Daily Thoughts - 11/22/2013

Daily Thoughts: As one of my brother Passionist said as we celebrated mass this morning, the Jesus we find in the Gospel today (Luke 19: 45-48) was an observant Jew. He valued his community of faith. Sometimes it is the Jesus who ate with sinners and crossed the boundaries of his faith that we are drawn to, but we also need to remember the Jesus was profoundly respectful and observant of his faith.

Jesus was also zealous as we see today, his anger at the commercialism of the temple area had its roots in a deep respect for the purpose and place of the temple in the life of the people. It was to be a place of prayer. It was to be a place to go to get away for the everyday busyness and business of life.

What we learn from today’s Gospel is that no matter what approach to life that Jesus took it was not going to be good enough or right for the religious leadership. If we was eating with sinner or healing on the Sabbath or talking to women, he was wrong. If he was driving out merchants for the temple area he was wrong. The religious leadership did not seem to like the zealousness of Jesus for life and his faith.

Our challenge today is to learn from Jesus - when, why and how to be zealous. When, why and how to bring energy, enthusiasm and spirit to our life. We need to be observant Christian, we need to value and respect the places and structure of our faith community. We also need to be about life and finding ways to include everyone in the journey no matter what the cost!

Have a great day everyone!

Daily Prayer:

Loving God, 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 Creator of all that is good, 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: As prayerful runner we always seem to find it inadequate to sit and wait for the Spirit to appear. As prayerful runners, we always want to run towards God but if we are prayerful runner’s what we always find is that God is running toward us at twice the speed! (Adapted from Roger Joslin – Running the Spiritual Path)

Daily Blessing: TGIF to all! I hope your day has started off well. It is a rainy morning here in Pelham. Yes, I have returned home after a wonderful five days in Jacksonville, FL at Holy Family Parish and I send a special shout out to all the people there who might be joining us today! It was a graced time and I was blessed to be with people of great faith and spirit.

Today is the feast day of St. Cecilia. She was one of the most venerated martyrs in the early Church. She also associated with music and is patron saint of musicians which stems from a story that on her wedding day she sang to God from her heart. So happy feast day to all musicians out there and a special shout out to my great niece Emilia who has begun to learn the violin may St. Cecilia guide your hands, fingers and heart to make wonderful music!

As a nation we are focused on the tragedy of President Kennedy’s death 50 years ago today so in the spirit of this day and what it means to our nation I ask for God’s blessing upon us –

Loving God keep us alert today and always to your unpredictable answers, to your unexplainable surprises and to your unrelenting presence.

By your grace and love, make us ever grateful that we are one of your surprises each day of our lives.

Bless us today and always with a faith, that moves mole hills and mountains, has often an unseen healing touch, lives everyday stories, celebrates simple suppers, and carries Crosses of Life which turn into Resurrections of hope.

Help us to be people of faith, hope and love who are positive, respectful and open to all that is good and life giving. Amen. Blessing to all today! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

PS A little extra reflection today – In the first reading from the First Book of Maccabees (1 Maccabees 4:36-37; 52-59) we experience the rededication of the temple a Jewish feast that we know today as Hanukkah. This celebration and the exhortation to continue to remember each year made me pause because today is the 60th anniversary of my baptism. Yes, 60 years ago on November 22, 2013, 20 days after I was born I was welcomed into the Church. Like the Israelites I too need to remember this very special day in my life. I was dedicated to God this day and welcomed into this wonderful faith community called Church.