Throughout
our life we all have had people, like teachers and parents, theologians and
scripture scholars who have told us who they think Jesus is. It is an ongoing quest in our life of faith
to come to an understanding of who Jesus was and is. Perhaps the most important
aspect or thought we encounter in the Gospel today is that we are invited by Jesus
to say who we think Jesus is. You might
say that Jesus is giving us the opportunity to find our voice. To name and realize just how we experience
Jesus in our life.
Often I
have reflected on this Gospel reading with a sense of closeness to Jesus. I
know scripture scholars will disagree with me but when Jesus asks, “Who do the
crowds say that I am?” I feel a kinship to Jesus. I sense his humanness. There
have always been moments when I have wanted to know what people think. What are
they saying about me? How do they see me? The scholars will say that this has
nothing to do with Jesus wondering what people think. But for me this passage
always connects me in a human way with Jesus.
To take
it a step further it gives me pause to consider the place of Jesus in my own
life. Who do I say that Jesus is? What place does he take in my life? What role
does he play in my life? Important questions to ask from time to time in this
journey of life. How do I really see Jesus? In what ways do I let him enter my
life? How often do I recognize what he has done for me? How often do I
recognize his love for me?
As the
summer gets ready to begin it might be a good time to pause in the midst of
this journey of life and have a conversation with Jesus. To him ask these same
questions he asked his disciples many years ago and challenge ourselves to look
into our hearts and answer like Peter, you are the Christ of God. You are a
friend who loves us very much!
Have a great Sunday everyone!
Daily
Prayer:
God of life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and
wear us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies gray and
threatening; when our lives have no music in them and our hearts are lonely,
and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with light, we ask you;
turn our eyes to where the skies are full of promise. Amen. (Prayer by St.
Augustine of Hippo)
A Runner’s
Thoughts:
“Running is elementary. It is elegant in its simplicity.” (John Bingham)
Daily
Blessing:
Sunday greetings and blessings to all and Happy Father’s Day to all fathers! It
looks to be another beautiful day here in Chardon. I am making my final
preparations for mass which will be at 10:30 this morning. It will be the
community mass for all the sisters here at the Provincial Center and the
closing mass of the retreat. After mass I will hit the road for Covington,
Kentucky where I will begin a retreat for another province of Sisters of Notre
Dame this evening at 7 pm. They have told me Covington is about a four-and-a-half-hour
drive so I am hoping to leave here around noon. It will be a busy day for me.
I hope
your Sunday is a little less busy than mine. I hope you will get a chance to
enjoy the gift of this day in some way that will renew and refresh you. And
please remember to give God a little time today.
Let me
take a moment to thank all of you for your good wishes yesterday on my 30th
anniversary of ordination. I appreciated the good and kind words. As I wrote to
my classmates of 30 plus years, sometimes it seems like only yesterday but
other times it seems like a million years. The journey of life with its ups and
downs. All I can say is that it is a new day, another opportunity to know that
things are not as they should be and yet to care for them the way they are.
Again thanks everyone!
My prayer
of blessing today is that you will be blessed with the spirit of faith to help
you on this journey of life. May you be blessed with the spirit of hope to get
you through the rough times. May you be blessed with the spirit of love to
remind you in whose image and likeness you are created in, how special you are
and that you are never alone. As you journey through this day may you know that
Jesus is with you always and will never leave you to face your struggles alone!
Father’s Day blessings to all fathers and Sunday blessings to all! Peace in
Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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