Daily Thoughts - 09/26/2015

Daily Thoughts: Because I am on the road and it was a very late night and early morning my thoughts for today come from Sr. Melannie Svoboda, SND and her thoughts in Living with Christ…

“Today, we might find it difficult to follow Zechariah’s directive to sing and rejoice, for there is much in our world to be sad about: wars, violence, natural disasters, hunger, the abuse of children, dishonesty, greed, and injustices of all kinds… But Zechariah’s reason for hope is the same reason we have hope today. God is in our midst. Against the roar and clamor of bad news, we must listen for the whisperings of good news in our own hearts, families, churches, schools, workplaces, and peace negotiation tables – wherever people of good will are engaged in bringing peace into their specific situation and doing so with courage and love. Where is God in my midst today?” (Sr. Melannie Svoboda, SND – Living with Christ Saturday September 26, 2015)

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving Jesus, the love that gives love. You are higher than the highest star; you are deeper than the deepest sea; you cherish us as your own family; you embrace us as your own spouse; you lead us as your own citizens; you welcome us as your own dearest friends. Let us and all the world praise you today and always! Amen. (Adapted from a prayer by St. Hildegard of Bingen)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “But [as] with any obstacle in our lives, there are those moments, despite the setbacks, where there is a glimmer of hope.” (Rebekah Gregory) So to in the spiritual life…

Daily Blessing: Saturday greetings and blessings to all from Halifax, Nova Scotia. I hope this finds you well and beginning to enjoy your Saturday. It was a very late night, I did not arrive at the hotel until around 1 am this morning and the pastor from Chester, Nova Scotia picked me up at 9 am. I didn’t get much sleep and it is going to be a long day. Please pray for energy for this preacher!

Currently I am spending a little time at a parish, St. Bernard’s just outside of Halifax because Fr. Craig the pastor in Chester has a meeting to attend. Around 1:30 pm will head out for the mission parish for the 4 pm Saturday evening mass and then on to Chester for the night. I am truly looking forward to my time here from the little I have seen so far Nova Scotia is a beautiful place! It is a cool sunny day and it looks like the next few day will be the same way. By the way this is the first time I stayed in the Atlantic Time Zone. It is an hour earlier than the Eastern Time Zone.

I would ask your prayers this week for the people of St. Augustine’s Parish in Chester, Nova Scotia as they celebrate a time of mission. May this be a rich, spirit filled few day for them and if you could add a little prayer for their preacher it would be greatly appreciated.

My prayer of blessing for all of you today is that God will bless all your endeavors, your encounters, your times of solitude, your moments of busyness and your times of rest today. May this day be what you need it to be. May it be a gift from God that enables you to find the present of God in your life, especially within yourself! Have a great Saturday and don’t forget to give a little time to God this weekend. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 09/25/2015

Daily Thoughts: Last summer and early fall living in New York it was hard not getting caught up in Derek Jeter’s farewell tour. Now I am not a Yankee fan, I have always been a Pittsburgh Pirate fan, a National League fan, but I have to admit that during my 19 years of living in the Bronx and now Pelham I have come to respect and at times root for the Yankees because of Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. During my time living in the Bronx they became two of the faces of baseball and all that is good about it for me.

The greatest player in baseball, for me, will always be Roberto Clemente and I will always be a diehard Pirate fan but at a time when it is hard to find good in sports. When the day to day news about sports is often negative, I truly believe Derek Jeter was a man, a player of class, integrity and dignity. I know that I don’t know him and he could be a real jerk outside of baseball but something tells me he isn’t.

Perhaps in much the same way over the last few months it has been hard not getting caught up in the preparations for Pope Francis’ visit. Let Derek Jeter last summer this summer many have been asking the question who is Pope Francis? Certainly over the last few years I have come to respect and be in awe of Pope Francis because of the kind of man he is and the spirit of God he seems to bring to every encounter with others. I truly believe Pope Francis is a man of faith, a man of truth, a man of love and a a man blessed by God in a world that is often violent, negative and life taking rather than life giving.

In the Gospel today (Luke 9:18-22), Jesus asks two questions of his disciples, “Who do the crowds say that I am? and Who do you say that I am?” I might be stretching things here but in a way over throughout the baseball season last year we may have been asking ourselves the same thing about Derek Jeter. I am not comparing Derek Jeter to Jesus! I am just saying that a small part of last year’s baseball season was been about, at least for me, defining who Derek Jeter was. Celebrating what he had been for baseball over the last twenty years. Perhaps looking at his twenty year career in the major leagues and realizing he has been a great player, not the best, depending on how one defines the best, but a great player who touched the lives of many by the way he played the game.

In the Gospel, the disciples try to define who Jesus is for them and Peter is able to get it right, Jesus is “The Christ of God.” It is important for the disciples to come to know Jesus in this way because of where their journey with him is headed, the Cross and Calvary. They need to begin to see Jesus as he truly is in order to make the journey with him. With Jesus there is truly a time for everything under the heavens, an appointed time.

The same is true for us. In our journey of faith we need to come to know who Jesus is in our life. We like Peter need to know him as “The Christ of God” because of where our journey is going and the things we will face with Jesus. There have been and will continue to be many crosses and many journeys up Calvary.

So today I would just like to say thank you to Pope Francis and Derek Jeter for sharing their appointed time in this life with us but most importantly I want to thank Jesus for being “The Christ of God” and for your continuing your appointed time in our lives!

