Daily Thoughts - 07/11/2013

Daily Thoughts: Perhaps today’s thought or focus might be the response from today’s responsorial psalm, “Remember the marvels the Lord has done.” Certainly the two readings, the continuing story of Joseph and his family and Jesus’ sending of the twelve remind us of some of the marvels that God has done over the centuries.

However, more importantly for us today it might not be a bad idea to pause and just remember of the marvels of God in our own life. We all have experienced wonderful, awesome, and marvelous things in our life, things that if we stop and think about can tell us about God’s presence in our life. Take a few moments sometime today and think about your life, remember the marvelous things God has done for you, children, spouses, friends, experiences, occasions and moments that mean something special to you. Think of the wonderful and awesome places you have been and the people who journeyed there with you.

Yes, God has done marvelous things for us and sometimes it is good to stop, remember and give thanks for them!

Daily Prayer: O God, thank you for all the marvels you have done for us. Thank you for the people in our life. Thank you for those who care about us. Thank you for those we love. Thank you for the angels that touch our lives and help us to realize just how special life is. Thank you for the friends who make life so interesting. Thank you for the many extraordinary, wonderful, awesome and marvelous people, places and experiences that you have given us. Help us never to forget them and always to remember how gifted our life is! Amen!

Runner’s Thought: Remember it is possible to begin a meditation run simply by stepping onto the pavement and putting one foot in front of the other. In fact, the simplicity of this is one of the great joys of running. No elaborate gear, accessories, or training are required. We can simply step into the run and see what unfold, see how God is present in our life today! (Adapted from Roger Joslin – Running the Spiritual Path)

Happy Thursday everyone! It has been a busy morning for me today, but then so has this week. It is nice every once in a while to let go of the usual routine and step into another one. Certainly for me the life of a parish priest has been an interesting and faith filled one this week.

I hope your week is going well, if not as always please know of my prayers for each for you. Hopefully they will be a little help to whatever life is throwing at you these days.

Stay cool, stay dry and hopefully enjoy your day! Blessings on all you do, on everyone you meet, and on the gift that you are! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/10/2013

Daily Thoughts: “A [person] knows when he [she] has found his [her] vocation when he [she] stops thinking about how to live and begins to live.” (Thomas Merton)  I think this is a good quote for our readings today. Joseph (Gen. 41:55, 42:5-7a, 17-24a) and the 12 apostles (Matt. 10:1-7) begin to live today and in doing so they find out what God has in store for them.

Isn’t this true for all of us? In living we uncover, we find, we experience, we become who God calls us to be. At mass this morning I told the people that a verse from John’s Gospel came to mind as I read these two readings, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last” (John 15:16). Joseph and the twelve are chosen by God and in the stories today they live out that call, they bring the gift of God to the people that they encounter.

The challenge today for us is – Are we living out our call? And what gift are we offering the world today?

Daily Prayer: O God, you have called us to serve you today. You have asked some work of us today that you have not asked of others. We have a mission, a call, a meaning to our life today and we may never know its fruit fully. We are a link in your chain of life, a bond of connection between your people. Help us today to do good, to do your work, to be an angel of peace, a preacher of the Good News in our own way. Grace us with the gift of hope that we can share with whomever we meet. Amen!

Runner’s Thought: Let’s run in a spirit of gratefulness today. Before we begin our run let’s declare our intention to look upon all we encounter with the freshness of the unexpected. Let us run with a sense of miraculous expectation and allow a feeling of gratitude for the extraordinary and the ordinary to flow through our being. As we run today let us be thankful to God for life! (Adapted from Roger Joslin – Running the Spiritual Path)

Guess what day it is? Guess what – day it is? Alright enough! I know I said I would stop. Yes, I think it is Wednesday so Happy Wednesday!

Things remain busy here in Mount Holly, so I have not gotten into any trouble that I know of and this is a good thing. I did penance on Monday evening, first I went to a Phillies game and then I rooted for the Phillies and they won! When someone else buys the tickets and they are very good seats, you have to make the sacrifice. My Pirates seem to be struggling these days but I am hopeful that this is only a bump in the road.

I hope your week is going well, if not and you are having a few bumps in the road please know of my prayers for you. I have had a lot of practice praying for bumps in the road! Have a great Wednesday everyone – enjoy the day as best you can and remember you are a gift and you make everyone’s day that you meet better! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/08/2013

Daily Thoughts: It is 5:20 am and I have just returned from a hospital call. There is something beautiful about the early morning. It makes me wonder why I don’t get up earlier but that pondering is for another time. As I prepare now for the 7:00 am mass two thoughts a wondering around in my sleepy mind.

The first is that I think all of us have been in Jacob’s (Gen. 28:10-22a) sandals at one time or another. Jacob is on a journey, he is in search of a wife. He stops for the evening to rest and encounters a special place. He encounters a place of connection with God that enables him to know of God’s presence and action in his life. He encounters a bridge with God between heaven and earth.

We have all been to or in a place that after sometime there we feel very connected to God. It is a place where we sense something special. It might be a favorite spot at the beach or a setting in the midst of the mountains. It might be our favorite church or chapel. It might be a room in building or even our own home. It might be some breath taking view that we have encountered. In other words all of us have places in our life that when we are there God seem close, a place where God seems easier to connect with, a place where it seems easier to experience God’s presence, a place like Jacob’s place where we encounter the active presence of God bridging the gap between heaven and earth.

My other thought this morning comes from the Gospel (Matt. 9:18-26). In the first reading Jacob’s response at least at first is conditional. Jacob is willing believe, he is willing to have faith, if God does a number of things for him on his journey. We find a different kind of faith in the Gospel. Both the official and the woman have unconditional faith, no strings attached. Even though his daughter is dead the official still searches out Jesus. He knows that even in death an encounter with Jesus can mean life. The woman who has struggled with health issues for many years just wants to touch Jesus’ clothing that simple action will make all the difference.

These two faith filled people teach us the value, the gift of unconditional faith. They teach us that when we place our trust in God wonderful things, sometimes even impossible things happen!

Today let us not pass up any opportunity to encounter a place, a person, an experience that will help us to know of God’s active presence in our life. Let us be people of unconditional faith so that as we journey through life there is always the possibility for wonderful if not impossible things to happen.

Daily Prayer: Loving God, help us today and always to be open to the gift of your presence in our life. Grant us the strength to be people who can place our trust in you. Help us to see how active your presence is in our life and in the world around us. Give us the willingness to spread the Good News of your love to all we meet. Amen!

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)

Well Happy Monday everyone! The weekend was a bit busy that is why you didn’t hear much from me. My Monday has stayed in step with the weekend. It certainly started early with a 4:00 am call from the hospital. In the few days that I have been here at Sacred Heart Parish in Mount Holly, NJ I have truly been welcomed into the life of a parish priest. I have been to the hospital five times since Saturday. I have celebrated eight masses and there are three funerals already scheduled for the week. Well, if anything it is keeping me busy and out of trouble!

I was able to get in a 6. 5 mile run in the heat yesterday afternoon, it cleared the cobwebs and energized me for the rest of the day. Hopefully I can get a little run in this afternoon too because as the day goes on I think my energy will need renewed 4:00 am was a bit early!

I trust you had a wonderful long weekend filled with family, friends, a little rest and relaxation and some wonderful moments. Now we head into a new week and I pray for all of you that it will be one with many blessings, many gifts and many encounters with love. Have a great day, a wonderful week, stay cool and enjoy! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul