Daily Thoughts - 08/06/2013

Daily Thoughts: “You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.” (Thomas Merton)

Perhaps Merton’s words reflect the message of our scriptures today on this Feast of the Transfiguration. We might not know how or why but by God’s grace our lives can be transformed into something wonderful if we are willing to embrace this moment with courage faith and hope.

We also need to remember that on this day 68 years ago an atomic bomb was dropped and three days later another one was dropped. We live today in the hope that Jesus’ transfiguration will always remind us that, despite our human tendency toward acts of violence and death, our lives, the world, can be changed by God’s power to give new life!

Happy Feast of the Transfiguration everyone and please pray for an end to all war and violence in our world!

Daily Prayer:

Great God, who has told us "Vengeance is mine," save us from ourselves, save us from the vengeance in our hearts and the acid in our souls.

Save us from our desire to hurt as we have been hurt, to punish as we have been punished, and to terrorize as we have been terrorized.

Give us the strength it takes to listen rather than to judge, to trust rather than to fear, to try again and again to make peace even when peace eludes us.

We ask, O God, for the grace to be our best selves. We ask for the vision to be builders of the human community rather than its destroyers. We ask for the humility as a people to understand the fears and hopes of other peoples.

We ask for the love it takes to bequeath to the children of the world to come more than the failures of our own making. We ask for the heart it takes to care for all the peoples of the world as well as for ourselves.

Give us the depth of soul, O God, to constrain our might, to resist the temptations of power to refuse to attack the attackable, to understand that vengeance begets violence, and to bring peace--not war--wherever we go.

For You, O God, have been merciful to us. For You, O God, have been patient with us. For You, O God, have been gracious to us.

And so may we be merciful and patient and gracious and trusting with these others whom you also love.

This we ask through Jesus, the one without vengeance in his heart. This we ask forever and ever. Amen! (Prayer by Sister Joan Chittister, OSB)

Runner’s Thought: spirituality for running - the miracle isn't that we finish. The miracle is that we have the courage to start and bring God with us! (Adapted from a quote by John Bingham)

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope your day has started off well and if not take a deep breath, and continue your journey with the hope that this too will pass! It is a beautiful day here in Pelham I hope the same is true for you.

I leave you with this thought for the day think of it in terms of life if you are not a runner - "If you never have a 'bad' day, you're probably doing something wrong; if you never have a 'good' day, you're definitely doing something wrong.” (Mark Remy)  Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 08/05/2013

Daily Thought: “Jesus teaches us another way: Go out. Go out and share your testimony, go out and interact with your brothers [and sisters], go out and share, go out and ask. Become the Word in body as well as spirit.”  (Pope Francis I)

Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he asked the disciples what they had when they were confronted with such a large crowd. Yes, the miracle of the loaves and fishes took place that day. Yes, Jesus took a few loaves and fishes and fed over five thousand people. But before he did it he asked the disciple what they had. Jesus asked the disciple to give out what they had.

God always provides and most of the time it is through us. Often we look at ourselves and think, “There is not much here! I certainly don’t have enough to satisfy the crowd!” But we do and as Pope Francis says, if we go and share, if we go and become the Body of Christ then great things will happen. Miraculous things will happen. The world will be fed!

The question for today, “What do we have?” The challenge “go and share!”

Daily Prayer:
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that we may not so much seek

 to be consoled as to console,
 to be understood as to understand,
 to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
(Adapted from a prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi)

Runner’s Thought: “[We] run because long after [our] footprints fade away, maybe [we] will have inspired a few to reject the easy path, hit the trails, put one foot in front of the other, and come to the same conclusion [we] did: [we] run because it always takes [us] where [we]want to go.” (Dean Karnazes)  And we prayer because it always takes us to whom we want most in our life. So today run and pray!

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your weekend went well. In looking over your Facebook posts I saw many of you did some interesting things over the weekend. I hope in the midst of all your travels and activities you found time for a little rest and relaxation.

On a sad note one of my Passionist brothers died last night, Fr. Malcolm Cornwell, C.P. Fr. Malcolm was a fine man and he will be greatly missed. Please keep his family and the Passionist Community in Scranton in your prayers over the next few days as they celebrate Fr. Malcolm’s life.

Have a great week everyone! May it be a fruitful one filled with many blessings upon you and those you love. Don’t forget to share the gift of who you are today because believe me it will make a difference! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 08/04/2013

Daily Thoughts: “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you, and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?” One of the closing verses of our Gospel today (Luke 12:13-21), and when I hear or read this Gospel it is the verse that always catches my attention. Not because I have a lot of wealth in the traditional sense or because I fear that I might die soon. This phrase catches my attention because I have long thought that each time a receive communion God says to me, “I demand your life of you!”

Perhaps this is stretching Jesus’ words but for me each time I receive communion God demands my life of me and all the things I have are now to be used to proclaim the “Good News.” My life is not here to comfort me, but to be of service to God. My life is about faith; a faith is to be lived.

Faith is not a word that defines or described my relationship with God. It is not something that only comes into play when I am in Church or doing Church related things. Faith is like taking a breath. I need to breathe every moment of my life. I need to breathe in order to do anything. It is the same with faith, it is a part of my whole life, and faith is a part of everything I do or say.

Jesus asks us to live our lives through faith today. He asks us not to be caught up in what the world defines as valuable, important or necessary but to be caught up in the things that matter to God, life and people. Yes, today God demands our life of us. What will be our response?

Daily Prayer: Lord God, we have no idea where we are going. We do not see the road ahead of us. We cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do we really know ourselves, and the fact that we think that we are following your will does not mean that we are actually doing so. But we believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And we hope we have that desire in all that we are doing. We hope that we will never do anything apart from that desire. And we know that if we do this you will lead us by the right road though we may know nothing about it. Therefore will we trust you always though we may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. We will not fear, for you are ever with us, and you will never leave us to face our perils alone. (Adapted from a prayer by Thomas Merton)

Runner’s Thought: “There is something magical about running; after a certain distance, it transcends the body. Then a bit further, it transcends the mind. A bit further yet, and what you have before you, laid bare, is the soul.” (Kristin Armstrong)

Sunday blessings to all wherever this day finds you! I hope you are having a good weekend and have or will dedicate a little time to God today. It is a beautiful day here in Pelham and I hope the same is true where you are.

Hopefully, on this date next year I and at least 32 others will be in our final stages of preparation for our journey to Lourdes and other holy places in France. If you have ever wanted to make a pilgrimage to Lourdes and see France let me know and I will send you information about the trip. We still have plenty of space available!

I am sitting at my desk this morning looking at my many pictures of Roberto Clemente which are on the wall next to my desk and thinking how great it is that the Pirates are in first place but every time I turn on Sportscenter all I hear is Alex Rodriguez, suspensions and steroids. Will it ever just be baseball again? Probably not!

Well, friends it is National Friendship Day. Who knew! So happy Friendship Day to all my friends! And to everyone else, Happy Everyone Else Day! Have a great Sunday everyone, enjoy. May it be blessed with family, friends, fun, laughter, rest, relaxation and much love! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 08/03/2013

Daily Thought: Something to think about from Thomas Merton as you journey through the day. It is certainly something that Herod did not think about in our Gospel (Matt. 14:1-12) today!

“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us - and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.

Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, and is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.” (Thomas Merton)

Daily Prayer:

Lord, teach us to be generous;
Teach us to serve you as you deserve;
To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds;
To toil, and not to seek for rest;
To labor, and not to ask for reward - except to know that we are doing your will.
(Adapted from a prayer by St. Ignatius of Loyola)

Runner’s Thought: You might say that John Bingham is also talking about the spiritual life and he talks about running – “It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the journey, not in the destination. We have a better chance of seeing where we are when we stop trying to get somewhere else. We can enjoy every moment of movement, as long as where we are is as good as where we'd like to be. That's not to say that you need to be satisfied forever with where you are today. But you need to honor what you've accomplished, rather than thinking of what's left to be done.” (John Bingham)

Happy Saturday everyone! Blessings upon your day and your weekend, may it be filled with family, friends, laughter, fun, rest and relaxation! If you need a little quiet time may that be there too! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/31/2013

Daily Thoughts: The Gospel for today (Matt. 13:44-46) talks about the Kingdom of God and Jesus uses two images for the Kingdom, a buried treasure and a fine pearl. In the case of the treasure the person sells everything and buys the field where the treasure is buried and in the case of the pearl the merchant too sells everything in order to buy the pearl. In other words when it comes to the Kingdom of God we must be all in because it is worth more than anything else.

In the quote from St. Ignatius that follows, Ignatius seems to be saying the same thing about the Kingdom of God yet he says it a little differently!

“God freely created us so that we might know, love, and serve him in this life and be happy with him forever. God's purpose in creating us is to draw forth from us a response of love and service here on earth, so that we may attain our goal of everlasting happiness with him in heaven.

All the things in this world are gifts of God, created for us, to be the means by which we can come to know him better, love him more surely, and serve him more faithfully.

As a result, we ought to appreciate and use these gifts of God insofar as they help us toward our goal of loving service and union with God. But insofar as any created things hinder our progress toward our goal, we ought to let them go.” (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

Happy Feast of St. Ignatius everyone and many blessings and much peace to Pope Francis and all Jesuits as they celebrate the feast of their founder. I would especially like to remember Fr. Ron Windmueller, S.J. and Fr. Chet Gator, S.J. both of whom have passed on but through their friendship during my St. Louis days helped to make my vocation possible because they share the treasure of God’s Kingdom with me. And Fr. Louis Padovano, S.J. who also has passed but who often showed me the light of God’s grace when I founded myself in darkness. Rest in peace with God my friends!

Daily Prayer:

O loving God, teach us to be generous
to serve you as you deserve to be served
to give without counting the cost
to fight without fear of being wounded
to work without seeking rest
and to spend ourselves without expecting any reward
but the knowledge that we are doing your holy will.
Amen
(Adapted from a prayer by St. Ignatius of Loyola)

Runner’s Thought: “I run because if I didn’t, I’d be sluggish and glum and spend too much time on the couch. I run to breathe the fresh air. I run to explore. I run to escape the ordinary. I run…to savor the trip along the way. Life becomes a little more vibrant, a little more intense. I like that.” (Dean Karnazes)

I run to pray. I run to give glory to God. I run to have a little one on one time with God. I run to encounter the gift of God’s creation. I run to make God a little more real in my life. And I like that!

Happy Wednesday everyone! Yes, it is “Hump Day” once again but our “Hump Day” camel is on vacation! It is the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola the founder of the Jesuits so I send a shout out to Pope Francis and all Jesuits today – Happy Feast Day!

I hope your day has started well and will become even better as you journey through it. If not hang in there because there is always tomorrow and the chance for a better day!

Enjoy your “Hump Day” everyone and may it be blessed with many good experiences and people! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/30/2013

Daily Thoughts: “Spirituality without a prayer life is no spirituality at all, and it will not last beyond the first defeats. Prayer is an opening of the self so that the Word of God can break in and make us new. Prayer unmasks. Prayer converts. Prayer impels. Prayer sustains us on the way. Pray for the grace it will take to continue what you would like to quit.” (Sr. Joan D. Chittister, In a High Spiritual Season)

In the first reading today (Exodus 33:7-11, 34:5b-9, 28) we are told that God spoke to Moses face to face, just as we would speak to another person. We might say that this is a nice definition of prayer, talking with God, intimately and honestly. Prayer is a two way street, it requires us to speak and also listen. If we approach prayer in this way then good things will happen, challenging things will happen and we will be sustained in our journey of life.

Daily Prayer: Give us, O Lord, a steadfast heart, which no unworthy affection may drag downwards; give us an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out; give us an upright heart, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow upon us also, O Lord our God, understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas)

Runner’s Thought: “Struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living. If you're not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you're not demanding more from yourself - expanding and learning as you go - you're choosing a numb existence. You're denying yourself an extraordinary trip.” (Dean Karnazes)

So to in the spiritual life!

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope your day has started off well if not hang in there and I will pray that it gets better!

I am slowly coming down off my high of being in the newspaper. My tumble back to earth was quickened by the fact that there were no requests for an autograph. Oh, the fleetingness of fame…one day you are on the front page of life the next you cannot even find your name in the want ads!  The good thing is that my name did not appear in the obituaries today!

Have a great day everyone – many blessings on your journey today. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/29/2013

Daily Thoughts: “You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.” (Thomas Merton) I thought of these words by Merton today as I celebrated mass on this Feast of St. Martha. I think Martha fits these words well.

In the Gospel reading (John 11:19-27) we see a different side of Martha than the one in Luke (10:38-42). It is as if Martha has grown in her faith, her relationship with God and in her understanding of her friendship with Christ. In John, Martha is a faith filled woman, who does not fully understand but recognizes the possibilities and challenges and embraces them with courage, faith and hope. She seeks God in the present moment and in the end is greatly blessed.

We all need to pause and allow the gift of St. Martha’s spirit to enliven our own spirits today. May the spirit of St. Martha gifted us with the courage, faith and hope to live this day ready to recognize the possibilities and challenges and embrace them with the grace of God’s love.

Happy Feast of St. Martha everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, you have promised to remain forever with those who do what is just and right.  Help us to live in your presence this day and always. Help us to live Jesus’ commandment of love and bring your peace and joy to others.  Keep us ever mindful of the wisdom and love you have made known in Christ. Grace us with the courage, faith and hope to make your presence known though our words and actions. Amen!

Runner’s Thought: “...there was some kind of connection between the capacity to love and the capacity to love *running*. The engineering was certainly the same: both depended on loosening your grip on your own desires, putting aside what you wanted and appreciating what you've got, being patient and forgiving and... undemanding...maybe we shouldn't be surprised that getting better at one could make you better at the other.”  (Christopher McDougall, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen)

Monday greetings to everyone! I hope everyone had a great weekend and that it was filled with laughter, fun, good friends and family. I also hope it provide a little rest and relaxation perhaps even a little quiet time in your life.

I returned from Scranton on Saturday and unfortunately did not get to do my long training run in Central Park on Saturday morning. Friday was a long day and I would not have been able to leave Scranton until around 10 pm thus I would not have gotten home until 12:30 or 1 am. Getting up at 5:00 am to get into the city by 6:30 am just didn’t seem doable so I decided to get a good night’s rest and return home Saturday morning. I hope to make up the long run on my own sometime this week.

I have to share with you that yesterday, Sunday, I was able to cross off an item on my “bucket list.” I made the front page of a newspaper and there was a story about me in the sports section and it wasn’t for something I did wrong, how great is that! Now it was not the New York Times or the Boston Globe or the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. My picture was on the front page and a short story about me appeared in the sports section of “The Republic,” the newspaper in Columbus, Indiana. (No I was not arrested or caught using PEDs.) I will be running the inaugural Mill Race Marathon in Columbus on September 28^th and the paper did a little story on a few of the people who will be running who live outside of Indiana. I guess I was one of the people chosen and my picture appeared on the front page and a picture and story could be found in the sports pages. So now I have one less item on my “bucket list” wonders never cease!

The next couple of weeks will be quiet in my life as we wander into the lazy days of August. I will be heading to Shelby, NC towards the end of August but these first weeks will be filled with paperwork, doctor’s appointments, running and some spiritual renewal.

Have a great Monday everyone and know that my prayers go with you today in all your endeavors, in all of your challenges, in all of your struggles. Please trust in the presence of God that you carry within you and don’t be afraid to share your gift. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul