Daily Thoughts - 08/08/2015

Daily Thoughts: “A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, and must empty ourselves. Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in his love than in your weakness.”

(Mother Teresa)

Perhaps, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta give us another way of understanding our Gospel (John 12:24-26) today. The cost, the struggle, the giving of ourselves might seem like weakness but when lived in friendship with God it becomes the power of wonderful things. Let us believe in God’s love so that our weakness will become our strength!

Have a great Saturday everyone.

Daily Prayer: May God the Holy Spirit move within us and give us eyes to see with, ears to hear with, and hands that God’s work might be done. Amen! (Prayer by St. Dominic)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “Running is just such a monastery-- a retreat, a place to commune with God and yourself, a place for psychological and spiritual renewal.”

(George Sheehan)

Daily Blessing: Saturday greetings and blessings to all and happy feast of St. Dominic to all my Dominican friends! I hope your weekend has started off well. We have been blessed with another beautiful day here in Sag Harbor. I hope the same is true wherever you are.

I once again ask you to keep the retreatants in your prayers as they enter their fifth day of retreat and if you could include a little prayer for the directors of the retreat it would be greatly appreciated.

I hope your Saturday and Sunday will be blessed with what you need it to be for you and those you love. Hopefully you will be blessed with the presence of God within the midst of your rest and relaxation or your busyness. May you Saturday truly be gifted with God’s grace, peace and joy. If you need a little smile today – “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!” (Dr. Seuss)  Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 08/07/2015

Daily Thoughts: The disciples left behind rather normal lives, fishing, collecting taxes, among other things and they did it all in order to follow Jesus. As we here in Matthew’s Gospel today now comes the hard part. The kingdom that Jesus speaks about will not be established by might but by suffering and death. Jesus is not a political or military leader. His power is not to take things by force. His way is not the way of the world. It is to die to self. It is to let go of what the world think is important. It is to grab onto a relationship with God and not let go.

Following Jesus and dying to self, letting go, is not an easy task. The cross presents itself to us daily in many different ways. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once put it “Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” 

So we are called today and every day to find that place deep within each one of us, where God is calling us, through the paschal mystery, into a relationship of love – and it is that relationship that holds the promise of a joyful, rich, and never-ending life in the kingdom.

Have a holy and blessed Friday everyone.

Daily Prayer: To you, O loving Creator, of nature, humankind, truth and beauty we pray today. Hear our voices, for they are the voices of the victims of all wars and violence among individuals and nations. Hear our voices, for they are the voices of all children who suffer. Hear our voices when we beg you to install into the hearts of all people the vision of peace, the strength of justice, the joy of friendship and the embrace of your love. Amen (Adapted from a prayer by St. John Paul II)

A Runner’s Thoughts:  Why do we run – well I suppose there are many reasons. We run because if we didn’t, we would be lazy and negative and spend too much time on the couch. We run to breathe the fresh air. We run to explore. We run to escape the ordinary. We run to savor the journey of life. We run to connect with God through creation, through being in touch with ourselves, through the experiences and people we encounter on the run. When we run our relationship with God and life becomes a little more vibrant, a little more intense, a little more real and hopefully we like that. (Inspired by a reflection by Dean Karnazes)

Daily Blessing: Friday blessings and greetings to everyone! I hope your week has gone well or if not may it end on an up note and allow you to enjoy the gift of a weekend.

Our retreat is at its midpoint and it is another beautiful day here in Sag Harbor. I ask your continued prayers for those on retreat and if you could say a short prayer for the directors it would be appreciated.

I hope all of you will have a great Friday, blessed by God’s unrelenting presence and unconditional grace. May your day be rich in the goodness of others, the joy of tasks completed and the peace of safe travels. May you share the gift you are with everyone you meet. I also pray that your weekend will be one filled with family, friends, laughter, fun, rest and relaxation. If you need some non-people time, quiet time, I hope you get that too. Enjoy everyone and be safe! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 08/06/2015

Daily Thoughts: “You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.” (Thomas Merton)

Perhaps Merton’s words reflect the message of our scriptures today on this Feast of the Transfiguration. We might not know how or why but by God’s grace our lives can be transformed into something wonderful if we are willing to embrace this moment with courage, faith and hope.

We also need to remember that on this day 70 years ago an atomic bomb was dropped and three days later another one was dropped. We live today in the hope that Jesus’ transfiguration will always remind us that, despite our human tendency toward acts of violence and death, our lives, the world, can be changed by God’s power to give new life!

Blessings on this Feast of the Transfiguration to everyone and please pray for an end to all war and violence in our world. Have a great day everyone.

Daily Prayer:

Great God, who has told us "Vengeance is mine," save us from ourselves, save us from the vengeance in our hearts and the acid in our souls.

Save us from our desire to hurt as we have been hurt, to punish as we have been punished, and to terrorize as we have been terrorized.

Give us the strength it takes to listen rather than to judge, to trust rather than to fear, to try again and again to make peace even when peace eludes us.

We ask, O God, for the grace to be our best selves. We ask for the vision to be builders of the human community rather than its destroyers. We ask for the humility as a people to understand the fears and hopes of other peoples.

We ask for the love it takes to bequeath to the children of the world to come more than the failures of our own making. We ask for the heart it takes to care for all the peoples of the world as well as for ourselves.

Give us the depth of soul, O God, to constrain our might, to resist the temptations of power to refuse to attack the attackable, to understand that vengeance begets violence, and to bring peace--not war--wherever we go.

For You, O God, have been merciful to us. For You, O God, have been patient with us. For You, O God, have been gracious to us.

And so may we be merciful and patient and gracious and trusting with these others whom you also love.

This we ask through Jesus, the one without vengeance in his heart. This we ask forever and ever. Amen! (Prayer by Sister Joan Chittister, OSB)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “Experienced runners learn to respect the changing needs of their bodies. That's the wisdom that comes with time, and–for good or bad–with age.” (Fred Lebow) So to in the spiritual life – experienced pilgrims on this journey of faith learn to respect the changing needs of their spirits and souls. This is the wisdom that comes with time.

Daily Blessing: Thursday greetings and blessings to all! I hope your day has started off well and if not take a deep breath, and continue your journey with the hope that this too will pass! It is a beautiful day here in Sag Harbor I hope the same is true for you.

Shout out today to Fr. Michael Greene, C.P. on his birthday - Happy Birthday Michael! Also I would ask you to continue to keep the retreatants and their directors in your prayers. The retreat seems to be going well and the weather has certainly been beautiful so far.

I leave you with this thought for the day think of it in terms of life if you are not a runner - "If you never have a 'bad' day, you're probably doing something wrong; if you never have a 'good' day, you're definitely doing something wrong.” (Mark Remy)  May this day be blessed with the richness of God’s presence and may God touch you with the grace of joy, hope and peace. May this grace transfigure you into a wonderful gift to the world you encounter today. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 08/05/2015

Daily Thoughts: “Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.”(Mother Teresa)

The Canaanite woman in the Gospel (Matt. 15:21-28) today is a woman of prayer. She puts herself in the hands of God. She is at God’s disposition and she knows it. But she remains persistent, she hears God’s voice deep in her heart and because of her faith her daughter is healed.

Will we have faith enough today to put ourselves in the hands of God? Will we have faith enough today to listen to God’s voice in our hearts? Will we have faith enough today to bring hope to those we love?

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Daily Prayer:

O God, Give us this day the Love that leads the way.

Give us this day the Faith that nothing can dismay.

Give us this day the Hope no disappointments tire.

Give us this day the Passion that will burn like fire.

Let us not sink to be a clod, but make us your fuel, O Flame of God. Amen!

(Adapted from a poem by Amy Carmichael)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “Whatever you may be missing right now - a person, a place, a feeling, maybe you are injured and missing running - whatever it is, have peace and take heart - remember that any goodbye makes room for a hello.” (Kristin Armstrong) In other words run with faith and hope!

Daily Blessings: Wednesday greetings and blessings and happy “Hump Day” to everyone! Yes, it is that day again, that middle of the week day that is “two days” from either weekend. That day when camels walk through offices asking the question “Do you know what day it is? – Do you know what day it is? May you have the right answer when the camel walks through your office today. No, office too bad because a camel walking through an office always puts a smile on my face! Well in any event, I hope your Wednesday has started off well and has many blessings in store for you today.

I find myself in Sag Harbor, NY getting ready to begin our first full day of retreat. We gathered all the retreatants together last night after dinner and began the retreat with some introductions and a prayers service. I gave the people I am directing a scripture passage to consider overnight and I will meet with them individually throughout the day. I would ask you to please keep all the retreatants in your prayers today and if you could say a little extra prayer for the five directors we would appreciate it.

My prayer for all of you today is that God will truly bless your day with many wonderful encounters of God’s presence, grace and love. That you day will be enlivened with God’s joy and peace and may God make you a blessing to the people you encounter today because that you are truly God’s blessing! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 08/04/2015

Daily Thoughts: If you have ever made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land chances are that when you visited the Sea of Galilee you took a little boat trip out on to the sea with your group. During you voyage today’s Gospel story might have been read. Now I am guessing when you took your trip it was a beautiful sunny day and the waters were calm but the tour guide or perhaps the priest with you after reading today’s Gospel asked you to pause and think about being in the boat on a stormy sea. They might have asked you to put yourself into the story. What would your reaction be? How would you feel being tossed about in a stormy sea?

It is a stormy scene in today's Gospel and it might be worth taking some time to reflection on the personalities whom we find in today’s story. First, there is Jesus. He has left the disciple and taken some time to pray. Yet ever the Good Shepherd he comes to them in the midst of the storm by walking on the water. It's useless to quibble about what, why and how this walking was accomplished. It is just important to know that Jesus was watching over his sheep like any Good Shepherd.

Our next character is Peter. As we learn throughout the Gospels, Peter is always the impulsive one, he wants to be with Jesus on the water. Is he testing Jesus? Does Peter’s ego get the best of him thus at this moment he wants to be special, he wants to do something miraculous? Who knows what going through Peter’s mind at this moment! What is important is that Peter finds out that he cannot do it alone. So he has to ask Jesus for help – “Lord save me!” It is a lesson that we all have to learn in times of crisis, we need to put our trust in God and God will save us, perhaps not exactly as we would like but in a way that will ultimately be best for us.

Finally we have the other disciples who must have just holding on in the boat for dear life totally awe by what was happening. Imagine their reaction as the winds and waves suddenly stop and the boat became perfectly calm. What was the purpose of this moment in their journey with Jesus? Perhaps it was a moment of faith building. If so I think Jesus’ mission was accomplished because in the Gospel we hear, "Those who were in the boat showed him homage, saying, 'Truly, you are the Son of God.'"

Now just like on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land standing in the midst of a calm boat we might ask ourselves – If we had been there in the storm, would Jesus' words been directed at us? "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"  Many of the disciples were fishermen by trade. They knew the sea. They knew its power. They probably had been in a boat before during a storm. Fear can cause even the best of us to doubt. We are asked today to trust in the presence of God in our lives even in the midst of life’s storms. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, he always comes to the rescue of those he loves. Why is it that we like the disciples often find it so difficult to trust that Jesus is with us even in the midst of the storms of our life?

Let us have faith and trust today and always in the Good Shepherd, the Faithful Sea Captain – Jesus! Have a great Tuesday everyone.

Daily Prayer: O God, fill our souls with holy joy, courage, and strength to serve you. Enkindle your love in us and then walk with us along the next stretch of road before us. We do not see very far ahead, but when we arrive where the horizon now closes down, a new prospect will open before us, and we shall meet it with peace. Amen (Adapted from a prayers by St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross)

A Runner’s Thoughts: Spirituality for running - The miracle isn't that we finish. The miracle is that we have the courage to start and bring God with us! (Adapted from a quote by John Bingham)

Daily Blessing: Tuesday greetings and blessings to everyone! I hope your day has started off well and if not take a deep breath, and continue your journey with the hope that this too will pass! We had storms very early this morning in Pelham but the thunder, lightning and rain has cleared and it is a beautiful day here in Pelham I hope the same is true for you.

In a few hours I will be leaving for Sag Harbor, NY and the Cormaria Retreat House where I will be on the team directing an eight day directed retreat beginning this evening. Please remember all the people who will be making the retreat for the next eight days and those of us who will be directing them.

My prayer of blessing today comes from a prayer by St. Dominic – May God the Father who made us bless us. May God the Son send his healing among us. May God the Holy Spirit move within us and give us eyes to see with, ears to hear with, and hands that our work will get done. May we walk and proclaim the Word of God to all by the living of our life this day. May the angel of peace watch over us and led us by God’s grace to the Kingdom.

Enjoy your day everyone and may it be a safe and peaceful one. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul