Daily
Thoughts:
The Gospel (Mark 4: 1-20) reminds us that we have work to do. Jesus has given
us the gift, but what do we do with the gift? Do we plant it and let it grow
into a wonderful harvest of life that brings us to God or does the gift get
wasted?
I have
often used the parable of the Sower and the Seed in my preaching and the way I
look at it is that in life there are four different kinds of soil, three of
which do not allow the seed of God's Word, Grace and Presence to grow and one
that does. I often image our hearts as the field, the soil and so a good
question to ask is what condition our hearts are in? Is it good soil? Can God's
Word, God's Grace, God's Presence grow there? Or is it the foot path, the rocky
ground, the patch of weeds and thorns that will not allow God to grow?
Why might
our hearts be like to foot path? Because we have been hurt at times in our life
and we have hardened, we don't let God or others in? Why might our hearts be
rocky ground? Well, because we are all sinners. The rocks, boulders and pebbles
are our sins. Why might our hearts be clutters with thorns? Well, because the
thorns are the things of my life that have become more important than God.
So in
order to have hearts full of good soil that produces a bountiful harvest we
need to loosen up the hard places, move the rocks, boulders and pebbles and do
some weeding. Then our hearts and our lives will truly be places where good
things grow. Our hearts will be places that will bring to life the gift of
Jesus!
Have a
great Wednesday everyone!
Daily
Prayer: Loving
God, strengthen us with the power of your love. Fill our hearts with your
unrelenting presence. Help us to work the soil of our hearts by loosening the
places that have become hard, by seeking the help of your forgiveness to move
the rocks of our sinfulness and by finding the strength to pull the weeds and
thorns that are over grown and choking off your presence. May our hearts become
the good soil that bears the fruit of your love thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.
Amen!
A
Runner's Thoughts: “Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up
is what makes it permanent.” (Marilyn vos Savant) So imagine that as you
stretch your muscles before you run that you are also stretching your spirit
and giving it the flexibility it needs to engage God. Make each stretch a
simple prayer!
Daily
Blessing:
Wednesday greetings and blessings to all – I hope everyone has a great
Wednesday may it truly be downhill the rest of the week.
I will be
headed out in a little while to Long Island where I will be visiting St.
Bernard’s Parish in Levittown, NY. I will be giving a mission at the parish during
Lent. The pastor would like to do a little video commercial to promote the
mission. It sounds interesting and I am excited to see what we might do. I
guess the video get posted on the parish web site so stay tuned for my internet
debut. When if and when it gets posted I will let you know.
I pray
that God will bless all our endeavors, all our interactions, all of our
challenges, all of our travels, all of our meetings, all of our ordinary tasks,
all of our relationships and all whom we love and us today. May we bring the
gift of God to our world and may today be a day truly blessed by God’s love so
that we all have a day rich in what matters to us and God! Peace in Christ's
Passion...Fr. Paul
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