Daily
Thoughts:
Today is the Feast of St. Agatha, one of the early martyrs of the Church. What
we know about her is mostly legend. We do know that she died in Sicily during
the Decian persecution around the year 250. It is alleged that she was sent
into a brothel to force her to give up her faith. But she refused and was then
sent to prison where she was tortured and died. Her intervention was credited
with stilling the eruption of Mount Etna the year after she was buried. We call
upon her intersession and seek her strength in our own journey of faith.
The
readings today are interesting on the one hand we have the famous story of
Herod and John the Baptist. It is a rather gruesome story, it is hard sometimes
to think of a young girl being presented with some one's head and then turning
and giving it to her mother. Yet, I guess gruesome things happen in life every
day, thankfully not in my life.
I am
always struck in this story with the fact that Herod is moved by John, that he
likes to listen to him, yet he gives in to the worldly pressure around him. I
get the feeling Herod knows that John is right, but his power, his
self-importance; his ego will not let him say yes. Herod has surrounded himself
with people who push him in the wrong direction. We might say that he gives in
to the peer pressure of his time!
In our
first reading we recall the greatness of King David. We have just finished
reading David’s story in the First Book of Kings and now in the Book of Sirach
the greatness of David is remembered. While at the end of today’s passage the
writer says that God forgave David his sins the focus of the passage is David’s
faithfulness. We might say that our passage today not only focusses on David’s
faithfulness but also God’s mercy.
We need
to be aware that God can come to us, be present to us in many ways. We need to
trust that God is with us always. We need to remember that we are a community
of faith not just individuals and we need to always be aware of the struggles
and joys of others because they can often bring God into our midst. We also
need to be aware that when we do fail and sins that God’s mercy is there for
us.
Let us
today live by the phrase – God is my light and my salvation, whom should we
fear? Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever!
Have a
great Friday everyone!
Daily
Prayer:
O God, help us to always love and reverence your presence in ourselves and
others. Keep us always trusting of your presence and love and help us to be
hospitable to all we encounter especially the angels you send into our life!
Set out life today on a firm foundation of your love so we may live with the
hope and trust that you will never forsake or abandon us because you are with
us always! Amen!
A
Runner's Thoughts: Let's make our run today a God centered run. Let us honor
the voice of God in nature, experiencing all the sounds and sights of nature as
we run. We can let our breath join in the chorus and we look purposefully for
all the signs of God in nature because if we do this we surely will not be
running alone!
Daily
Blessing:
Friday greetings and blessings to all. Well we have made it to the end of
another week. I am up rather early this morning because I have a 7:30 am Mass
at Mount St. Michael’s High School in the Bronx. It is a nice way to get the
day started. I also have a mass at the Wartburg Home later this morning at
11:00 am so you might say it is a busy morning.
The rest
of the day will be dedicated to getting things ready for my next mission which
begin on Saturday at St. Anthony’s Parish in East Northport, New York. I hope
your Friday journey will be a good one.
My prayer
today is that God’s blessings will rest upon all of you wherever you are,
wherever you go and in whatever you will encounter today. I pray you stay safe,
warm, and have a faith filled day. May you find the richness of God’s presence
in your life today and always. Also I pray that the end of this day will bring
you home to those you love most and help you to the beginning of a restful and
enjoyable weekend. Have a great Friday everyone! Peace in Christ's
Passion...Fr. Paul
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