Daily Thoughts - 10/14/2015

Daily Thoughts: Our readings today (Romans 2: 1-11 and Luke 11: 42-46) focus on judging others. We are challenged not to be judges but to be people of compassion, to be people of mercy.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer speaks to Paul and Jesus’ message today with his own reflection on judging. “Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.”

As does Henri Nouwen with his word;  “As long as we continue to live as if we are what we do, what we have, and what other people think about us, we will remain filled with judgments, opinions, evaluations, and condemnations. We will remain addicted to putting people and things in their "right" place.”

The question that we might ask ourselves today is do we want to be blind and addicted? Hopefully not which means we need to remember to let God be the judge and every time we are tempted to point out another’s fault, we should think of our own shortcomings. If we approach life this way we will be graced by God’s mercy and patience!

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, you know the ways that we treat people that we do not like. You know that we judge them, we avoid them, we gossip about them, we hassle them. However wanting to be your people of faith, your people of love, we do not want to be this way, to treat people this way anymore. So we ask you for the grace and strength to learn how not to judge but how to be forgiving and compassionate people today and always. We want to learn how to forgive and also how to ask for forgiveness when we struggle and fail. Help us God not to be judging people but to be a forgiving people just as you are forgiving! We pray this today and always the Jesus Christ, your Son and our friend. Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: Running can be so symbolic of life and faith. In running like in life we have to drive ourselves to overcome the obstacles. At times we feel that we just cannot do it. But then we find an inner strength, an inner presence and realize that we are capable of so much more than we thought. And like in faith when we run we often realize that we are not alone. That God runs with us!

Daily Blessing: Wednesday greetings and blessings to all. It doesn’t quite feel like a usual Wednesday because of Monday being a holiday but we are still at the midpoint of our work week so let’s celebrate! I hope your day is going well and moving quickly. I hope it is filled with many good experiences and a people. If it is not then trust in who you are and that even though life and people might seem like a struggle you are making the day a good day for anyone who encounters you!

My friends my God’s blessing be with you today and always. May the richness of who you are as a person created in the image and likeness of God touch the lives of all you meet. May you bring God’s presence to every experience and each moment of this day. May the world you journey through be a better place because of you today. And at the end of the day may you smile with the tired satisfaction that because of you today was a good day! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 10/13/2015

Daily Thoughts: As we have often heard, “You cannot judge a book by its cover!” We might say that this saying reflects what Jesus is talking about in the Gospel (Luke 11: 37-41) today.  Jesus talks about the outside of the Pharisees verses the inside. What they appear to be, what people see verses what they really do and think.

Jesus is talking about is finding balance in life. Our life is not just about appearance it is about what we believe and how we live that belief out each and every day. Living a life of faith begins in our hearts and our actions need to reflect what is in our hearts.

The Pharisees were not bad people however at times they let their power, their position, their influence and their authority get the best of them. They forgot who and what was at the center of their life. They forgot the purpose and meaning of their life. They put themselves first. They got out of balance.

It can happen to anyone, it can happen to us. Being in balance is important. We need to always remember that everything, outside and inside comes from God. As Pope Emeritus Benedict put it, “Every form of gift is, in a word, a sign of the presence of God, because it leads to the fundamental discovery that, at the origin, everything is given.”

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Daily Prayer:

God of all blessings, source of all life, giver of all good gifts, we thank you for the gift of life - for the breath that sustains us, for the food that nurtures us and for the love of family and friends without which there would be no life.

We thank you for the mystery of creation - for the beauty that the eye can see, for the joy that the ear may hear, for the unknown that we cannot behold because it fills the universe with wonder, for the expanse of space that draws us beyond the definitions of our selves.

We thank you for setting us in communities - for families who nurture our becoming, for friends who love us by choice, for companions at work, who share our burdens and daily tasks, for strangers who welcome us into their midst, for people from other lands who call us to grow in understanding, for children who lighten our moments with delight, for the unborn, who offer us hope for the future.

We thank you for this day - for life, for one more day to love, for the opportunity to work one more day for justice and peace, for neighbors, for one more person to love and by whom be loved, for your grace and one more experience of your presence, for your promise to be with us, to be our God, and to give salvation.

For these, and all blessings, we give you thanks, loving God. Amen.

