Monday, May 23, 2016

Daily Thoughts - 05/23/2016

Daily Thoughts: I once heard someone say that our first reading from the First Letter of St. Peter (1 Peter 1: 3-9) is the most beautiful reading in the scriptures in terms of hope. While I like the reading I would not mark it as one of my favorites even in terms of hope but it does create a wonderful image of our relationship with God, which some might say stands in contrast to the Gospel passage today (Mark 10: 17-27) but I would say complements it.

The Gospel brings us the story of the rich young man, perhaps one of the saddest stories in the Gospel. The story of struggle because of wealth and possessions, a story that points out one of the great pitfalls of being successful, that it can go to your head. Wealth and possessions can become a god if left unchecked, if they become the most important things in life.

Yet, the end of the Gospel like the reading from the First Letter Peter leaves us with a sense of hope. The hope is that “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God” (Mark 10:27). Yes, we are going to struggle with the trappings of life. Yes, sometimes we are going to feel like the rich young man. Yes, at time the words of the disciples will be uttered by us, “Then who can be saved” (Mark 10:26). And yes, sometimes our possessions and money will overwhelm us and we will struggle.

But we live in the hope that even in our failures, our distractions all things are still possible, salvation is still possible, friendship with God is still possible because God is always with us and will never leave us to face life alone!

Happy Monday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Compassionate God, at times our hearts seems troubled. When this happens everything becomes an effort, life is difficult and we struggle to be faithful. In these moments remind me of Your Son’s words “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God” Do not let us be afraid and thus give in to life’s troubles. Rather help us, stay close to you, by reaching out to others, doing something creative with passion, and always living the fullness of life. Enliven us always in Your Holy Spirit of hope, so that we may live life with Passion together. And may the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in my heart! Amen.

A Runner’s Thoughts: You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement. (Steve Prefontaine)

Daily Blessing: Monday greetings and blessings to all. I hope your day is starting off well. As I look out my window the sun is rising in the east and it looks to be a beautiful start to the day. The weather people are talking about rain in the afternoon but I am going to focus on the rising sun and worry about the rain later.

I have mass at the Wartburg Home this morning at 11 am and I would like to get a nice long run in hopefully before it rains. Other than these two goals not much else happening in my day which is sort of nice for a change. I hope your day will not be too busy either.

I would like to offer a little prayer this morning for expectant mothers, remembering in a special way my niece, Sarah, who is currently waiting for her son to arrive any day now. Loving God, bless all waiting mothers today!
May their wait not be too long so that they will be filled with the joy of new life. And bless waiting fathers and grandmothers too!

My prayer of blessing for all of you today is that your love many more and more abound in wisdom, knowledge, understanding and wealth of experience so that you may continue to learn to value the things that really matter and that you will always be blessed with a harvest of faith, hope and love which God has planted within you. Blessings to all today! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

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