When I catch myself in this mood or
judgmentalness I feel embarrassed and ashamed. I know it is a human behavior, a human feeling
and sometimes the person involved has done things that validate these feeling,
yet I know that my behavior, my judgmentalness is wrong and because of it I
push God away.
Jesus seems to be remaining us of this in
today’s the Gospel (Luke 7: 31-35). No matter what he does the religious
leaders and some of the people of his time do not believe in him or his
message. John the Baptist and Jesus approach life from two distinct directions.
John does not eat or drink, he fasts and is austere in his lifestyle, while Jesus
does eat and drink, he is always going to someone’s home for a meal. His
lifestyle is more socially oriented. Yet for the religious leadership and some
of the people they both, John and Jesus, are wrong. John is crazy,
possessed and Jesus is a glutton, a drunkard, a friend of sinners. No matter what John and Jesus do to help
people encounter the presence of God they are wrong.
The religious leadership and some of the
people in the crowd are closed to the gift and presence of God that John and
Jesus bring. Their eyes are blinded by attitude and judgment. When I find
myself like the religious leadership of Jesus’ time my eyes too are blinded by
attitude and judgment and I miss the presence of God in that moment, in that
person.
We are remind to be open to all the
possibilities of God today even in the people, situations and experience that
often seem to make our life hard and difficult. We are reminded that God can
come to us in many ways through many people. Let us not be judge, jury and executioner.
Let us be children of wisdom and hope open to the gift of God in others and
ourselves!
Have a great day everyone!
Daily Prayer:
Loving God help us to remember that you
are with us today.Help us to bring to mind your loving presence within us and around us.
Never let us be closed to your loving presence in the world, in others and in ourselves.
Never let us be closed through judgmentalness, negativity and anger.
Open our minds to remember your presence.
Open our mouths to speak your wisdom.
Open our hearts to extend your love.
Open our hands to serve you generously.
Open our whole being to you this day and always.
Amen!
(Adapted from a prayer by Joyce Rupp)
Runner’s Thoughts: “There are as
many reasons for running as there are days in the year, years in my life. But
mostly I run because I am an animal and a child, an artist and a saint. So,
too, are you. Find your own play, your own self-renewing compulsion, and you
will become the person you are meant to be.” (George
Sheehan – Runner’s World Daily Kick in the Butt)
Yes, there are many reasons to run. I
run because I am a man of faith, created in the image and likeness of God, a
Passionist, a priest, a human being who wants to be the best person I can be. I
run because God is present in nature, it people, in the gift of a new day and
if I am running I encounter all these things. I run because with each breathe
there is hope, there is beauty and there is life. So as George Sheehan says
above, “Find your own play, your own rewarding compulsion, and become the
person you are meant to be.” Become the person God has created you to be.
Daily Blessing: Uh-oh! Guess what day it is?? Guess what day
it is! Whoot Whoot! It is Hump Day! So happy Hump Day everyone! Yes, I am as
happy as a camel on Wednesday! And you thought I had forgotten it!
Well
I hope everyone’s day has started out well. It is another beautiful day here in
Pelham. The air is crisp and energizing. It will be a good day for a run. I
hope where you are life is full of energy today too.
My
thoughts and prayer remain with those who lost loved ones in Washington, DC on
Monday and those who were touched and are still affected by those events. I
would like to hope something like this will never happen again but that is a
hard thing to hope for given our world and the violence we encounter throughout
it each day. Let us pray that one day we will encounter an all-inclusive peace!
My
prayer of blessing for all of you today is that today will be rich in the gifts
of love, hope and peace in your life and that if you encounter anger, violence
and negativity it will be short lived because you are blessed with loving,
caring people in your life. I pray that you will be open to the many ways that
God will touch your life today and that you will trust in the gift of God that
you are and bring that gift to every person, to every place and to every
experience you have. May God bless you and be with you today and always. Peace
in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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