(Adapted from Prayer of Thanksgiving on beliefnet.com)

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 times 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 graces us with an opportunity to taste, touch, smell, hear and see God in our life!

Daily Blessing:

Tuesday greetings everyone! I hope your day has started off well if not hang in there it will get better and if it doesn’t there is always tomorrow! Things are quiet and peaceful here in Pelham. In about an hour I will be headed to Long Island for a funeral of a friend’s father this morning. I hope your day will be a life giving one!

Let us continue to pray for the Synod on the family taking place in Rome these days. May the grace of God’s Holy Spirit be with all who are participating so that they will be a bridge for the Church into the future not a road block. I would also ask your prayers for the Passionist Synod of Provincials which began yesterday at our Generalate in Rome. May God’s Holy Spirit be with all who are participating to help our congregation move into the future.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of you as you wander through this day and I pray that God will bless you with all that you need to make it through this day. And so I pray – May you be blessed with the grace and presence of God today. May the grace and presence of God be with you, in front of you, behind you, on your right and on your left, above your head, under your feet and in your heart. May everything you do today be for and with God! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 10/12/2015

Daily Thoughts: Sometime the signs God gives us come from people and experiences we least expect. This little sentence might best sum up the Gospel (Luke 11: 29-32) today. Often we are looking for the great or the grand or the unusual when it comes to God. We want unbelievable miracles. Yet all around us God is speaking and often God can be found in unexpected places and heard through unexpected people.

Jonah himself did not think the people of Nineveh would get it but they did. The queen of Egypt did not believe in Solomon’s God but she came and could see and hear God’s wisdom in Solomon. It often has been said that, God works in mysterious ways and throughout scripture we are reminded of God’s mysterious ways!

The challenge for us is to not box God in, to not predict God’s intentions. We need to listen, to look around us and be ready to see, hear and experiences the presence of God in our lives. We cannot write-off people or experience because we never know when we will find God through them.

The signs of Jonah and the queen of the south are all around us. We just have to be ready, willing and open to see and hear them!

Have a great Monday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Today, grace us O loving God with minds to know you, hearts to seek you, wisdom to find you, a living of life that will be pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and the hope of finally embracing you. Amen.

(Adapted from a prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “For every runner who tours the world running marathons, there are thousands who run to hear the leaves and listen to the rain, and look to the day when it is suddenly as easy as a bird in flight.” (George Sheehan)

Daily Blessing: Monday greetings to everyone! I hope you all had a nice weekend, one that provide you with a little rest and relaxation or the company of family and good friends or the solitude and quiet of just being able to enjoy life or perhaps a little of all three!

I would like to send a shout out to all those who ran the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, PA yesterday. I am sorry I missed it this year and I hope it was a safe and great run for everyone. A special shout out to Mark Monahan who is very faith full to Steamtown and a great runner! I hope it was a good run for you mark!

Happy Columbus Day everyone! Some of you may be off today for others it is a regular work day. This holiday has its controversy but it is a time to remember the founding of this new part of the world. It is a time to remember the desire of humankind to go beyond the safe boundaries of life. But it is a time to remember the native people of this part of the world and all they had to suffer and endure because of greed, violence and the lack of respect for others, three things that still haunt out lives as human being. Let us use this day to not only relax but also to find God in the places we go, the things we do and the people we meet so that what happened to the native people of this part of the world and in many other places never happens again!

I would ask your continued prayers for the Synod on the Family taking place in Rome that God's Spirit of Wisdom will be upon all gathered. I would also ask your prayers for the Passionist Synod of Provincials which begins today at our Generalate in Rome. May God's Spirit of Wisdom and Grace be with those participating in this special time for the Passionists.

I hope your week ahead will not be too busy and if you are facing busyness, struggles, challenges or uncertainly please know that you are in my prayers. Following the theme of the Gospel today my prayer of blessing for you is that you, in the midst of your busy life are open to the many experiences of God that will touch your life today!

Loving God I ask your blessing upon us today that even though our lives are filled with many things, even though we are busy about many things, even though sometimes it is hard to know you are with us that you will gift us today with your grace to be aware of the many times, many ways and the many people that bring your presence to us. Help us to not miss the unexpected. Help us to be open to your mysterious ways. Bless my friends as they live life today! Have a great Monday! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul