Daily Thoughts: Troublemakers
and troubleshooters are two very different types of people. Troublemakers are
those people who create anxiety, frustration, agitation and cause calamity.
Troubleshooters are those people who have the ability to identify, locate and
eliminate the source of the disturbance. In today’s Gospel (John 13: 21-33,
36-38) Judas is a troublemaker and Jesus is a troubleshooter.
In the Gospel we are told that Jesus is
deeply troubled and as we read on and picturing the scene we quickly understand
why. The scene today is the Last Supper and Jesus is aware of the events ahead
of him. He knows that Judas will betray him and in the midst of the supper
Jesus sends him on his way. We all know what it feels like to lose a friend. We
invest time, effort, our emotions and feelings only to have the person move on,
decide that we are not worth the time, effort and trouble. Jesus has given three
years to Judas but Judas needs to move on.
Jesus has given three years to all of
his disciples yet he knows they will all run away before the night is over. One
of his closest friends, Peter, will deny that he knows Jesus even though we
listen to his bold statement of loyalty in the Gospel. Yes, it is a troubling
time for Jesus.
However, unlike the troublemaker Judas,
Jesus does not run away. He identifies the problem, the struggle, the
difficulty. Jesus realizes that humankind has “fallen from love.” That is our
original sin; we have fallen from God’s love. Jesus the troubleshooter is going
to restore the gift of that love by his journey to the cross the empty tomb.
Jesus set us free to embrace the mystery of God’s love. It is up to us to turn
away from sin but through the action of Jesus, the troubleshooter, we are given
the chance to once again “fall in love with God!”
As we journey through this day let us
remember what Jesus has done for us. Let us look at the cross and “fall in love
once again!”
Have a blessed Tuesday everyone!
Daily Prayer: Lord Jesus, we
thank you for your great love. We are sorry for having troubled you by not
embracing, by rejecting, by denying, by betraying your love. Help us to be
people of hope, to be people of joy, to be people of faith. Help us to be
people who fall in love with you again! You know the weakness of our human
hearts. Grace us with hearts alive with your joy filled love. Gift us with
faith filled spirits that will help us to make good choices as we journey
through this life to the mystery of your everlasting love! Amen!
A Runner’s Thoughts: Let us run with
a spirit of gratefulness. Before we begin our run let us declare our intentions
to look upon all we encounter with the freshness of the unexpected. The let us
run with a sense of miraculous expectation and allow our feelings of gratitude
for the extraordinary and the ordinary to flow through our beings. (Adapted
from Running the Spiritual Path by Roger Joslin)
Daily Blessing: Tuesday greetings
and blessings to everyone! I hope your day is starting out well. It looks like a
sunny start to our day here in Pelham and they say we will be a little cooler than
yesterday. Hopefully the cooler temperatures will not last too long. It would
be nice to see the sun and feel some warmth for at least a few days in a row. Whether
your day is warm and sunny or cool may it be one touch by God’s joy!
My prayer asking for God’s blessing today
is that you will all have a great day. One filled with many blessings. If you
are encountering a bad day take a moment to remember that you are in my prayers
and that God does love you. Perhaps that pause will help to turn the tide from
a bad day to a good one. I pray that all of you will be rich in the special
graces of this most holy of weeks and extravagant love of God will touch your
life in many life giving ways today. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
Lord make me your instrument.............
ReplyDeletemuch love and peace :)