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
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