Daily Thoughts: Feast of St.
John the Evangelist – “Beloved: What was from the beginning, what we have
heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touch with our
hands concerns the Word of life….” The opening lines from the First Letter of
St. John which was read at today mass. They have always been comforting yet
challenging words for me. They are certainly profound words today as we
celebrate the feast of St. John, the apostle, evangelist and beloved friend of
Jesus. As we often refer to him, the youngest of the apostle or at least the
fastest as we hear in today’s Gospel (John 20: 1a and 2-8).
John by tradition lived the longest and
was not martyred as the rest of the apostles were. In his old age he became a
prisoner in exile, a mystic, a hermit and certainly a profound writer of the
story of Jesus. Unlike his fellow evangelists John’s story is steeped in
images, stories not found in the other Gospels and personal expressions of
faith. John’s story of Jesus soars to the heights of the mystery of God, thus
John is often imaged as an eagle.
In some ways we are all like John,
living our life, running ahead when we can, believing when we get the chance to
enter the mystery. We use the stories of our lives to proclaim the presence of
God. We have seen things; heard things and touched things and they have all
been about and from God. We are all God’s beloved.
May the spirit of St. John bring out the
mystic in all of us today. May we look beyond what we hear, see and touch to
the presence of God born in each of us this day!
Have a great day everyone!
Daily Prayer: Loving God, may
your love make us what we have been called to be this day – your beloved. Amen!
A Runner’s Thoughts: “Running! If
there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the
imagination, I can't think of what it might be. In running the mind flees with
the body, the mysterious efflorescence of language seems to pulse in the brain,
in rhythm with our feet and the swinging of our arms.” (Joyce Carol Oates) –
Now we know why St. John was such a good mystic, writer and runner!
Daily Blessing: Saturday
blessings in the midst of Christmas week my friends. I hope this finds you well
today and ready and beginning an enjoyable the weekend. I have a busy day
ahead. I am headed to the airport to drop off Fr. Robert and Fr. Edward who are
headed to Florida. Then it will be taking one of our men from our Jamaica
Monastery to Wilton, CT to visit a friend. After that I will head back home to
get ready for the 5:00 pm mass at St. Malachy’s this evening. So I will be on
the road a lot today hopefully the traffic will not be too bad!
We find ourselves in the midst of the
Octave of Christmas which means at least in a liturgical sense today is
Christmas once again. So in the spirit of Christmas I offer you my prayers and
a blessing today – May the spirit of Christmas bring us peace – The joy and
gladness of Christmas give us hope – The warmth of Christmas grant us love.
Christmas blessings to all today and in the spirit of St. John may our feet be
swift today so we can get to the weekend quickly and safe! Peace in Christ’s
Passion…Fr. Paul
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