Daily Thought: There are
perhaps many ways to interpret today's Gospel; one way that I have often used is
to ask the questions, "What is your image of God? And are you afraid of
God?" In the story the man gives his servants gold coins and says go out
and trade with them. Some of the servants go and trade and make more coins. One
servant hides the coin in a handkerchief so he has it ready when the master
wants it back. The servants who traded are rewarded and servant who stored the
coin in the handkerchief has even the coin taken away. The servants who trade
took a risk, they could have lost. The third servant took no risk, why? As the
story tells us because he was afraid of the master!
We are given many gifts from God and all
we are asked to do is use them as we live out our life. I have come to the
conclusion that our image of God makes all the difference in how we use the
gifts.
If we are afraid of God, afraid of
making a mistake then we probably will not take any risks with God's gifts. We
will hang on to them, hide them away. If we see God as a friend, a companion,
someone who takes risks, who wants us to take risks then we will probably
invest God’s gifts. For example, if we see Jesus as someone who took one risk
after another; if we see him as someone who invested his life every day then we
hopefully will do the same. So I believe that it comes down to how we envision,
understand and live out our relationship with God.
Another question I often ask is,
"What if the first two servants had traded with the coins and lost
them?" I cannot answer the question for sure but my guess is the master
says the exact same thing, "Well done, good servant!" Why because no
investment is ever lost it is always out there working in some way. Thus perhaps a challenge for today is to ask
ourselves the question, "Are we willing to take a risk and bring God to
the world today or are we going to hide God safely away?"
Have a great day everyone!
Daily Prayer: Two prayers for
the price of one today!
O God, Giver of all good gifts, grace us
with trust in you so that we will let the gifts of your Spirit flow throughout
our entire life. Help us to take a risk and share your gifts with the world.
Cast out our fear with a love that enables us to take a chance letting your
gifts increase and multiply making us and the world so much richer! Amen!
Loving God help us to be grateful today.
Help us to recognize your love in everything you have given us, because we
know, we believe that you have has given us everything. Every breath we draw is
a gift of your love, every moment of existence is a grace, because it brings
with it immense graces from you.
Gracious God, in gratitude we must never
take anything for granted. We must never be unresponsive to your love. We must
constantly be awakening to new wonder and giving praise for you awesome
goodness. We want to be grateful people because we know that a grateful person
knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And this is what
makes all the difference. Amen! (Adapted
from words by Thomas Merton)
A Runner’s Thoughts: “Running, much
like life, [faith and the spiritual life], has its hills and valleys. On any
given run, and particularly in most marathons, we come across easy stretches
and seemingly impossible challenges. I have learned to just keep going. The
tough moments never last, and the easy stretches are always a joy. The same is
clearly true in life [in faith and the spiritual life], if we just keep going
we'll get to that finish line with water, massages, and bananas! [And
friendship with God!] (Main part of quote
by Will Starr, Runner's World Challenger of the Week – I add what is in the
brackets)
Daily Blessing: Happy Hump Day
everyone! I hope your day has started off well? Once again our day here in the
Northeast is a cold one but certainly not as bad as those who live around the
Great Lakes, for them it is snow upon snow upon snow. I was reading a story
this morning about the Niagara University Women’s Basketball Team returning
home for a game in Pittsburgh got stuck on the New York Thruway for 30 hours
just 45 minutes from home. My prayers certainly go out today to all those fighting
winter in profound ways, whether you are sitting in buses, walking the streets
or any other ways that you are battling the effects of winter’s sting.
A shout out to the Archdiocese of
Chicago, you have a new Archbishop who seems like a wonderful man and a fine leader.
Many blessings upon his journey and upon all who will be led by him!
My prayer of blessing for all of us
today... Loving God bless us – Bless us and keep us safe. Let your face shine
upon us and show us your compassion especially in those moments when we may
struggle. May your love and peace embrace us, all whom we meet and especially those
whom we love. May our journeys be safe and may we find our way home tonight to
enjoy your gift family and rest. Amen! Blessings to all and enjoy your day!
Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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