In a number of ways the picture Jesus
paints of discipleship in Matthews Gospel today (Matt. 10:34-11:1) is one that
seems impossible to embrace let alone live. The thought of being at odds with
mother, father, sister and brother would make me wonder why I would want to
journey down that road.
I think Jesus’ purpose for this
instruction is simply to make it clear that if we get on broad it is not an
easy ride. The journey of a disciple is not the journey of a fairy tale; it is
not the journey of “happily ever after.” The journey of a disciple is a difficult
road with many changes, many struggles and many difficulties. It is a journey
of choices and decisions that are not always easy. Discipleship is the journey
of the cross and Jesus wants those who take it up to understand the consequences
along with the joys and hopes.
Today is the feast of St. Bonaventure, a
doctor of the Church, a Franciscan, a philosopher, theologian and a mystic. He
was a biographer of St. Francis, a contemporary of St. Thomas Aquinas, a teacher
and a bishop. We might say Bonaventure was a man of many gifts and talents and
what made him great was that he used these many gifts and talents to proclaim
the kingdom.
Perhaps in the spirit of St. Bonaventure
we might take of the challenge of discipleship focusing on the struggles and
challenges that Jesus tells us in the Gospel not in a negative way but in a
creative way by using our gifts and talents to proclaim the kingdom!
Daily Prayer: Compassionate God;
bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, exploitation of people and the
earth, so that we may strive for justice, equality and peace. Bless us with
tears to shed for those who suffer, so that we will reach out our hands to
comfort them and to change their pain into joy. Bless us with a foolishness to
think that we can make a difference in the world, so that we will begin to do
the things that others say cannot be done. Amen!
Runner’s Thought: Remember we can
make our runs holy by bringing to our runs a sense of God’s presence in us.
Happy Monday everyone! I am back in
Pelham for two day before heading to Scranton, PA for ten days. So today I am
about doing wash, clearing my desk of paperwork that has piled up over the last
week, celebrating mass for the Sisters of Charity on retreat and beginning to
pack my bags once again. I am looking forward to my time in Scranton even
though it will be a busy ten days.
I hope your weekend was a fruitful one
and that you had some time to enjoy life. I pray that this new work week will
be one gifted with many blessings. The heat seems to be on again here in the
northeast. I just keep reminding myself how cold I felt last winter. I hope you
have found some ways to cope with the heat and also enjoy these summer days.
I have been reflecting over the last day
or so since the verdict in the Martin/Zimmerman trial came out about the many
young women and men who have been killed in recent days, weeks, months and
years especially by guns and yet their stories never reached the national news,
their deaths were never protested, their fates never responded to be celebrities.
I pray for all young people who lives
are cut short by violence. I pray for their families and friends who often must
pick up the pieces by themselves. I pray for our world that somehow we will
come to know that violence in not the answer.
May God’s peace be with all of you today
and as Jesus tells us in the Gospel today it is a peace that we often must always
look for in the midst of struggle. Peace
in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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