Have a great Friday everyone!

Daily Prayer:

Loving God,

We have no idea where we are going.

We do not see the road ahead of us.

We cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do we really know ourselves,

and the fact that we think we are following your will

does not mean that we are actually doing so.

But we believe that the desire to please you

does in fact please you.

And we hope we have that desire in all that we are doing.

We hope that we will never do anything apart for that desire.

And we know that if we do this

you will lead us by the right road

though we may know nothing about it.

Therefore we will trust you always

though we may seem to be lost

and in the shadow of death.

We will not fear, for you are ever with us,

and you will never leave us

to face my perils alone. Amen!

(Adapted from a prayer by Thomas Merton)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “How can one learn to know oneself? Never by introspection, rather by action.” (Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe) So to in the spiritual life…introspection can help us see things about ourselves but it is our actions, through prayer and service of others that will really help us to know ourselves!

Daily Blessing: Friday greetings and blessings to all! I hope your day has started off well. It looks to be another beautiful day here in Tarrytown and I hope the same is true for you. I certainly enjoy these early fall days the night are cool and the days are sunny and energizing!

This morning I will celebrate the closing mass of the retreat and then head to Pelham for a short stop over to wash my clothes, re-pack and head to Kennedy Airport to catch an evening flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia. I will begin a mission in Chester, Nova Scotia on Saturday. I would ask your prayers for the sisters ending their retreat today, for safe travels and if you had a little extra time a prayer for this itinerant preacher would be appreciated. Let us also continue to prayer for Pope Francis as he continues his visit to the United States that it will continue to be a safe journey and one that inspires us with his spirit.

For my prayer of blessing for all of you today is this – As you journey through this day may you be blessed with Christ within you, with Christ behind you, with Christ before you, with Christ beside you, with Christ to comfort and restore you, with Christ beneath you, with Christ above you, with Christ in your quiet moments, with Christ in your moments of struggle, with Christ in the hearts of all who love you, with Christ within of all your friends and every person you meet. May the presence of Christ’s be within you and bless your day, Amen!

I hope you will have a great Friday and that you encounter many blessings today and much peace. May you be graced by God in whatever you do and may you bring God’s grace to whomever you meet! Work, pray, travel, study, laugh, cry, talk, be silent, be intense or relax today rich in the blessing and presence of God. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 09/24/2015

Daily Thoughts: As the saying goes curiosity killed the cat. But does it? Sometimes we think of curiosity only as something negative, something that will ultimately get us in trouble. However curiosity can be a good thing. It can help us to encounter and experience many wonderful things that if we had not been curious about them we might have missed the experience. Think of all the wonderful things that have been discovered or invented because people were curious. Think of all the diseases that have been cured because people were curious. Curiosity can be a very positive experience.

Today in the Gospel Herod is curious about Jesus, just as he was curious about John the Baptist. I often get the feeling that Herod was not far from the Kingdom of God. He was not far from being a really good person. He was not far from following Jesus. However Herod never really let his curiosity lead him to the Kingdom instead he worried about what others might think or say or do. He never let himself truly experience the presence of God in his midst. Herod curiosity led to fear rather than new life. Herod curiosity led to worldly things rather than to God.

We are all curious people but the question is do we let our curiosity lead us to God or the world? Is our curiosity healthy and purposeful or unhealthy and destructive? Are we willing to let our curiosity led us to a deeper relationship with God or to a fear of God? Perhaps a few questions we might ask ourselves as we journey through this beautiful fall day.

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Daily Prayer:  Grant, O God, that we may never fall away in success or in failure; that we may not be prideful in prosperity nor dejected in adversity. Let us rejoice only in what unites us and sorrow only in what separates us. May we strive to please no one or fear to displease anyone except you, our God. May we see always the things that are eternal and never those that are only temporal. May we shun any joy that is without you and never seek any that is beside you. Loving God, may we delight in any work we do for you and tire of any rest that is apart from you. Gracious God, let us direct our hearts towards you, and in our failings, let us always seek forgiveness with the firm purpose of being better people. Amen! (Adapted from a prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “Running is a thing worth doing not because of the future rewards it bestows, but because of how it feeds our bodies and minds and souls in the present.” (Kevin Nelson)

Daily Blessing: Thursday blessings and greetings to all. I hope your day has started well? It looks like another beautiful day here in Tarrytown! There is a bit of a breeze and the air is crisp but then what would be expect for a fall day. I hope the weather is invigorating where you are.

This is the last full day of retreat with the sisters and as far as I can tell the retreat seems to be going well. They keep coming to the conferences. No one has walked out or thrown anything at me so I think it is a good retreat. Please keep the sisters on retreat in your prayers today and as always if you could say a little prayer for their preacher it would be greatly appreciated. Let us also continue to prayer for Pope Francis as his journey in the eastern United States continues. May his journey remain safe for him and all with whom he celebrates. May his life giving spirit continue to enliven us and draw us closer to God and may his words cause us to pause to consider our own journey in life and challenge us to find the right path in life

My prayer of blessing today is adapted from the Irish tradition - May God bless all of you today so the road rise up to meet you and makes your journeys swift and easy. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face. And if the rain has to fall may it be soft upon the fields and upon you. And may you be truly blessed by God holding you in the palm of his hand throughout this day and always!

Have a great day everyone! May it truly be blessed with many wonderful experiences, may gifted and loving people and the energy that only a beautiful fall day can bring! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul