping for another beautiful day here in northern Wisconsin! In the midst of your own prayer time today I would ask you to please continue to keep the sisters on retreat in your prayers and if you get a chance to offer an extra prayer for their preacher it will be greatly appreciated.

My prayers are with all of you today hoping that you will have a good day rich in the many gifts of summer and the presence of God. Have a great day everyone wherever you are. Blessings upon your work, your ministry, your experiences, those whom you encounter, those whom you love and especially upon you! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul