Daily Thoughts: Feast of St. Thomas
Becket – We find ourselves listening to the same Gospel as yesterday. I have
always liked the story of Simeon which we hear once again. It is a very tender
scene. However there is something missing in our Gospel today. It should read
just a few verses more so that we also encounter the story of Anna; to me it
just seems natural to include both stories. Two people who have dedicated their
lives to God waiting for this moment. You can hear the joy in their voices as
they realize the purpose of their lives coming to completion, both embraced by
the Holy Spirit graced with the gift of hope.
They do not sugar coat their message
they tell it like it is – or should I say like it will be. There will be sorrow
and struggle but also life. Rather than speak about the "rise and
fall" Simeon speaks of the "fall and rise." The cross is part of
Jesus' story but it is not the end. Death leads to life, doubt is embraced by
faith, sorrow and struggle turns to joy!
Perhaps as we listen to Simeon today we
need to remember that in being a person of faith our direction in life is
always "upwards." Hope means that no matter how difficult things seem
to get, no matter what the struggle – God is always with us. If we can be
patience like Simeon and Anna the light of God will always direct our way,
death, doubt, struggle and sorrow will become life, faith and joy!
Have a great day everyone and may you
find peace, hope and joy as you journey through your day!
Daily Prayer: Grant, O Loving God, that
I may never fall away in success or in failure; that I may not be prideful in
prosperity nor dejected in adversity. Let me rejoice only in what unites us and
sorrow only in what separates us. May I strive to please no one or fear to
displease anyone except you. May I see always the things that are eternal and
never those that are only temporal. May I shun any joy that is without you and
never seek any that is beside you. O God, may I delight in any work I do for you
and tire of any rest that is apart from you. Let me direct my heart towards you,
and in my failings, always repent with a purpose of amendment. – Amen! (Adapted from a prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas,
O.P.)
A Runner’s Thoughts: “It's important to
know that, at the end of the day, it's not the medals you remember. What you
remember is the process - what you learn about yourself by challenging
yourself, the experiences you share with other people, the honesty the training
demands - those are things nobody can take away from you whether you finish
twelfth or you're an Olympic champion.” (Silken Laumann)
Daily Blessing: Monday greetings to all
on this last Monday of 2014! I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and a
relaxing long weekend. If you had to work in the days after Christmas I hope
the time was not too stressful! We now make our way to the beginning of the New
Year 2015. Hopefully this will not be too busy a week for you. I will be
spending my week home alone as my community members are away for the week. I am
hoping that it will not be as eventful as the movie, “Home Alone!”
My blessing prayer today is that God
will bless us all with calm, peaceful and fun filled days this week as we
prepare to bring in a New Year. May God bless any travel we will do in these
last days of 2014. May God help us to enjoy these closing days of 2014 and look
ahead with hope to 2015. May God bless this day with many smiles, the gift of
laughter and people whom we love! Let us also keep the people of the Air Asia
flight that went mission two days ago in our prayers along with their families
and friends who now morn their loss and will enter the New Year with profound
grief! May those lost and those who morn them find God’s peace. Have a great
day everyone! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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