Daily
Thoughts:
I know for many of you this is just an ordinary Thursday but for those of us in
the eastern part of the United States it is the Feast of the Ascension. This is
one of those days when I truly wish the US bishops would get their act
together! Decide on either Thursday or Sunday for the whole country rather than
some of the people celebrating one day and others celebrating another. For
those of you who celebrate the Feast of the Ascension on Sunday you can save my
reflections today until Sunday!
“Men
Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” I have always liked
this little phase at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. For me it sets
the stage for everything that Luke is going to tell Theophilus about Jesus and
this community call Church. Perhaps this question directed at Jesus’ followers
just after he ascended into heaven sits at the center of our life as Church.
Sometimes
as a Church I think we are standing there look up at the sky. We are looking at
the past. We are looking at what use to be and not what is. We are looking back
hoping the past will be the present and the future.
The
angel’s question to the disciples perhaps was not just a question but a
challenge. Are you going to continue to stand here and just look up at the sky?
Are you going to live in the past, put your hope in the past? Or are you going
to get busy and be about the ministry Jesus has entrusted you with, are you
going to get busy about living of life.
In the
movie the Shawshank Redemption Andy at one point tells Red, “I guess it comes
down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.” Perhaps
that is what the angel is asking Jesus’ disciples the day of the Ascension.
What are they now going to do with the mission, the ministry that Jesus has
entrusted them with? Their choices are to stand here and keep looking up at the
sky, waiting for Jesus to return, thinking of the past or they can get busy
living the life, the faith, the hope, the love that Jesus has entrusted to
them.
We might
say that this celebration of the Feast of the Ascension challenges us in the
same way. Are we as a Church just going to stand around looking, waiting for
Jesus, are we going to stand in the midst of the past and wait or are we as a
people of faith going to get busy living out our faith through the gifts of the
Spirit?
Have a
blessed Feast of the Ascension and Thursday everyone!
Daily
Prayer:
O God of all life, enliven us with the gift of your Spirit to be busy about
living not busy about dying today. Help us with your grace to live life to its
fullest and not stand gazing back into the past hoping for what was. Today is a
new day and may we live it with energy, enthusiasm and faith. Grace our hearts
with the fire of your love that we might bring the gifts of faith, hope and
love to a world so in need of them. Amen!
A
Runner’s Thoughts: Let us think of each run we make as having two distinct
parts. I will call them the outward run and the inward run. The outward run is
what we encounter as we run, creation, people, sounds, experiences, how we
feel, the distance involved. The inward run is what we encounter about
ourselves as we run. How we are feeling. What struggles we have physically,
emotionally and spiritually. What we bring on the run that is within us, good
and bad. Both parts of our runs are physical, emotional and spiritual. So let
us be aware, let us listen, and let us focus outwardly and inwardly because
each part of our run can bring us to God.
Daily
Blessing:
Thursday greetings and blessings to all and Happy Feast of the Ascension,
whether you are in the part of the world celebrating it today or on Sunday! May
we always be people who are busy about living!
It looks
to be another cloudy and at times rainy day here in western Pennsylvania. The
retreat continues to go well. This is the last full day as we will be finishing
around noon tomorrow. Please continue to keep the sisters on retreat in your
prayers and if possible their preacher too.
My prayer
of blessing today comes from St. Anselm of Canterbury. O God, let us know you
and love you today so that we may find our joy in you; and if we cannot do so
fully in this life, help us to at least make some progress today and every day,
until at last we may know the fullness of your joy and love! O God, bless us
this day make it a day rich in your joy and love. May we not stand just looking
but may we bring you to the world! Peace in Christ’s Passion and Joy in the
Risen Lord…Fr. Paul
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