Daily Thoughts: In today’s
Gospel (Mark 1: 40-45) Jesus encounters a person with leprosy and the following
exchange takes place. "If you wish, you can make me clean. Jesus was moved
with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched the leper and said to him, I
do will it. Be made clean. And the leprosy left him immediately."
In my reflections on this Gospel I think
the key elements of this story are the person's faith in Jesus and the
willingness of Jesus to heal and to touch. Maybe the most important element is
Jesus' touch, his willingness to be connected with someone who is unclean by
the standards of culture, society and religion.
Today whether we are talking about our
culture, society or even our church the usual response is to disconnect
ourselves from someone defined as unclean. Yet, Jesus sought to be connected.
He did not want to push them away from the community but to bring them into the
community.
Jesus reaches out to one who has been
pushed out of the community. It is a profound moment; it is a challenge to all
of us who proclaim we believe. Do we wish – do we will – that all belong to the
community no matter what? Jesus does and he was willing to step across a
boundary to make sure that it happens. Are we?
Perhaps it is a commitment to prayer
that will help us to, wish it and will it. It is through prayer, our
conversation with God, that we will find the strength to walk with Jesus across
the boundaries imposed and bring others to the community, to friendship with
God!
Give a little time to God today – say a
prayer – talk with God. Have a great Thursday everyone!
Daily Prayer: Loving God, help
us today so that we will not be people with hardened hearts but people with
compassionate hearts. Help us to be people willing to reach out across the
boundaries of life that all might have the opportunity to be part of you
community of faith. Enliven us that we will always hear your word with an open
mind and an open heart! Amen!
Runner's Thought: Think of every
run as an opportunity to be born again. Let each run refresh your body and
renew your spirit and bring you into God's Presence once again!
Daily Blessing: Happy Thursday
everyone! In my life this has been a rather quick week. On Saturday I will head
out to San Antonio. It will be the beginning of a long stretch on ministry that
will almost be continuous until Palm Sunday. Sometimes these days my life seems
all or nothing. It would be nice to have a little more balance.
I hope your week is going well and that
your life is in a little more balance than mine. I pray that you feel supported
by God and have encountered the presence of God throughout your journey of life
this week. As always I pray for God’s blessings upon all of us today that
whether in balance or not we may find the gift of God’s touch in our lives; the
touch of healing if we need it, but most importantly the touch of love to carry
us through the day. Have a great day everyone. Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr.
Paul
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