Daily Thoughts: I know many of
you probably look at today as just Friday. And you are right in doing so along
with most of the rest of the world but in the Passionist world today, the
Friday before Ash Wednesday is the Feast of the Solemn Commemoration of the
Passion. It is one of the most important and special feast days that we have in
the Congregation of the Passion. It is a day when we can truly celebrate the
Passion of Jesus Christ which is the lens through which we view and live our
lives as Passionists.
The first reading for today takes us
almost to the end of the creation story which we have been reading since
Monday. In today’s episode the serpent convinces Adam and Eve to eat from the
tree is the middle of the garden which God has asked them not to eat from. The
serpent convinces them that God has not told them the whole truth. His hook is
that if they eat from this tree they will become like gods! Adam and Eve go for
it hook, line and sinker. However, they find out that they are not like gods
but rather their eyes are opened to the harsh realities of life – struggle,
shame, illness and evil. They come to know the shame, hurts, disappointments and
sins of life in the world so much so that now they are even ashamed of
themselves and they hid from God.
In the Gospel we encounter the beautiful
story of Jesus healing the man who could not hear and had a speech impediment.
Jesus heals the man because the people have faith in Jesus’ healing powers and
bring their friend to Jesus. Jesus’ compassionate act of healing so astonished
the community, even though he asks them to say nothing, they cannot stop
talking about it. They proclaimed the
Good News that Jesus “does all things well.”
There is such a contrast to these two
stories. On the one hand Adam and Eve place their faith in a talking serpent
and not in God. They have everything. There is nothing they lack; there is not
struggle, disappointment, illness, shame, hurt, death or sin in their lives.
They are in paradise! Yet I guess you might say they didn’t have everything.
They didn’t have faith! They didn’t trust God.
In the Gospel story a community has
faith in Jesus and their friend is healed. This story tells us a lot about
Jesus and his journey to Calvary. Because of Adam and Eve’s lack of faith, sin,
struggle, illness, shame and death entered the world. But as our faith story
tells us that – “God so love the world that he gave us his only Son that
everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John
3:16)
Faith is always the key. As Passionists
we celebrate this day with the faith that God truly does love the world and
Jesus’ journey to Calvary is the ultimate sign of that love. The choice by Adam
and Eve in the garden set in motion God’s greatest act of love for us and on
this Friday before Ash Wednesday that is what we remember and celebrate.
Perhaps in a way we, Passionists, are
like the deaf man’s friends in our Gospel story today. Our lives are dedicated
the remembering the Passion of Jesus Christ which reveals the power of God’s
love for the world and through our special vow we bind ourselves to the memory
of the Passion of Christ. By our words, our ministries, our living of life and
by our faith we strive to bring this gift, this grace of God’s love to every
person we meet. Or perhaps stick with the story we seek to bring the struggle
to Jesus because he does all things well!
My prayer for you on this special
Passionist feast is that as you journey through this day you will not forget
that God loves you that you will always be faithful and that the Passion of
Jesus Christ will always in your heart!
Have a great Friday everyone and may the
Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts!
Daily Prayer: Almighty and
ever-loving God, look with compassion on our humanness, on all our struggles
and weaknesses. Strengthen us for the journey ahead. Give us the wisdom to
follow your call. Enliven us with the grace to be repairers and restorers of
your love. Help us to be people of hope and to bring that hope to all we meet.
Amen!
A Runner's Thoughts: As we run today
let us think of our breathing as inhaling God and exhaling extraneous thoughts,
ideas and struggles. Let us allow all those thoughts that are buzzing about in
our heads to move through our bodies and be expelled through our breath so that
God has more space to be within us!
Daily Blessings: Happy Friday
everyone! I hope you last work day of the week has started off well. With a bit
of sadness I will be leaving my place of respite along the Pacific Ocean. Yes
my lazy, surf’s days are over and this morning to head inland a little to
Sierra Madre, CA and the Passionist Retreat House located there. I will begin a
Married Couples Retreat this evening. There will be 47 married couples so I
will ask you to pray for them as they journey through this special weekend with
me. I would also ask you to pray for their preacher this weekend too!
My prayer today is for God’s blessings
upon all of you wherever you are and in whatever you will encounter today. I
pray you stay safe, warm, and have a great day. May you find the richness of
God’s presence in your life today and always. Also I pray that the end of this
day will bring you to the beginning of a restful and enjoyable weekend. And I
pray that the Passion of Jesus Christ will always be in your hearts! Blessings
today and always! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul
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