Daily
Thoughts:
Our readings today focus on Christology; who Christ is for us. The saints we
celebrate today St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen have a smile on
their faces as they spent a lot of time talking, writing and defining
Christology – the humanness of Christ and the divinity of Christ, or perhaps
said differently the mystery of Christ. Who exactly is Christ in our life? How
have we come to know him?
For me
one of the interesting aspects of our readings is not so much the presentation
of Christology, who Christ is but it is the reality of coming to know Christ
for ourselves. John the Baptist shows us the way; to know Christ we have to
know ourselves, know who we are and who we are not. John knows himself and in
knowing who he is, he is able to know Christ. John the Evangelist in the first
reading tells his community to remember who they are and in doing so they will
remember and know Christ. It is an age old process; it is the foundation of our
journey of faith – to know ourselves is to know God!
Perhaps
in these early days of the New Year it might be good to pause and do a little
self-reflection, not in a narcissistic way, but in an honest way. Who are we?
What do we value? What do we believe? What are our struggles? What are our
faults and failings? What are our joys and hopes? As we once again come to
recognize and know ourselves, we will once again come to recognize and know our
God!
Have a
great Saturday everyone.
Daily
Prayer:
O most merciful God, the helper of the helpless, the hope of those who are past
hope, the savior of the tempest-tossed, the harbor of the voyagers, the
physician of the sick. You know each soul and our prayer, each home and its
need. Become to each one of us what we most dearly desire, receiving us all
into your kingdom, making us children of the light. Grace us with your mercy,
peace and love. O Lord, our God. Amen. (Adapted
from a prayer in the Orthodox Liturgy of St. Basil)
A
Runner's Thoughts: “For me, as for so many runners, there really are no
finish lines. Runs end; running doesn't.” (Dean
Karnazes). So to in the spiritual life…there are no days off from faith, a formal
prayer might end, Sunday mass might be finished, but our faith and friendship
with God never ends.
Daily
Blessing:
Saturday greetings and blessings to all. I hope this finds you well and
enjoying this first Saturday of the New Year. The thermometer in our kitchen
read 31 degrees outside this morning and there are colder temperatures coming
on Monday and Tuesday. I guess the mildness of our winter is finally ending. It
was nice while we had it! Today seemed to start out sunny but the clouds have
moved in once again. Hopefully wherever you are there is some sun and warmth
today.
As seems
to be the norm these days the beginning of 2016 has many parts of the world on
edge. The shadow of terrorism and violence has found its way into the hope of
this new year. So this morning I pray for God’s blessing upon all of us. I pray
God’s blessing will help us navigate through the struggles, challenges, disappointments
and sadness of life. That it will help us find the joy, the grace, the
wonderfulness and the gift of God’s presence this day wherever we travel to, in
whomever we meet, in whatever we need to do and most importantly within
ourselves so that we will never give up. Loving God, bless us this day with the
wisdom, the understanding, the knowledge, the courage, the good judgment, the
reverence and the wonder and awe to trust in and have faith that you are alive
within us, that you love us and that you will never leave us alone in the midst
of the perils of life. Amen – Blessings to all, be safe, be warm! Peace in
Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul
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