Daily Thoughts - 08/23/2014

Daily Thoughts: “Do and observe all things whatever they tell you, but do not follow their example.” (Today’s Gospel Matthew 23: 1-12) I have to admit every time I read this passage in Matthew’s Gospel I think of the bishops, cardinals and even the pope. I think of them as saying one things and doing another, of laying heavy burdens on others, of always needing places of honor, of always being shown respect but not respecting others. Yes, it is easy to point the finger at others.

However, if I truly stop and think about Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel the first person I must really consider first is yours truly, me. I too am part of the Church leadership. I am a priest, a preacher and a Passionists. Do my words and actions reflect Christ? Do I lay heavy burdens on people and then do nothing to help? Do I look for places of honor, special treatment just because of who I am? Do I expect people treat me different? Do I expect to be called “father,” “Rabbi,” or “Master?”

If I am honest there are certain of these questions where the answer is sometimes, “yes” unfortunately! Yes, I get caught up in my humanness. I want to be special. I want the world to follow my words. I want people to point to me and say good things. I want to get the first place in line or be at the head table.

So Jesus’ words today are an opportunity for me to pause and reset my priorities. They are an opportunity for me adjust my life. They offer me a chance to plant my feet on the ground again and to value the things that are most important, the things that really matter. They are a reminder of who is most important in my life, God and others.

The Chicago Bears football great Gail Sayers entitled his autobiography I Am Third, referring to the way he lived his life, Jesus first, others second and himself third. In Jesus’ words today I am reminded that I will never be perfect in this life and every once in a while I do need a good kick in the behind so that I take note of why I am a Passionist, a priest and a preacher. Every once in a while I have to remember God is first and I am third!

Have a great Saturday everyone and don’t forget to make a joyful noise with your life today!

Daily Prayer: O God, teach us to be generous to serve you as you deserve to be served, to give without counting the cost, to fight without fear of being wounded, to work without seeking rest and to spend ourselves without expecting any reward but the knowledge that we are doing your holy will. Amen (Adapted from a prayer by St. Ignatius of Loyola)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “Struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living. If you're not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you're not demanding more from yourself - expanding and learning as you go - you're choosing a numb existence. You're denying yourself an extraordinary trip.” (Dean Karnazes)

Daily Blessing: Good Morning and Saturday blessings to all! Our day here in Long Beach has started off on the cloudy side with a cool breeze out of the northeast but from my perspective it is still a beautiful day. I hope the same is true for you wherever you are!

Let me take this opportunity to thank all of you who commented, posted or texted yesterday about my anniversary. I truly appreciated you kind words and thoughts and I look forward to another 32 years as a Passionist. I enjoy my anniversary day and even celebrated with a beer (who would have thought) after my evening walk, so thanks everyone!

It will be a somewhat busy day with confessions this afternoon and a 5 pm Mass. The church is being painted so we will be celebrating mass today as we have been all week amid scaffolding and most of it is in the sanctuary which should make mass very interesting today and tomorrow!

I pray that God will bless your day with the gift of leisure, rest and peace. May you be blessed with family and friends who enrich your day with laughter and smiles. May any work you must do be easy, swift and productive. And may the grace of God’s joyful presence be with you throughout the day and always!

Don’t forget to give God a little time this weekend. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 08/22/2014

Daily Thoughts: “Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward.” (Thomas Merton)

Perhaps this is what Jesus is getting at as he answers the scholar of the law in today’s Gospel (Matt. 22: 34-40). Love sits at the heart of any relationship, of any friendship and the first mark of a good relationship, a good friendship is benevolence. Actively, seeking and finding the good in another. In today’s Gospel Jesus reminds us that we are to love God and love others and love ourselves. In order to do this we must find the good in the ones we love, God, others and self. As Merton says if we can do this the gift of love will be our reward!

Have a great rest of the day everyone and a relaxing weekend and don’t forget to give God a little time!

Daily Prayer:  Loving God, teach us to love as you love. Help us to make our love unconditional, honest, and kind. Help us to ask nothing in return and to let our love encompass the whole of humankind.

Loving God, let us offer our love without speaking. Let it radiate as it shines forth from us. Let it be seen in our faces, in our eyes, and let it be simple, sincere, and shame free.

Loving God, show us how to forgive as you forgive and help us to not burden another with guilt. Help us to not play the role of the martyr but to be a rock on which trust may be built.

Loving God, let our love for you and others be greater by far than any love that is offered to us. Let our love be always led by the Spirit, inspired of you our God and as forgiving and free as Jesus’ love. Amen! (Adapted from a prayer by Virginia (Ginny) Ellis)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “A runner's creed: I will win; if I cannot win, I shall be second; if I cannot be second, I shall be third; if I cannot place at all, I shall still do my best.” (Ken Doherty)

Daily Blessing: TGIF everyone! I hope your Friday is starting off well and that you are looking forward to a fun and relaxing weekend when your Friday work day comes to an end! It is another beautiful day here in Long Beach after a night of rain. I hope it is a beautiful day were you are too!

Today is a special day for me it is the 32nd Anniversary of my first vows with the Passionists. August 22, 1982 was a very hot Sunday and Pittsburgh, but seven of us, along with Passionists, family and friends, proclaimed of our desire to live the Passionist life keeping alive the memory of Christ’s Passion through our lives, our ministry and our prayer. Three of us remain from that hot August afternoon, Fr. Melvin Shorter, C.P., Fr. Chris Cleary, C.P. and yours truly. It is interesting to note that we were the three oldest members of the class. I am not sure what that means, maturity, intelligence, wisdom or we just had given up too much to turn back. Who knows! I am thankful to my two classmates for an interesting 33+ years, for their friendship, for their faithfulness, and for being there on the journey. I am thankful to all of you for your love, support and prayers that have kept me going!

On this day of celebration for me my prayer of blessing for you is that God will bless you with his love today, just like he blessed the Israelites long ago by breathing his Spirit into their dried bones. May God bless you with his love, a love he offered the whole through the gift of Mary whom we honor today in her Queenship. And may God bless you with his love that challenges us to love God, love others and love ourselves! May the rest of your Friday not be too busy and may you be blessed with a restful, relaxing and fun filled weekend! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 08/21/2014

Daily Thoughts: “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” (Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.)

I have always liked this quote from Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. and I think it ties into the thinking of Jesus in today’s Gospel (Matt. 22: 1-14).

The story in the Gospel today is about the coming of the Kingdom of God. It is about the end time. Who will accept God’s invitation? Who will be ready? All are invited but do we accept the invitation? Are we ready to enter the banquet of eternal life?

The invited guests get caught up in the things of the world that they think are more important. One is not prepared, not ready. We to sometime get caught up in all the things the world defines as important and we lose sight of what God finds important. We think there is always tomorrow to get ready. If we think this way we will find ourselves just like the invited guests and the person not appropriately dressed, outside. However, if we can tap into God’s energy, if we can accept God’s invitation and be ready to enter the Kingdom we will not find ourselves outside in the end when it comes!

Have a great Thursday everyone and try to live today in a joy filled way!

Daily Prayer:  Grant, O God, that we may never fall away in success or in failure; that we may not be prideful in prosperity nor dejected in adversity. Let us rejoice only in what unites us and sorrow only in what separates us. May we strive to please no one or fear to displease anyone except you, our God. May we see always the things that are eternal and never those that are only temporal. May we shun any joy that is without you and never seek any that is beside you. Loving God, may we delight in any work we do for you and tire of any rest that is apart from you. Gracious God, let us direct our hearts towards you, and in our failings, let us always seek forgiveness with the firm purpose of being better people. Amen! (Adapted from a prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “Sweat cleanses from the inside. It comes from places a shower will never reach.” (George Sheehan – From Runner’s World)  We might say that prayer is the sweat of the spiritual life and it too cleanses from within and it touches places no rituals can reach. So if we pray while we run we can cleanses our total self!

Daily Blessing: Happy Thursday everyone! I hope your day has started well? It looks like another beautiful day here in Long Beach!

My prayer of blessing today is adapted from the Irish tradition - May God bless all of you today so the road rise up to meet you and makes your journeys swift and easy. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face. And if the rain has to fall may it be soft upon the fields and upon you. And may you be truly blessed by God holding you in the palm of his hand through this day and always!

Have a great day everyone! May it truly be blessed with many wonderful experiences, may gifted and loving people and perhaps even a piece of chocolate or an ice cream treat! Oh go ahead it is still summer you can work on those extra pounds in the fall! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 08/20/2014

Daily Thoughts: We are confronted with that unsettling parable of Jesus’ again. Where is the justice? Where are worker rights? How could the owner of the vineyard, how could Jesus be so uncaring? What does it all mean?

There are some of the typical questions and/or response I hear when this parable of the vineyard owner and the workers comes around (Matthew 20: 1-16). I always say to people this is not about worker rights, fair pay or justice. This parable is about compassion, mercy, generosity and love. This parable is about gratitude and letting God be God!

The line that always strikes me in this parable is, “Are you envious because I am generous?” I believe this is a struggle we all have with God. We are so programed to do the right thing and in doing so we receive what is do us, but that is not how God operates.

I always this about the Good Thief when this parable rolls around, it was just before his last breath that he connected with God. We often talk about him stealing heaven. He is the very point of this Gospel today. The door to the Kingdom is always open, never closed and we are probably going to be surprised when we get there to see who is waiting to greet us, because God is a generous God, a merciful God, a loving God.

The human rules of this life don’t ally to God and many of us will be thankful that God doesn’t operate by human rules and concerns when we reach the door of the Kingdom because without God’s mercy, compassion and generosity we might find ourselves outside!

Be thankful not envious or judgmental today for our generous God! Have a great Hump Day everyone and try to make a joyful noise with your life today!

Daily Prayer:

We live today…

 Christ with us,

 Christ before us,

 Christ behind us,

 Christ in us,

 Christ beneath us,

 Christ above us,

 Christ on our right,

 Christ on our left,

 Christ when we lie down,

 Christ when we sit down,

 Christ when we arise,

 Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of us,

 Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of us,

 Christ in every eye that sees us,

 Christ in every ear that hears us.

 We live today…

 Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

 Through belief in the Threeness,

 Through confession of the Oneness

 of the Creator of creation.

We live today…

Thankful for a generous and loving God! Amen.

A Runner’s Thoughts: “The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy… It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed.” (Jacqueline Gareau)

So too in the spiritual life…the soul and spirit must be strong. It is the will, the desire to be faith filled!

Daily Blessing: Happy Hump Day everyone! It was a busy evening and morning…a wake last night, the 8 am mass and a 10 am funeral mass this morning, just so you know that my days are not all broad walk and beach!

Another beautiful day here in Long Beach but I have to remember to put sun screen on or I will look like a lobster as I did after my walk yesterday, when will I learn! I hope your day has started off well and will only get better as the day goes on even if you find yourself in an airport awaiting flight delays.

In the spirit of the Gospel today I pray that God will bless your day with a spirit of gratitude for the generosity of God. May you be graced throughout this day and always with the compassion, mercy, love and generousness of God in the places you go, in the people you meet, in the things you do and in the gift of who you are in this world today! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul