Daily Thoughts - 09/05/2014

Daily Thoughts: At times when I look at the Church I think we are always trying to pour new wine into old wine skins or we are trying to sow a new piece of cloth on an old piece of clothing and the results are not so good! We seem to spend a lot of time looking back at how things were, “the good old days” – “the golden age.”  Then we try and hold the present moment in these “days gone by” skins.

Perhaps it is a human condition that we all are afflicted with, that desire to hold on to what we think was good, pure and without problems. People often refer to the “good old days” with a sense of longing and a memory that has forgotten many, if not all, of the struggles, difficulties and problems. We long to put this moment, this time of life back into those “good old days” but it never works.

In the Gospel today Jesus reminds us the new wine needs to go into new skins, in other words we have to be about this moment, this time not the past. We have to patch old with old and new with new. We have to be in the present moment in order to encounter the presence of God in our life today.

Jesus is not negating the old for the new or vice versa he is just reminding us to always be in the present moment. The Church is alive, it is a living structure and if something is living it needs to grow. If it doesn’t grow it is dead. There is a famous quote from the movie, The Shawshank Redemption, when Andy says to Red, “Get busy living or get busy dying.” Perhaps that is Jesus’ challenge for us today.

So friends let’s get busy living! Have a great day…

Daily Prayer: Loving God, fill our souls with your holy joy, courage and strength so that we will serve you throughout this day. Enkindle your love in us and then walk with us along the next stretch of road we call this day. We cannot see very far ahead, but when we arrive at the setting of the sun we know you will place a new sunrise before us and with your help and grace we will greet it with peace. Bless this day Lord with you love. Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: “An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion.” (Newton's First Law of Motion) The living of life needs a balance between motion and rest, between sound and silence, between company and solitude, but we always need the friendship of God!

Daily Blessing: TGIF! Friday blessings and greetings to all. Well we begin our last morning of retreat actually we just have breakfast and mass so our time of retreat will be ending around 10:30 am this morning. The Oblates had a very nice jubilee celebration yesterday afternoon and evening at their shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. It ran a little long than expected so we cancel the healing prayer service for last night and we will fit it into our closing mass this morning. All in all I think it has been a good retreat, at least I am still here and I have not heard any complaints though the preacher of the retreat is usually the last to hear. I thank you for all your prayers for the retreatants and their preacher. Please offer a prayer today for the men who will be traveling back to their various houses and ministries around the country that they may have safe travel.

I will be spending a few more days here in St. Louis before heading home. I thought since I was out here I would take some extra time with my niece, nephew-in-law and my grandniece. I just cannot get enough of the little one! I will begin my journey back east on Sunday with a stop in Carmel, IN to visit my sister and brother-in-law and I hope to arrive in Pelham sometime on Tuesday. I am taking a little time of rest now because when I get home things will get busy again!

For my prayer of blessing for all of you today is this – As you journey through this day may you be blessed with Christ within you, with Christ behind you, with Christ before you, with Christ beside you, with Christ to comfort and restore you, with Christ beneath you, with Christ above you, with Christ in your quiet moments, with Christ in your moments of struggle, with Christ in the hearts of all who love you, with Christ within of all your friends and every person you meet. May the presence of Christ’s be within you and bless your day, Amen! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 09/04/2014

Daily Thoughts: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” I am not sure how many times I have uttered these words in my own mind over the last 34 plus years. It seemed very simple 34 years ago, I got rid of most of my possessions and packed up what was left in my little orange Chevy Vega and headed east from St. Louis to Philadelphia to begin my journey into religious life and priesthood. At the time it seemed freeing, liberating. Yet not long after arriving in Philadelphia did the doubts and struggles started, the challenges of letting go of people, possessions and a way of life.

And to make matters more challenging throughout these 34 plus years there have been amazing moments when I have paused and said, “Why am I here? Depart from me, Lord, I don’t deserve this, I am a sinful man!” It is the ebb and flow of life that makes who I am, who any person of faith is a challenge. One moment we are in the midst of everyday life, doing what is expected, doing what we always do and then God seems to step in, in a profound way and we feel humbled, we feel undeserving.

I had one of those moments this past week as I held my little grandniece in my arms for a few moments. Encountering the gift of life, of creation, the gift of love and the gift of family is a humbling experience. Sometimes it can be a challenging and a struggling experience for someone like me who can only experience this kind of love and intimacy from a distance. But then someone places a little child in your arms and you recognize the profound presence of God just like Peter did. And you think to yourself “I don’t deserve this, I am a sinful man!”

However even though undeserving like Peter and the rest of the crew on the seashore that day each morning I rise and follow Jesus once again. If you happened to encounter God in a profound way today and have that feeling that you don’t deserve it remember you are in good company!

Have a great day everyone…

Daily Prayer: Loving Jesus, you are the love that gives love. You are higher than the highest star, you are deeper than the deepest sea; you cherish us as your own family; you embrace us as your own spouse; you grace us as your own people; you welcome us as your dearest friends. Let us and all the world praise you today! Amen. (Adapted from a prayer by St. Hildegard of Bingen)

A Runner’s Thoughts: The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals, the struggles within yourself – the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us – that’s where it's at. (Jesse Owens) So to in the spiritual life…

Daily Blessing: Thursday greetings and blessing to all! I hope the beginning of this new day finds you well and energized for a new adventure! I seems from all reports that today going to be a very hot and humid day here in Belleville, IL just across the Great Mississippi River from St. Louis. It is just how I remember summer weather from my years in this area many years ago. I cannot complain now as this summer has not been a hot one and the retreat house is air conditioned so I should be able to survive with little discomfort. If it is hot today by you I hope you have an oasis too!

We enter our third full day of retreat. It will interrupted a little as the Oblates will head over to their shine, Our Lady of the Snows, not far from here this afternoon to celebrate the jubilees of a number of their men. I will give two talks this morning and then this afternoon they will celebrate jubilee and then return this evening for our healing service. A little different rhythm to the day but it should be another nice retreat day. Please keep the brothers and priests on retreat in your prayers and if you can spare an extra prayer please offer it for the preacher!

My prayer of blessing for you today is the like Peter in today gospel God will bless you with a profound experience of his presence and if it makes you consider your unworthiness that God will give you the strength and courage to continue on! May God bless you day with the richness of love, hope and joy! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 09/03/2014

Daily Thoughts: “We have never preached violence, except the violence of love, which left Christ nailed to a cross, the violence that we must each do to ourselves to overcome our selfishness and such cruel inequalities among us. The violence we preach is not the violence of the sword, the violence of hatred. It is the violence of love, of brotherhood, [of sisterhood,] the violence that wills us to beat weapons into sickles for work.” (Oscar A. Romero, The Violence of Love)

Jesus and Paul in our readings today (1 Corinthians 3: 1-9 and Luke 4:38-44) tell us that they have come to proclaim the Good News. Jesus does it directly and Paul indirectly. Their goal is to bring the Good News to whomever they meet, whether it is the community of believers at Corinth or the people in Capernaum or the many towns beyond.

The Good News that Jesus and Paul bring is the same Good News brought by Bishop Oscar Romero many centuries later. It is the Good News of love. It is the Good News of the Cross. It is the Good news of community. It is the Good News of no more war!

I believe there comes a point in a believer’s life when we need to say enough. Enough violence! Enough war! Enough hate! Enough disrespect for life! If we are truly a great silent majority, if we truly want a world based on peace then it is time to say enough with one great voice! It is time to proclaim and live the Good News.

Have a great day everyone!

Daily Prayer:

Lord, take us where You want us to go;

Let us meet who You want us to meet;

Tell us what You want us to say; and

Keep us out of your way. Amen

(Adapted from a prayer by Fr. Mychal Judge)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “There are no standards and no possible victories except the joy you are living while dancing your run. You are not running for some future reward-the real reward is now!” (Fred Rohe, The Zen of Running) And you are not running for some experience of God in the future when you run you are running with God now! So enjoy the company!

Daily Blessing: Wednesday, “Hump Day” greetings to all! I know I have been away from my musings for the last few days but I think I have a good excuse. Last Saturday I finished my drive to St. Louis having completed most of it on Friday. Saturday I celebrated the 4:30 pm mass at St. Joan of Arc Parish and then after mass I had the privilege of celebrating baptism of my Great Niece Natalie Ann. It was a wonderful moment the kind that makes all the struggles and challenges of life just disappear at least for the moment. Sunday we had a party in honor of Natalie Ann. A good time was had by all and the weekend for me was the gift of family time which I truly enjoyed. So hopefully you see that I had a pretty good excuse for being absent from internet highway and why I took a little break from posting!

On Monday afternoon I made my way over to Belleville, Il which is about 20 miles east of St. Louis to begin a week long retreat with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. They have a retreat house here in Belleville, called Kings House. We began the retreat Monday evening and are now beginning our second full day. There are about 35 brothers and priests on retreat and it seems to be going well. At least they haven’t thrown anything at me or asked me to leave and they keep showing up for the talks! Please know that as I journey with the Oblates on retreat you are in my prayers each day and I would ask you to keep the men on retreat in your prayers and if possible say a little prayer for their preacher.

I hope all of you are fine and survived your first days of school or work after the long Labor Day weekend. I hope you have gotten back into the swing of things wherever you are.

My prayer of blessing for all of you today is that as we move into the busyness of September, these last formal days of summer, God will bless you with some time to pause and take into account your blessings, your gifts. The hopelessness of violence seems to be all around us but as I learned over the weekend if we pause and take some time away from the busyness of life often we encounter God’s gifts in very real and wonderful ways. To hold my great niece Natalie, well to me there is nothing better to remind me of God’s presence in the world. God’s presence is all around us we just have to not let the noise of the world distract us from God. May God bless you with the gift of his presence today is some small way so that you know you are loved and not alone!

Have a great Wednesday – Hump Day everyone and please know as always you are in my prayers! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul