Daily Thoughts - 05/07/2016

Daily Thoughts: Dorothy Day once said, “One must constantly recall the necessity to grow in confidence in God.…Trust that prayers will be answered. Maybe not as we want but as others need it to be.” Perhaps in other words our faith is not always about ourselves and God, but about others and God.

In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles today (Acts 18:23-28) Apollos is pulled aside and helped by Priscilla, Aquila and others in his ministry. Yes, he is an eloquent speaker but a stronger relationship with God is necessary so that he can help others with his gifts.  Jesus in the Gospel today (John 16:23b-28) continues to remind us of the need to ask in his name. In other words, pray in his name so that what is needed, what is desire, will be received.

But what does it mean to ask in Jesus’ name? It means to pray like Jesus. Jesus prayed always looking beyond himself to others. Jesus prayed not for his own will but for the Father’s will. Our prayer, our relationship with God must always look beyond ourselves to others. We need to be about God’s will not our own.

Perhaps in the spirit of Dorothy Day, our challenge today is to grow in our relationship with God, trust that relationship and realize that our prayers will be answered not always as we want but as others need them to be!

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Daily Prayer: O God, we seek the unity of our lives in you. Help us by the power of your Son’s Passion, Death and Resurrection to trust in your presence. May our prayers find their way into your heart. Helps us to trust that you will answer them not so that our will be done but your will. Grace us with hearts that look beyond ourselves to others. Help us to be people of hope who by our words and deeds strive to foster awareness of the meaning and value of each person as gifts for the life of the world. Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: “‎As I get older I see that running has changed for me. What used to be about burning calories is now more about burning up what is false.” (Kristin Armstrong) So to in the spiritual life…

Daily Blessing: Saturday greetings and blessings to all! It is a cloudy day here in Pelham but the sun is trying make its way through the clouds. I believe that we are to have more rain throughout the day. I guess we just cannot get rid of the April showers that have become May showers. The retreat finished up very nicely yesterday morning and I was on the road by noon and back in the Pelham area by 7:30 pm. It was a long rainy drive but an uneventful one. I will be home for a few days before heading to West Hartford, CT and the Passionist Assembly next week beginning Monday afternoon.

I hope you are having a good day wherever you might be. I pray it might be a day filled with the blessings of family and friends. That whatever you are doing will bring joy, laughter and peace to your life. I pray for blessings upon your work, your ministry, and your experiences of life today. I also pray for blessing upon those you love, those you encounter and especially upon you today! Enjoy the day my friends and know you are always in my prayers! Peace in Christ’s Passion and Hope in the Risen Lord…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 05/06/2016

Daily Thoughts: “Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.” – “Whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” Perhaps these are two of the hardest statements in the scripture to trust.  They come to us today from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 18: 9-18) and John’s Gospel (John 16: 20-23). The first the Lord speaks to St. Paul one night in Corinth and the other Jesus speaks to his disciples.

How often have we asked God for something and yet it doesn’t happen, we don’t get it, we have to settle for life as it is not as we want it to be? How often are we called to speak or we feel compelled to speak because of our faith but the words just will not come out because we are afraid of the consequences?

Living by faith is no easy task, it wasn’t in Paul’s time, and it wasn’t in Jesus’ time. The world is often a cruel place, a place where words and actions can cause us pain, sorrow and problems even if they are true and right. The feelings and emotions of the mob are usually what rules. The Gospel message is not for the weak or afraid because many leave it at the church door on Sunday, if they have heard it at all.

Our faith tells us that God is with us. That whatever we ask in Jesus’ name we will be given, then why is there so much sickness, death, pain and sorrow in the world? Wars and violence happen every day. Did no one ask for the violence to stop in Jesus’ name?

It is easy to say that we are Christian and call ourselves Catholic but living out our faith is never easy. In some way God is always there, God always responds to us, God always gives us what we need, God always stands beside us when we speak the truth. However, the world always makes it hard to hear, feel, see and know God’s presence in our life.

As we live today, as we wonder through this life trying to believe, trying to speak, trying to trust in God remember love casts out fear. It makes us able to speak even in the most difficult times and it makes present the most profound gifts that God gives to us!

Have a great Friday everyone!

Daily Prayer:  Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace that is enough for me. (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “I could feel my anger dissipating as the miles went by—you can’t run and stay mad!” (Kathrine Switzer) So to in the spiritual life…you can’t pray and stay mad at God!

Daily Blessing: Friday greetings and blessings to all!  The sun has not arrived yet here in Greensburg, PA but I am anticipating another cloudy rainy day and I think the rain will be with me as I make my way back to Pelham this afternoon. I hope your day will start off well and that you might get to see the sun at some point during your Friday.

We will bring the retreat to a close this morning with mass and then the closing conference. I am hoping to leave around noon. Please offer a prayer for all the sisters who will be finishing retreat today. And if you could say a prayer for safe travels for their preacher it would be appreciated.

I realized yesterday that as I closed the retreat today it is the anniversary of my great aunt’s death. Sr. Mary Alicia died 58 years ago today. As I celebrate mass this morning I will remember her and my other great aunt, Sr. Mary Felix is a special way. I have had the sense all week that their spirits have been with me as I have celebrated retreat with the sisters of their community. Perhaps they have smiled upon their great nephew helping me to do my very best! I have heard many stories about both of them from the sisters here at Seton Hill all week and I am proud of how faithful and loving my great aunts were.

I offer a simple prayer of blessing this morning for all of you on this first Friday in May. I pray that you will be found rich today in the grace and presence of God. May your travels, your endeavors go well and be safe. May your interactions with others be blessed with the presence of God. May you enjoy your day and may it lead to a great weekend! Peace in Christ’s Passion and Joy in the Risen Lord…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 05/05/2016

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

Daily Thoughts - 05/04/2016

Daily Thought: “In [God] we live and move and have our being.” A simple phrase that Paul uses as he speaks to the crowd in Athens, it seems to have been a phrase use by a poet that Paul applies to our relationship with God.

Paul is right this phrase very simply reflects our life as a people of faith. If we believe then our life is in God and from our relationship with God, we live, we move and have our very being.

I have often imaged faith as being the breath we take every second of our life in order to live. We cannot do anything without that breath, nothing. Whether we are resting, running, alone or with people we need to breathe in order to live. From my perspective that is what faith is all about. I think that is what Paul was trying to tell the people of Athens. I think that is what Jesus was reminding his disciples of in the Gospel today.

As people of faith, we breathe in the presence of God, the Spirit of God, with and in that presence, that spirit, we live, we move and we become our very self, we have our being, our life, our purpose, our meaning. Today let us let our faith, the breath of God, enlivens us, strengthens us, inspires us and guides us on our journey through life.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Daily Prayer:  O God of all life, direct our hearts throughout this day in your wonderful Spirit of hope, so that we may know it is you at the center of all we are, all we want, and all we are meant to be. Keep us always faithful to your everlasting Spirit of Life and remind us that in your Spirit that we live, that we move and that we have our very being. Help us to take your breath of Life and live it to the fullest.  Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: Let us remember as we run today that if we run towards God, God runs twice as fast towards us. Thus, to draw closer to God it is only necessary to move in God's direction!

Daily Blessing: Wednesday greetings and blessings to all! Sorry that I am a little late with my postings today but the internet was down here until just a little while ago. It is another mild cloudy, somewhat rainy day here in Western Pennsylvania. The retreat seems to be going well. Please continue to keep the sisters on retreat in your prayers and if you get a chance to offer a prayer for their preacher it would be greatly appreciated!

I hope your day going along well in the beauty and warmth of the sun. May God bless your day today with the richness of life and may all that you do be within the presence of God’s love. Remember as you live today, live, move and be with God! Peace in Christ’s Passion and Hope in the Risen Lord…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 05/03/2016

Daily Thoughts: “I am the way and the truth and the life…. If you know me, then you also know my Father.”  These are familiar words of Jesus spoken to Thomas and found in today Gospel (John 14: 6-14) on this the feast of Sts. Philip and James. They are words that remind us that our Christian faith is a very profound experience; only those who have faith come to know that God, the creator of the universe, chose to enter our life, to be part of human history and in doing so reveal a profound love to all creation.

Jesus seems to be responding to the age old question, is there a God, and if so what is this God like? Jesus’ answer is look at me, know me, because if you see and know me then you see and know my Father. As we find earlier in John’ Gospel, “God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16) So if we take a good look at Jesus, if we get to know Jesus then we will know God, we will know the Father, the God who so loves the world!

In coming to know God it always comes down to a relationship, a relationship with Jesus, a relationship with the Father, a relationship with the Spirit. Relationships take work, relationship can be difficult and demanding, relationship demand time and investment. Yet in the end a relationship is the only way we can come to know the love, mercy, joy and faithfulness of God!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Lord grant us to believe in the heart, to confess with the mouth, to confirm with works that the covenant of God is in our flesh, so that others, seeing our good works, might magnify our Father who is in heaven, though Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom is glory for ever and ever. Amen. (A prayer by Origen)

A Runner’s Thoughts: Running can clear cobwebs from our minds and focus our thinking. Running can give us time and space to sort out the things that are bothering us, or challenging us. At time running allows us to detach and think of nothing at all. But perhaps most importantly running offers us an opportunity to connect with God through our senses. Running gives us with an opportunity to taste, touch, smell, hear and see God in our life!

Daily Blessing: Tuesday greeting and blessings to all. I hope and pray your day is starting off well. It looks to be a cloudy and rainy day here in Greensburg. That seems to be the pattern of weather that we are in these days. April showers have continued into May at least in this part of the world.

As we find ourselves in the month of May I know for many this can be a very busy time of the year with First Communions, graduations, weddings, confirmations and many other celebrations that reminds us of spring, life and all that is good. I hope wherever you are this May will be blessed with many life-giving moments of celebration, joy and love.

My niece, Sarah, is in the final weeks of waiting for the coming of her second child so I would also like to offer a special prayer for her and all expectant mothers today that their days of waiting will be blessed at the end with the wonderful gift of a new healthy life. May the moments of uncomfortableness, worry and waiting be a distant memory when they look upon their new child for the first time and continue their journey of love together.

My prayer of blessing for all of us today, is that the spirits of the Apostles Philip and James may enliven our life and our day with the blessings of God’s presence in the people we meet, the places we go and in the things we do. May we come to know God today through the living of life and may our living of life today bring the mercy of God to all we meet! Peace in Christ’s Passion and Joy in the Risen Lord…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 05/02/2016

Daily Thoughts: There is a quote from St. Bede the Venerable that goes like this, “Let us speak the truth in our hearts and not practice treachery with our tongues, so that by pouring forth charity more and more in our hearts, the Spirit of truth may teach us recognition of all truth.” In this day and age I might add a little something to what St. Bede said, “…and not practice treachery with our tongues and our fingers!” It is not only the treachery of the spoken word today; it is also the treachery of the written word today. You find it on Twitter, Facebook and in all social media today.

It amazes me how negative, hurtful, bigoted and sinful we can be with the words we write about others. We call ourselves Christian yet the pictures we post, the cartoons we send around, the ideas we put forth sometimes are anything but Christian. I guess it is easy to sit in our homes or offices or be walking down the street and attack a person, an organization, a political party, a public servant, someone in leadership, or a president. They get no chance to defend themselves and our words don’t have to be true. From the comfort of our own electronic device we can post whatever we want and often there are no consequences to our actions whether we are right or wrong. Remember it is a free country and certainly free social media!

In the readings from mass today we are reminded about the importance of truth. Jesus (John 15:26 – 16:4a) reminds us that he is sending us the truth through the Holy Spirit from the Father, not Fox News or MSNBC or any other news organization that we agree with. Truth is most often not found in the media sources of today’s world it is found in the hearts of people who journey through life as friends of God.

Lydia, whom we meet in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 16:11-15) today, went to the river to pray and her life was changed through the preaching and the presence of Paul. Paul spoke the truth and Lydia allowed it to enter her heart. She came to believe. She invited the truth into her home and into her heart.

We need to trust the Spirit in our life not 24 hour news. We need to speak truth about ourselves and others. We need to be friends of God who build up not tear down. There are always going to be those who bring deceitfulness to the living of life may we always be people who bring truth!

A couple of years ago I was wondering through the social media, Twitter to be exact and I came upon two tweets from Fr. James Martin, S.J. that I wrote down and I think they speaks to our scriptures today. Fr. Martin was talking about Pope Francis’ visit to the Holy Land. “To those who doubted that Pope Francis could do anything valuable in the Holy Land, or could find grace among warring factions, I say...that you've forgotten about the Holy Spirit again.  Nothing is impossible with God.”

Have a blessed Monday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Lord Jesus, you have brought us the gift of abundant life. Give us eyes that can look beyond the glamor and trivia of the world to the richness of your loving presence as it comes to us in others, creation and ourselves. Grace us with hope so that we will not give into despair, anger, vengeance and fear but through hope we will find the joy, grace and life you came to give us. May we come to know the full measure of life that you have promised and bring it to others! Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: Run with a strong heart today. If you run in the midst of the ordinary, you will often find yourself touched by the extraordinary presence of God. Run strong into the heart of God today!

Daily Blessing: Happy Monday everyone! I hope your Monday, your week, has started off on the right foot. If not, I pray your fortunes will change as the day and the week goes on.

I am writing to you today from Greensburg, PA and the Caritas Christi Community of the Sisters of Charity at Seton Hill. It is a beautiful place on the campus of Seton Hill University. We began the retreat here last night and in a little while I will be celebrating morning mass with the sisters.

I arrived yesterday around 1 pm so I had a little time to walk around and relax. It was a time to walk down memory lane because when I was a kid I would visit Seton Hill each summer to attend the Summer Festival held by the sisters. We can to visit my two great aunts who where Sisters of Charity. One of the first places I visited during my walk was the cemetery of the sisters where my two great aunts are buried. I said a little prayer asking them to be with me in spirit this week. I would ask for your prayers for the 70 sisters on retreat and their preacher!  

My prayer of blessing for all of you on this Monday is that you like Lydia, in the first reading for today, may you hear the word of God, take it into your heart and allow it to bless you with peace, hope and joy throughout this day and always! Blessings upon your day, upon all that you are doing and upon all whom you will meet! May God bless you with the gift of bringing God’s joy to the world today! Peace in Christ’s Passion and Hope in the Risen Lord…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 05/01/2016

Daily Thoughts: We find ourselves this Sunday being asked to see life differently. We are being asked to see life through the eyes of faith.

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles the faith community struggles as it tries to grow, as it tries to welcome new members. There is a council; there is a meeting of the leadership. During this meeting I bet there was a lot of discussion, a lot of input, a lot of opinions and a lot of arguments. However, in the end the leadership, the community decided to change, it decided to grow. I am sure it was not easy because change is never easy.

In the reading from the Book of Revelation, John once again asks the communities to which he is writing to have hope in the future so that in the meantime they can continue to live out their faith.  John tells them there will be better times. In his vision today, John sees the New Jerusalem. It is the city that his churches are journeying to; it is the city we all are journeying to. As John describes it, the New Jerusalem is a wonderful city but it does not have a temple, it does not have a basilica, it has the eternal presence of God. The communities are to hold on to this vision, to hold on to this hope, they are to continue to be faith filled people.

In the Gospel, Jesus prepares his disciples for his Ascension, for the time when they will have to look at things differently. They will not be able to look to his physical presence when they struggle, when they are challenged and life gets difficult. But they will have the Holy Spirit to guide and direct them. The Holy Spirit will help them to remember the Good News. The Holy Spirit will help them to see life differently and continue to bring the presence of God to the world.

We are reminded today that as people of faith we are to look at life differently. If we are willing to do so we will be gifted by the Holy Spirit with the strength of faith, a vision of hope and the embrace of God’s love. We are asked to live on as people of faith who are not troubled or afraid!

Have a great Sunday!

Daily Prayer: Lord, grant that I may always allow myself to be guided by you, always follow your plans, and perfectly accomplish your holy will. Grant that in all things, great and small, today and all the days of my life, I may do whatever you require of me. Help me respond to the slightest prompting of your grace, so that I may be your trustworthy instrument for your honor. May your will be done in time and eternity by me, in me, and through me. Amen! (Prayer by St. Teresa of Avila)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” (Michael Jordan) So to in the spiritual life…

Daily Blessing: Sunday greetings and blessings to all! I write to you this morning from Fremont, Ohio my stopping point yesterday evening on my journey from Wisconsin to Greensburg, PA. It was a very rainy drive yesterday and I have the feeling I am in for more of the same today. In fact, it appears that I will have rain with me all week but at least the temperature will be a little warmer.

I hope your Sunday is starting off well. If you are dealing with rain just think of it as holdover April showers that will bring beautiful May flowers. Yes, we find ourselves in May today my how time flies when you are having fun!

As I pause for my Sunday morning prayer, I call upon a little saying that I have always liked, “Prayer may not change things for you, but it for sure changes you for things.” So my prayer of blessing for all of you this Sunday morning is to simply say a little prayer for you that you will be ready for all the things you face today and that whatever you encounter will be a blessing from God that will enliven, energize and gift your day! If you are traveling today, travel safe; if you are relaxing and enjoying a Sunday do it with energy and enthusiasm, and if you encounter struggles and difficulties today remember you are not alone God always walks with you!

I will greet you tomorrow from Greensburg, PA as I will begin my retreat with the Sisters of Charity at Seton Hill this evening. Please offer a prayer sometime today for the sisters who will be making the retreat and their preacher. Also remember to give God a little time today! Peace in Christ’s Passion and Joy in the Risen Lord…Fr. Paul