Daily
Thoughts:
In or first reading for the Book of the Prophet Jerimiah, God says he will be
in our hearts. He will not be external. He will not be pages in a book. He will
not be rules to memorize. He will be an integral part of us. He will be our
hearts. Meaning that God is an internal force. When God is in our hearts, we
can ‘think’ like God. We will not have to learn how to know God or have to
teach others. We will know God because he is in our hearts.
In our
Gospel, we encounter what can happen when we let God into our heart. Who does
Peter say that Jesus is? “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” When Peter
lets Jesus into his heart, he recognizes Jesus’ divinity. However, as we
discover later in our Gospel, Peter returns to his old way and begins to think
like a human being again, not like God. He does want Jesus to suffer and die.
He does not want his friend to talk in such a way, to go through that. He does
not want to lose his friend. He is thinking like a human being with earthly
limits, rather than thinking like God. Peter fails to see the bigger picture.
When we
see religion, church, faith as an external construct, as the accidentals rather
than the essentials, we get caught up in earthly thinking, with inexplicable puzzles,
and problems. When we accept that God is in our hearts, we see beyond our small
little world, we see a much bigger picture. If we let God in our hearts, we can
begin to think like God, to see like God and that can make all the difference!
Have a
great Thursday everyone.
Daily Prayer:
O
God, it is you alone I love, you alone I follow, you alone I seek, you alone I
am ready to serve. Heal and open my ears that I may hear your voice. Heal and
open my eyes that I may see your will. Tell me where to look that I may see
you, and I will place my hope in doing your will. (Prayer by St. Augustine of
Hippo)
A Runner’s
Thoughts:
“I wanted change. If you don’t do that, you will stagnate. Not just in running
but in life as well.” (Noah Droddy)
Daily Blessing:
Thursday
greetings and blessings to all. I hope your day is starting well. In about a
half hour I will begin my morning trek to Chappaqua for the 8:30 am daily mass
then I will return to Mount Vernon for the 11:00 am mass at the Wartburg and
then on to La Guardia Airport to pick up some friends who are in for the
weekend. A busy day ahead with a few little changes that I had not anticipated.
Hopefully everything will turn out great for all involved.
It looks
to be another beautiful day which hopefully will make my traveling around a
little easier. Though traveling around New York is very rarely easy! I hope
your travels and encounters today will be blessed with safety, easy and most
importantly the presence of God!
My prayer
of blessing today is that God will bless your day with the richness of His
presence wherever you go and in whatever you do. May you find the gift of joy
within you and may it energize your living of life today. And may you know the
strength, the joy and in the hope of God’s love as you live this day!
Well,
friends stay well and have a great day! Please know as always you are in my
prayers and may you always know that you are truly a gift. Peace in Christ’s
Passion…Fr. Paul
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